DeRay Mckesson, the out civil rights activist and one of #BlackLivesMatter's most visible voices, was arrested on Saturday night during a peaceful protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
A photo posted by deray (@iamderay) on
DeRay was one of (at least) 120 demonstrators taken into custody by the the Baton Rouge Police department after a night of rallying attention to last week's fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. While he and protest attendees marched down a Baton Rogue highway, he was booked on a charge of "obstructing a highway of commerce," reports The Washington Post.
The social media world took notice of DeRay's arrest, and shortly after he was taken into custody, the hashtag #FeeDeRay started trending, with people all over the country calling for his release.
\u201cI wish people would protect the First Amendment with the same fervor as they have the Second Amendment. #FreeDeray\u201d— Rashida Jones (@Rashida Jones) 1468128971
\u201c#FreeDeray because the right to protest is a fundamental part of a democracy.\u201d— Willa Fitzgerald (@Willa Fitzgerald) 1468182040
\u201cWe need our leaders #FreeDeray\u201d— Zendaya (@Zendaya) 1468173797
\u201cThe fact that people (read: racists) are already angry @deray is being treated as a hero only further evidences what a hero he is #FreeDeray\u201d— Lauren Duca (@Lauren Duca) 1468169286
\u201c#FreeDeray! Protesting is protected by the constitution.\u201d— Akilah Hughes (@Akilah Hughes) 1468154374
After 16 hours, he was finally released on Sunday afternoon, reports The New York Times. In an interview following his release from jail, DeRay told NYT that he would still continue to protest the unjust deaths of people of color at the hands of police.
“The police want protesters to be too afraid to protest, which is why they intentionally created a context of conflict, and I’ll never be afraid to tell the truth,” said DeRay. “What we saw in Baton Rouge was a police department that chose to provoke protesters to create, like, a context of conflict they could exploit.”
