Vigils were held last night in more than 90 cities across the country, including Columbus and Cleveland, for people who died at the hands of police. They were held in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and the death of a New York City man by a police officer's chokehold. Dozens of people held a rally at Goodale Park in Columbus last night. At a rally in Cleveland's Willard Park, 150 mostly African-American demonstrators linked Brown's death to a string of other killings of unarmed black youth by white officers. Independent activist Akeem Jamal Rollins organized the event and says the issue is personal for many blacks.
Cleveland State University student Arianna McCall spoke at the event.
Kelly Herbin brought her two daughters and a grandchild to the protest. She says from a young age, she cautioned her son to behave carefully around police.
Rally organizers called for the African-American participants to speak about police racism to their white friends.