Black Lives Matter activist Deray Mckesson arrested while Periscoping

Police arrested more than 200 people marching down the side of the road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana last night, according to several reports, including a strong voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, Deray Mckesson.

Mckesson, who is very active on social media and police reform projects, was taken into custody Saturday night while walking down the side of the road and filming the protest on Periscope.

The protest was one of several held throughout the nation in support of two black men recently shot to death by police, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Protestors within the Black Lives Matter movement have been demanding justice from police over the fatal shootings this past week.

Protestors where Mckesson was filming were shouting, “No justice, no peace. No racist police” as they walked down the street. Mckesson started mentioning police had been provoking protestors and showed officers of the law stopping those walking down the side of the road on his Periscope video when he was suddenly arrested himself.

Another protestor grabbed Mckesson’s phone and kept filming. The protestor said police told them McKesson was taken into custody for “walking in the middle of the street.” Other protestors continued to Periscope Mckesson’s arrest and discuss what had just happened for 10 minutes after the incident.

According to the Washington Post, Mckesson was officially charged with “obstructing a highway of commerce.”

The Periscope video clearly shows Mckesson on the side of the road and not in the middle of traffic. Mckesson mentioned in his Periscope that the road the protestors were on did not provide a sidewalk and people were walking down the shoulder of the road for that reason. Mckesson filmed the white line marking the side of the road in his video to show he was not blocking traffic as he walked.

More than 100 people were also arrested in a St. Paul, Minnesota protest last night for forming a human blockade along I-94, according to the Star Tribune.

It is unclear when Mckesson may be released. However, the arrest has further fueled online outrage from an already tense week of gun violence and protests.

Update: Mckesson was released from police custody Sunday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/mspackyetti/status/752237221701300224

However, it seems hundreds of others arrested last night have yet to be released.