Protesters broke off from a peaceful demonstration near San Jose City Hall Friday afternoon, and a large group marched onto the 101 freeway and halted traffic, holding signs that said "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe."
The protest, which began in downtown San Jose at 2 p.m., is one of dozens that have been taking shape around the country to express outrage over the police killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minneapolis on Monday. While Minneapolis is under a citywide curfew tonight, a protest is planned in Oakland that could be as large and raucous as those the city saw several years ago when the Black Lives Matter movement was taking hold.
Video from the protest in San Jose shows cars backed up on the freeway as about 100 protesters remained around 3:30, blocking all the southbound lanes. Several vehicles could be seen on KPIX's live helicopter feed trying to inch their way past the activists, and at one point a motorcyclist who was trying to move through them was shoved by a protester.
A second group of marchers also continued moving down Santa Clara Street in San Jose.
Half of the protest has blocked Hwy 101 in San Jose. The other half is watvhing from Santa Clara Street pic.twitter.com/gocHkMay4t
— Katie Lauer (@_katielauer) May 29, 2020
#San Jose: protests against the police killing of George Floyd have spilled out onto #Highway 101 at Alum Rock Ave. Traffic is jammed in both directions. #KCBS Traffic pic.twitter.com/pSlzKeDbmF
— Kim Vestal (@KimVestalDJ) May 29, 2020
#BREAKING UPDATE: Protest over death of George Floyd continues to block southbound Hwy. 101 in San Jose. https://t.co/uF1QkYjLDW pic.twitter.com/NpWtVALshH
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) May 29, 2020
As Milwaukee TV journalist Asal Rezaei tweeted Friday afternoon, protests and highway closures were happening simultaneously in multiple cities at once, including New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C.
DEVELOPING: Highway closures and protests happening in multiple cities across the country right now. So far I’ve seen coverage of protests in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Jose, Denver, Brooklyn, Washington DC, Charlotte, Phoenix. #GeorgeFloydprotest
— Asal Rezaei (@asalrezaeitv) May 29, 2020