Page One

Protests close Interstate 880, now re-opened

Dennis Culver (BCN)
Friday July 08, 2016 - 10:14:00 AM

The California Highway Patrol this morning is reporting all lanes of Interstate Highway 880 in Oakland have reopened following a night of protests that spilled onto the highway.

A Sig-alert issued was canceled at 1:15 a.m., and both northbound and southbound lanes of the highway have reopened, according to the CHP. 

At 12:18 a.m., the Oakland Police Department reported there were still about 100 protestors demonstrating against police violence. 

The protests started Thursday around 7 p.m. when a group of approximately 100 demonstrators gathered at Frank Ogawa Plaza, police said. The group quickly grew to about 2,000 people. 

As demonstrators made their way down Broadway toward 6th Street, a group of approximately 1,000 protestors went onto the highway and blocked traffic in both directions, police said. 

Police have reported vandalism to the Police Administration Building, including paint on the doors, scratches on glass and broken glass. 

There have been other incidents of vandalism reported including broken windows and graffiti at nearby businesses, and a Caltrans signboard was set on fire on the highway, police said. 

There were arrests made, but police have not said how many people were arrested during the protests.