2 arrested in Indianapolis at police brutality protest

Hundreds of protesters descended on Monument Circle Thursday night to let Indianapolis know that "black lives matter."

Following a grand jury's decision not to indict a New York City officer who choked and killed an unarmed black man, and on the heels of last week's grand jury decision in Ferguson, Mo., not to charge a police officer for killing an unarmed black teenager, demonstrators filled Monument Circle chanting "hey-hey, ho-ho, these racist cops have got to go."

Two arrests were made during the rally, after protesters filed into the street, blocking traffic in Downtown Indianapolis.

Indianapolis police Lt. Christopher Bailey told The Star that demonstrators were asked, prior to the rally, that they not block the streets.

"[Protesters] were being led by a couple people who were actually instigating most people to come into the street," said Bailey. "Those two people were the ones who were arrested for, I believe, obstruction of traffic."

Around 5:30 p.m., a group of 30 demonstrators gathered in front of Christ Church Cathedral at 125 Monument Circle to kick things off, when in the distance, cries of "hands up, don't shoot" could be heard on the opposite side of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

Within minutes, nearly a hundred people rounded the Circle, and the two protests merged. Together, the rally moved to the south side of the monument, and civic leaders in the black community, megaphones at the ready, told the crowd "enough is enough."

The focus of the rally was the recent decision, handed down by a Staten Island, N.Y., grand jury, not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, a New York Police Department cop who killed unarmed, 43-year-old Eric Garner with a choke-hold in July.

More than 150 protesters then traveled to the Indiana Statehouse, clogging several Downtown intersections, before heading to The Indianapolis Star to attend a forum about improving relations between city residents and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Hosted by Indy10, the group behind the latest Ferguson protest in Indy, the "Justice for Eric Garner #ThisStopsToday" demonstration was planned "to show Indianapolis' solidarity and support in conjunction with nationwide events to address the issues of police brutality and the lack of justice on behalf of the victims."

Demonstrators at the rally, one of many planned Thursday night across the country in memory of Garner, conducted a moment of silence "in honor of all the black lives lost in 2014," before marching to the Indiana Statehouse.

One unidentifed protester said; "Show me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like."

An unidentified white woman expressed her opinion that everyone has a duty to speak up against injustice, saying "White silence is white consent."

The demonstrations followed the news last week that a grand jury in Ferguson, Mo., decided not to indict a white police officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old.

Since then, other instances of unarmed blacks who were fatally shot in confrontations with police officers in Ohio and Arizona also have been reported.

Call Star reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelAdams317.