The "Shut It Down Atlanta" protest movement that started in the heart of downtown Atlanta, meandered through town and briefly shut down the 75/85 Connector near Grady Hospital and downtown halted around the Ivan Allen/Peachtree intersection has now thinned a good bit and apparently is now moving toward its original location.
WSB Traffic Team member Jason Durden has been above the scene in News Chopper 2. Atlanta Police Department officers had been keeping a distance from the march and encountered members around the Ivan Allen/Peachtree intersection. It seemed that a number of people have been detained by authorities although it's not clear if anyone has been arrested or just merely redirected.
AJC reporter Christian Boone reports that the officers, many wearing body cameras, told the crowd to disperse and told them that property damage wouldn't be tolerated. In Ferguson, Mo., site of the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown and Monday's grand-jury decision returning no indictment against Officer Darren Wilson, dozens of businesses were left damaged or destroyed in the riots following the grand jury announcement.
Aerial footage indicates the march has been nonviolent. One marcher paused briefly in the Fairlie Poplar district to smash in a window of a parked taxi cab, then resumed walking, but that isolated act did not touch off any further destruction. Another protester knocked over a sign and then another came behind him or her and righted it.
At the moment authorities have shut down the nearby intersection of Peachtree and Ralph McGill. No roads have been completely shut down and at times passenger cars and protestors on foot have shared the same stretches of asphalt.
You can watch footage on the WSB news app on your phone or tablet as events continue unfolding. Please return for updates.
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