Seattle Black Lives Matter protest draws hundreds

SEATTLE – Hundreds of people marched through downtown Seattle streets and shops as part of a Black Lives Matter protest on Black Friday.

Police said they made at least two arrests and one officer suffered a dislocated shoulder when the crowd interfered with an arrest at the Pacific Place shopping area. The police said about 700 people took part in the demonstration, one of dozens around the country.

The protesters carried signs with pictures of black men killed by police and demanding an end to such killings. They also chanted that their message was more important than looking for holiday shopping deals, saying “Black lives matter – not Black Friday.”

Last year, police arrested several people during the demonstration, which shut down the Westlake Center shopping mall early and disrupted its tree-lighting event.

Demonstrators with the movement also took their protest inside a Portland shopping mall. Video from KGW-TV showed dozens of protesters chanting near an ice-skating rink at the Lloyd Center mall on Friday afternoon.

KGW reported demonstrators gathered in a Northeast Portland park and listened as people passed around a bullhorn. About an hour later, they marched on area streets before entering the mall.