‘I can’t breathe’: thousands march over US police killings

Protesters were seen waving banners which read “I can’t breathe”, the last words of 43-year-old Eric Garner, who died on 17 July after police officers attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes on Staten Island.

‘This is what democracy looks like’ – music and marching #Justice4All DC #c4news https://t.co/t4hU8e7pBF

— Hannah Miller (@hanrmiller) December 13, 2014

The “Justice for All” march in Washington, DC also highlighted the fatal shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, who was shot 12 times by a white police officer on 9 August.

Watch: 'New York is Ferguson' say protesters over death of Eric Garner

Organisers of the march demanded dismissal of the police officer who placed the chokehold on Mr Garner. They also demanded to pass legislation in order to stop employing officers who use excessive force in New York State, and to set up an independent office to deal with police violence.

The New York march on Saturday drew an ethnically diverse crowd, who headed north up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue from Washington Square Park, before circling back to end the protest with hands raised at police headquarters in lower Manhattan.

The demonstrators chanted “No justice, no peace” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.” They also carried a sign that said “Black lives matter.”

New York police set cordon lines in streets, and police helicopters overhauled the demonstrators to keep order. The demonstration in New York coincided with protests in other cities including Washington, DC, Boston and Los Angeles on Saturday.

As demonstrations continued in Washington DC, body-sized cardboard effigies of lynching victims were seen hanging by nooses on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, school officials said.

University police responded to morning reports of two cardboard cut-outs in public campus areas before a midday demonstration and march assembled on the campus in the Oakland area, spokeswoman Claire Holmes said.

There is a noose on Sather Gate . This is traumatizing as hell. I just can’t believe this. #UCBerkeley pic.twitter.com/cznekYZwyg

— BLAKE (@B_A_Simons) December 13, 2014

A third figure was also hung before all were taken down.

“It has been unclear to us whether this was racially motivated or part of the protests across the country against police violence,” Ms Holmes said, adding the images were disturbing and the school would investigate. There are no suspects at this time.