TROY — Protesters gathered Wednesday afternoon outside the city police department to demand justice for Dahmeek McDonald after a grand jury voted not to indict the police officer who shot him last summer.

The group of about 45 people chanted slogans and held signs reading “Justice for Dahmeek."

Along with calling for the indictment of the officer who shot McDonald, the group also demanded a more powerful citizen review board for police officers and changes to how the department interacts with minorities.

McDonald’s uncle, Messiah Cooper, who organized the protest, said the group wanted accountability for city police officers and believed laws were applied differently to people of color.

“We have to call for change,” Cooper said. “Something must be done.”

City police officers spoke with organizers briefly before the protest began and blocked off State Street between 5th and 6th avenues to allow the gathering to take place safely. Officers came out at one point and offered water bottles while others filmed the protest from the roof of the police administration building on 6th Avenue.

In a statement, Assistant Chief Dan DeWolf said the police respected the demonstrators' right to protest.

"We appreciate the peaceful conduct of those demonstrating and their respect for their fellow citizens needing to carry on with their day," he said. "We also thank the officers assigned to the demonstration and the professionalism and dignity exhibited by all.”

There were no incidents or heated exchanges between protesters and police.

Jamaica Miles, lead organizer in the Capital Region for Citizen Action, criticized Schenectady County District Attorney Bob Carney, who oversaw the case after Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove recused himself, and the Troy police department.

Miles also called for officers to be trained to recognize their own potential biases.

“You can’t be a police officer and come in to our communities and not know how to deal with our communities,” she said.

The grand jury on Friday told a judge they would file no charges against officer Jarrod Iler. Carney said the panel determined Iler was justified in firing his gun at McDonald.

McDonald was wanted for a parole violation and had removed a GPS ankle monitoring bracelet before he was spotted on Aug. 15, 2017, by Iler near the intersection of Eighth and Rensselaer streets. Parole officers were advised by a confidential informant that McDonald was near that corner.

In a statement released Monday, Carney said McDonald was driving a vehicle toward Iler when the officer opened fire. Four shots hit the front of the vehicle, ballistics analysis showed, and two struck McDonald. He was shot once in the forearm, and a second shot grazed his forehead.

But McDonald, a parolee who Carney's office said was found with cocaine, said he was trying to drive away from Iler when the shooting started. McDonald was not armed.

At the time, the state Attorney General's office was investigating the death of Edson Thevenin, who was shot by Troy police Sgt. Randall French on April 17, 2016. State prosecutors later said that ballistics evidence showed French was not pinned by Thevenin's vehicle, as French had asserted.

French never faced charges after he was granted immunity by Abelove, who presented the case to a grand jury only days after Thevenin was killed. Abelove was later charged with lying to a grand jury and manipulating the investigation; a judge later dismissed the charges just before Abelove was slated to go to trial last month. The Attorney General's office has appealed that ruling.

The protesters said they plan future events to protest what they see as systematic injustice from city and county leaders.

"We don't like the decision, but we're unmoved," Cooper said. "We're not going anywhere."

McDonald’s attorney, Mark Mishler, also said he was exploring further legal options.

“This is one more example of how justice is not done in the country,” he said.