Page One

Five people were arrested and one person was given a citation for vandalism, bottles thrown at officers and graffiti during an anti-police march in Oakland on Thursday night, police said. 

The march, which began at Frank Ogawa Plaza at 7 p.m. and eventually blocked traffic in both directions on Interstate Highway 880 near downtown Oakland, was held to protest the fatal shootings of black men by police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana. 

Oakland police said the protest began with about 100 demonstrators but it quickly grew to about 2,000 people. 

Police said officers facilitated a safe march along the Broadway corridor toward Sixth Street and Broadway but about 1,000 protesters went onto the highway and blocked traffic in both directions while the other 1,000 remained in city streets. 

Police said vandalism to the police administration building at Seventh Street and Broadway, such as paint on doors, scratches on glass and broken glass resulted in one arrest and more arrests are anticipated. 

A broken window at the Smart and Final store at 10th Street and Broadway resulted in one arrest for burglary and bottles thrown at officers resulted in two arrests, according to police. 

Graffiti on a window at the Chase Bank branch at 14th Street and Broadway and graffiti on columns in the 1000 block of Broadway resulted in one arrest and one citation, police said. 

In addition, there were broken windows at the Foot Locker store on Broadway near 14th Street and there was a small fire on a Caltrans sign board on I-880 according to police. No injuries were reported, police said. 

I-880 was reopened at about 1:15 a.m. today. 

Although the California Highway Patrol allowed protesters to remain on I-880 longer than is usual during protests, Officer John Fransen said today that "there's no set time" for removing protesters from freeways. 

Fransen said, "We try to do the best we can to keep as many people safe as possible and de-escalate the situation" and the most important thing is to protect lives. 

Fransen said protests are "fluid situations" and the CHP works with local agencies, such as Oakland police, to try to keep protesters off freeways but he said many variables are involved, such as how many people are involved in a protest. 

He said, "We look at each situation and deal with it as best as we can while keeping everyone safe," including drivers, protesters and officers. 

Fransen said, "Freeways are a dangerous place and we don't want anyone to be injured."