Houston, TX – Over 30 people marched through downtown Houston on Nov. 5 to demand an end to police brutality. They were calling for justice for Alva Braziel and Jordan Baker, two African American men killed by Houston police in the last year.

Dozens of police on foot with batons, and nearly the same number on horses, soon showed up in an effort to intimidate the protesters. The marchers pushed forward chanting, “No justice, no peace, no racist police!” and were seen marching by hundreds of onlookers.

Many people nodded and smiled in support of the march, but a group of racists at a bar started taunting the protesters and one stepped forward to make a racist speech. A white woman started pushing one of the Black leaders, and when he pushed her away in self-defense, the police immediately interfered to defend her. The Houston Police then threatened to arrest him but with a large crowd chanting “Shame on you!” at the police, they let him go. The confrontations with racists served to gather more supporters and all types of people in downtown Houston raised their fists in solidarity and shouted, “Black lives matter!”

Towards the end of the march, a huge clash broke out between the protesters and a group on bicycles who were yelling, “All lives matter!” The protesters surrounded the bicyclists chanting, “Black lives matter!” Then the bicyclists became aggressive and one man pushed a Black Lives Matter activist. Dozens of cops with batons on horseback rushed to the defense of the racist man who put his hands on a protester.

The protest was led by the People's New Black Panther Party and members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). SDS is holding a protest on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 10 a.m. at the University of Houston in front of the library.

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