Traffic stalls downtown as anti-police protests block freeway ramps


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SALT LAKE CITY — A small group of protesters tied up traffic downtown Friday night, culminating as they briefly blocked freeway ramps.

About 20 people blocked traffic as they walked down city streets, carrying a banner that read, "All cops enforce inequality." The Utah Highway Patrol was alerted the group was headed toward the freeway and sent officers to meet them when they arrived about 7:45 p.m.

"Our presence has mostly kind of deterred them from getting onto the freeway, although they've gotten kind of close," said UHP Sgt. Mary Kaye Lucas.

It is illegal under Utah law for pedestrians to be on the freeway, Lucas said. It was unclear whether the small group had intended to walk onto the freeway but changed its plan when it was met by police, she said.

The group spread out, blocking the 500 South on-ramp to southbound I-15 and westbound I-80 for several minutes, then moved to the 600 South I-15 off-ramp.

As they stood at the base of the off-ramp they chanted, "Hands up, don't shoot," a cry that has become associated with the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and "I can't breathe," the last words of Eric Garner, 43, who died after several New York City police officers put him in a chokehold.

Grand juries declined to indict officers in both cases, sparking a series of large protests and marches across the country and smaller demonstrations locally.

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McKenzie Romero

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