Berkeley protesters in the streets for a second night of rallies against police killings of black suspects left a trail of damage in their wake, including damaged stores, vandalized law enforcement vehicles and a chaotic commuting scene on both roads and train depots.
More than 300 wove through downtown Berkeley, shutting down roads to travelers and temporarily closing the local BART train station, police said, USA Today reported. Protesters did calm somewhat as they headed back to the University of California, Berkeley campus.
But police were forced to fire teargas at one point to compel the crowd to leave Highway 24, a heavily traveled commuting point between Berkeley and eastern suburbs, USA Today reported.
Protesters also set trash cans on fire, looted some stores and destroyed police vehicles.
Jennifer Coats, a spokeswoman for the Berkeley Police Department, said some had been arrested, but declined to provide additional details.
The protests — focused on the police shooting of Ferguson teen Michael Brown and the police chokehold of New York’s Eric Garner — began Saturday night but went into a second round on Sunday evening.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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