Artists hold 24-hour protest against police brutality

A group of artists held a 24-hour action against police brutality in New York City’s Grand Central Station from 5 p.m. on Jan. 5 to 5 p.m. on Jan. 6. They carried signs with the names of 170 people killed by cops over the last 50 years, including Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

Organizer Laurie Arbiter noted that there were extraordinary moments as people came upon the demonstration. One man noted that his 14-year-old son, Claude Reese, was shot in the head by a cop in 1974, when cops burst into the basement of his Brooklyn home. The organizers added a sign with Reese’s name. Another man stopped when he saw a sign with the name of his friend, Phillip Pannell, who at the age of 16 was shot and killed by a cop in Teaneck, N.J., in 1990.

The group read out the names of each person killed and spoke about their lives and how they were murdered. Many family members of those killed participated in the event. #carrythenames #wewillnotbesilent