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Baton Rouge Convulsed By Another Night Of Protests, Scores Arrested

This story is being continuously updated.

Protests continued in Baton Rouge Sunday evening, six days after the shooting death of Alton Sterling by a Baton Rouge police officer.

Large crowds of protestors collected in several different areas of the city, met by police in riot gear. At least 50 people were arrested.

With reporting from Baton Rouge by Jesse Hardman, Tegan Wendland and Bryan Tarnowski.

As in all breaking news situations, events are often fluid and unpredictable. Some information encountered by New Orleans Public Radio reporters may later turn out to be wrong. Our editors and reporters make every effort to accurately and completely report what they encounter, and to ensure veracity and timeliness.

11:38 p.m. CT - Crowds have thinned and police have backed off.

10:39 p.m. CT - Police begin arriving to confront protestors gathered near BRPD headquarters.

10:02 p.m. CT - Activist Deray Mckesson, jailed yesterday, has returned to the Triple S market, the site of the shooting death of Alton Sterling.

9:47 p.m. CT - The Advocate is reporting nearly 50 people have been arrested so far in Baton Rouge this evening.

9:38 p.m. CT - Reports from the Advocate and other outlets say protestors now massing near Baton Rouge Police headquarters on Airline Highway, scene of mass arrests last night.

Amnesty International is questioning whether police agencies in Baton Rouge are allowing for appropriate, constitutional protesting.

"The sheer number of arrests last night raises serious questions about proportionate response to peaceful protests. Law enforcement officers cannot selectively decide which laws to enforce during demonstrations - be it against journalists, legal observers or protestors, " said Jamira Burley, Amnesty's campaign manager for gun violence and criminal justice reform in a statement from Baton Rouge.

Solange Knowles says police were acting inappropriately.

7:49 p.m. CT - Police are making numerous arrests at multiple locations throughout the city.

7:34 p.m. CT - Reporter Jesse Hardman finds riot police massing on the corner of France and East Streets. Police tell demonstrators "this is no longer a peaceful demonstration," and begin to make arrests.

Riot police massing on the corner of France and East Streets in Baton Rouge.
Credit Jesse Hardman / WWNO
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WWNO
Riot police massing on the corner of France and East Streets in Baton Rouge.

6:54 p.m. CT - Police have begun making numerous arrests.

6:46 p.m CT - Police attempting to disperse some groups of protestors.

6:19 p.m. CT - Protestors running into heavily armed police.

6:09 p.m. - New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, with protestors at the Superdome.

6:04 p.m. CT - Protestors are moving through different neighborhoods in Baton Rouge. Some are overheard by Advocate journalist Rebekah Allen wanting to march to LSU.

5:15 p.m. CT - Reporter Ryan Kailath is released from jail.

5:15 p.m. - Reporter Ryan Kailath is released from jail.
Credit Tegan Wendland / WWNO
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WWNO
5:15 p.m. - Reporter Ryan Kailath is released from jail.

5:04 p.m. CT - March leaves Capitol.

Still waiting for reporter Ryan Kailath to be released from jail.
Credit Tegan Wendland / WWNO
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WWNO
As of 5 p.m., still waiting for reporter Ryan Kailath to be released from jail.

  

5:01 p.m. CT - Tegan Wendland is stationed outside the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, waiting for the release of WWNO reporter Ryan Kailath. Kailath was arrested along with over a hundred others during protests along Airline Highway in Baton Rouge Saturday night.

4:30 p.m. CT - The governor's press conference has ended. The governor stressed the rights of protestors to peacefully assemble and to be heard. Law enforcement officers said they were ready to respond to any violence, and reiterated they would make arrests if protestors blocked major thoroughfares like Airline Highway.

Jason Saul served as WWNO's Director of Digital Services. In 2017 he took a position at BirdNote, in Seattle.
As the new Coastal Reporter, Jesse Hardman will draw on 15 years of worldwide experience in radio, video and print journalism. As a radio reporter he has reported for NPR, BBC, and CBC, and for such familiar programs as Marketplace, This American Life, Latino USA, and Living on Earth. He served as a daily news reporter and news magazine producer for WBEZ in Chicago.

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