Tonight there was a huge protest in Baltimore against police brutality. These protests have been popping up all over the country following the no indictment decisions of police officers for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

While shooting tonight, police officers attempted to make a police wall of some sort to prevent the protestors from advancing. Let it be known that I personally did not see any violent or extreme behavior coming from protestors – I saw more aggressiveness coming from the officers. But I mean, what’s to be expected? I was pushed on ground, shoved, grabbed and tossed when I tried to make it past their “wall”. It’s important to say that I was not hurt and that while I don’t think that the officer (no, didn’t get name or badge, too worried about camera gear) was trying to injure me – I think it was done more so to intimidate me- I do think that some officers were out looking for people to specifically smack around.

They brought out the police horses to corral people and one horse trampled a man’s bike. I don’t know about you but it sure seems dangerous to bring skittish animals, such as horses, into a protesting crowd. But hey, maybe that’s just me.

The protest began at McKeldin Square and ended up at Penn Station. Not sure how many people, but it was a lot.

They chanted, “Cant stop won’t stop.. ’till killer cops.. are in cell blocks!”

“No justice no peace no racist police!

…..And kept going with, “Tell me what democracy looks like–this is what democracy looks like!”

 “I can’t breathe I can’t breathe!”

Shoutout to the cops that didn’t push me around but to the cop who told me all about how much he liked photography and how he wished he could be a photographer. You’re awesome. Keep on keeping on.

My friend Josh Sinn posted a Facebook status that summed this up pretty well.

He said, “The saddest thing to see tonight is meeting people who marched 50 years ago who still need to march.”

*Do not repost or share photos individually without permission. 

Here’s a quick snippet of video of the protest clashing with last night’s monument lighting in Mount Vernon. Really eerie hearing the Christmas carols and the sounds of the protest chants together at once.  

To see the full video shot by Gabe Dinsmoor for City Paper, please click here.