Police blocked Colfax at I-25 with the goal of keeping the protesters off of I-25.
Protesters in other cities had shut down interstates earlier.
Two adult males were arrested for obstruction of roadway and interference.
Two adult males were arrested for obstruction of roadway.
“Several hundred citizens gathered in Denver to protest the Ferguson decision,” Denver Police said late Tuesday night.
“The protest was peaceful and officers blocked roads and made extreme efforts to avoid conflict and allow for a peaceful expression of 1st Amendment rights.”
The police statement continued. “At approximately 8:10 p.m. DPD officers formed a line to prevent protesters from moving on to Interstate 25. This was to preserve safety. A small group of protesters refused commands and grabbed officers. A hand held canister of pepper spray was utilized. Three people were arrested. DPD did deploy one smoke canister to test the wind prior to the arrests. No gas was deployed.”
Police later clarified that they arrested a fourth person.
After the confrontation, the crowd dispersed and a group of them headed back toward Civic Center Park via the 16th Street Mall in downtown. The Denver protest was over by about 10 :15 p.m.
The protest started earlier in the evening when dozens marched in downtown Denver for the second night in a row Tuesday to protest the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri.
The crowd chanted, “Black lives matter too,” while holding hands up and holding signs with the Colorado Capitol as a back drop.
There were numerous speeches delivered on a bull horn to a crowd that was quite a bit larger than the one that gathered Monday night. After the speeches they left the Capitol area and marched.
Denver police said because the crowds were moving, there were not any streets closed and traffic was not blocked until protesters reached Colfax and I-25.
RTD said some of its downtown light rail trains were delayed a few minutes because of the groups of protesters.
Some went by the courthouse and to the Denver Jail.
A peaceful demonstration Monday night included protesters stopping in intersections for four-and-a-half minutes … representing the four-and-a-half hours Michael Brown’s body was in the street August 9 after he was shot to death.