"NYPD announces that arrests are underway for protesters blocking streets in midtown Manhattan over grand jury decision in Eric Garner case," ABC News reported.
The 43-year-old Garner died from suffocation in July after being put in a chokehold by white police officer Daniel Pantaleo. A bystander recorded a video of police restraining Garner, an asthma and heart disease patient, as he cried out repeatedly "I can't breathe!".
Crowds chanted "I can't breathe!" and "Hands Up – Don't Choke!" as they carried signs through Times Square, according to ABC News. Traffic was temporarily stalled in the Lincoln Tunnel and on the Brooklyn Bridge. A group of activists held a "die-in" protest at the Grand Central Terminal.
This follows a Ferguson grand jury's ruling last week that white officer Darren Wilson should not be charged with the shooting of a black teenager, Michael Brown, in August. The killing and the verdict set off nationwide protests and renewed debate over police brutality and racial profiling in the country.
