Denver South High students join protests against police violence

By Nathaniel Minor
December 8, 2014
Photo: South High students protest (AP Photo)
South High students and supporters participate in a protest against recent grand jury decisions not to indict police officers in the killings of unarmed men, in front of East High, in Denver, Colo., Monday, Dec. 8, 2014.

Hundreds of students from Denver's South High School walked out of school Monday in protest of recent cases of controversial police tactics against unarmed blacks, and decisions not to prosecute the white officers involved.

The students had told the school's principal they planned to march across Louisiana Avenue to Washington Park, then return to school. 

"How impressive is it when your students approach me (a figure of authority) to work together for a peaceful resolution? Very impressive," Dr. Kristin Waters, the school's principal, wrote in a letter to parents. 

However, tweets from the scene show students scrapped that plan. They shut down traffic as they walked down Louisiana to Broadway and north to downtown. 

The students walked to East High School, where protests began last week. They were eventually bused back to South by the district, a Denver Post reporter tweeted. 

On Wednesday, East High students marched down Colfax Avenue to the state Capitol. Thursday, students from several high schools left class. About 500 students from Abraham Lincoln High School in southwest Denver marched all the way to the state Capitol -- nearly seven miles. On Friday, east metro students left class to rally at the Aurora Municipal Center. 

Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, protesters carrying signs bearing names of black Americans killed by police marched Monday outside the U.S. Capitol to demand a human rights investigation. About two dozen protesters were met by a line of police who stopped them from advancing toward the building.

There are broken store windows and other damage this morning in Berkeley, California where a splinter group turned violent during a protest against police killings in New York and Ferguson, Missouri. Authorities say two officers were injured when the smaller group threw rocks and bricks at police, who responded by firing tear gas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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