About 700 protesters marched on downtown Ann Arbor Wednesday night to protest the loss of black lives in recent police shootings.
The protest, organized via Facebook by University of Michigan students, drew a large and enthusiastic crowd. Protesters lined State Street in front of the Michigan Union, chanting and waving signs in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. They then marched through downtown Ann Arbor with a police escort.
Protest organizer Diante Harris said the goal of the event was to keep momentum going for the Black Lives Matter movement, and to raise awareness of the movement's goals.
"You don't have to be black to care. Hopefully what you see initially is unity and if you come to the dialogue you might learn something," says Harris.
Protest participant Larry Young said he joined the movement because he was tired of the inequality he experienced in his life. Young says, "I'm just so fed up with the treatment of ... not being treated as an equal. It's a struggle just to try to survive in life, but it's really harder to know that I'm not an equal."
The protest was not affiliated with the Black Lives Matter organization.
