'A Little Bit Symbolic': Hundreds Of Protesters Walk Same Route Where Philadelphia Police Used Tear Gas in June
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Protests again took place in Center City as demonstrators show no signs of backing down. On Sunday, a group of nearly a thousand people walked the same route where protesters last month were sprayed with tear gas by Philadelphia police.
A protest that began at City Hall quickly grew into nearly a thousand people as marchers began occupying North Broad Street.
Organizers protesting their ability to peacefully protest after demonstrators were tear-gassed along I-676 in June by members of the Philadelphia Police Department.
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The mayor and police commissioner later apologized for the show of force.
"The things they're getting away with is not right," Chris Devoe, a protester, said. "You can't do people like they're dogs. You can't treat people like that."
"We think it's important to use your voices," Corie Thuma, of Boyertown, said. "We teach kids to use your voices, use your words. This is an extension of that."
"We live under a system where this oppression is perpetuated and there's no material basis for it to ever stop," Zeb, with Socialist Alternative, said.
Police kept their distance Sunday, clearing roadways and creating a perimeter around protestors, even as demonstrators approached Broad and Vine Streets, on their way to the same highway they did in June.
Protestors hopped a barricade and ended up on I-676. Streets had already been cleared by police.
"A little bit symbolic because we keep saying, 'Whose streets? Our streets.' These are the streets of the working class," Zeb said. "We're the ones who built them, we're the ones who paid for them and we should be able to use them how we see fit. And if we see fit to use them in a demonstration, a peaceful demonstration, for the lives of Black and Brown people, then we should be able to do that."
Protesters marched from Vine Street to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway exit, roughly 8/10ths of a mile, shutting down the main artery in the city in the mid-90 degree heat.
Organizers were from the Party for Socialism and Liberation and focused on police brutality.
Demonstrators made it clear: the climate is ripe for systemic change and they don't plan on piping down.
"We got to keep doing this until they stop and they do something about it," Devoe said. "If we don't keep doing it, it's not going to stop."
