Shutdown Charlotte Sept. 24 -- Peaceful Marches and Rally at Police Headquarters

Young family whose mother was out representing the Worker's World Party being educated about the symbolic blunt. The party published their full support of the demonstrations on the day of the 24th.

Detail of the literal grass blunt. The protester used a hand fan to keep it burning, then later used it to fan herself.

Protester with a more black separatist stance thowing water at a videographer and yours truly.

She was adamant that the press was distorting their message and was corrupting the movement. I later spoke with the professional photographers from Reuters and Getty Images, who reported much the same experience. They held their ground, asking if she was willing to physically assault them to prevent them from doing their jobs, upon which she disengaged.

Aside from this person and her two companions, I received no negative vibes from the crowd or individuals. People stopped to get their photos taken. I was thanked for handing out some cards to folks I had photographed in past nights.

"... everywhere signs." I get the jist of what this author was aiming for, but I think that we'd prefer an end to police brutality, period.

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The rear vanguard, a mix of local church-goers and out-of-town demonstrators. They acted as a barrier between the cohort and the trailing bike police.

Tryon and 6th Street. Carolina Theatre sign in background.

Meanwhile at Sip, Tryon and 5th Street. Sparse Saturday night crowd both attempting to ignore as well as meagerly documenting the momentary passing spectacle.

China State Television's view of Charlotte. Armored and gun-turretted camo Humvee parked at Trade and Tryon. I believe this is their corresponding video coverage.

Another communist party sign. Morehead and Lilly's presidential platform details.

Police preemptively block traffic on I-277 in front of Band of America stadium. The march crossed Tryon and I-277, but did not descend onto the freeway. The riot-garbed police were primarily visible during the march only at I-277 crossings, ready to defend the interstate.

Cutting through the Dowd YMCA's parking lot

This protester commented that many persons initially misread her sign as "Blue Lives Matter." Too clever for its own good?

Spotlight from one of the 5+ overhead helicopters

March ends at the police station. Not pictured are the barricades in front of the doors and the ~10 National Guard members behind. Police were not involved with the appearance of defending the station.

Ubiquitous documentation

Always one in every crowd. A self-aggrandizing alien, that is.

LED Guy says "Goodnight"

This night's protest was similar in spirit to that of the 22nd's. It felt somewhat more organized, with water being handed out throughout the march, but with sometimes competing groups with megaphones.

It began at Marshall Park, the then-declared headquarters of the protest. The march was literally led and trailed by what seemed to be experienced protesters from out of town, with a vanguard of bike riders leading the way and trying to distance the press from the march front line. After curfew was called and the gathering out front of the police station was declared to be an unlawful gathering and the crowd was pressing up against the riot police, black leaders were speaking with white out-of-towners who were on the phone with "the mission," asking for supplies to defend the people from chemical weapons --- bandanas, eye masks, Maalox and so forth. When the situation de-escalated, a followup call was made to cancel the order for supplies. The organization, monetary support, and diverse motivations for supporting the local effort seems myriad and somewhat shadowy. I spoke with Public Defender Toussaint Romaine who characterized the leadership as being unknown out-of-towners.

The march criss-crossed town peacefully, with only a few lingering confrontations with police on bikes sometimes blocking streets. Riot police were visible to me only blocking access to I-277 and beside the police station well after curfew.

Noise was made at the jailhouse again, but without the half-hearted storming towards an entrance as done on the 22nd. Prisoners flashed their cell lights.

The march ended at the police station at around 11:30PM, where various speakers took turns with bullhorns, or sometimes overlapped. The police announced curfew beginning at midnight, but did not pressure for dispersal. Later on there was a confrontation with riot police blocking access to the rear of the station along North Davidson Street. But the protesters backed off after not getting a rise from the police.

Mr. Romaine was visible throught the night, doing his best to de-escalate potential situations.

Photo discussion on reddit.