HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Three people have been arrested in the continuing protests over the fatal police shooting of a black man inside Alabama’s largest shopping mall on Thanksgiving night, authorities said Monday.
Two men were arrested Sunday on disorderly conduct charges after a protest that briefly shut down an interstate highway. A woman was arrested Thursday after someone was seen throwing Christmas ornaments into traffic in Hoover, where the shooting occurred.
News outlets reported the woman allegedly told authorities she was doing it as part of the protests seeking justice for Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr., who was killed by a police officer who mistook him for the gunman in a shooting that wounded two people in the Riverchase Galleria.
It was unclear whether any of the three who were arrested have attorneys to speak on their behalf.
In a statement, the city said it supported the right to protest peacefully but that blocking Interstate 459 presents “a serious public safety concern for everyone.”
“We have consistently stated that we will not allow roads and highways to be blocked by protesters because it is hazardous and jeopardizes the safety of all citizens and visitors to Hoover,” said the statement.
No one was hurt in the interstate protest, but authorities said two security guards suffered minor injuries during a demonstration at an upscale resort in Hoover, a city of about 85,000 people in suburban Birmingham.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund last week asked federal authorities to investigate Bradford’s death, citing questions including differing police accounts of what occurred.
The chief federal prosecutor in north Alabama, Jay Town, said officials are monitoring the situation.