Why Ferguson Protests Spilled Onto Highways

Protests following a Missouri grand jury's failure to indict Officer Darren Wilson for shooting and killing Michael Brown spilled out onto highways in several American cities on Monday evening and Tuesday. Protesters occupied freeways in Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, Milwaukee, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago. (One reported incident of road rage at the protests -- a Minnesota man who ran over a woman in downtown Minneapolis -- happened on a surface street.)

Patrick Kennedy, a Streetsblog Network member who now writes at D Magazine's Street Smart column, sees special significance in the use of highways as a protest venue. It is less tidy and harder to ignore than staying on the surface:

Here are a few more scenes of the direct action on highways.

Protesters blocked traffic on Cleveland's Route 2 in both directions, right in the middle of rush hour. Via Northeast Ohio Media Group's Cory Shaffer:

Here is I-70 in St. Louis, via Michael Allen:

New York City, via Keegan Stephan:

Philadelphia, via D Magazine:

Detroit's I-75 via Motor City Muckrackers:

Providence, Rhode Island's I-95, via J Claesse:

Elsewhere on the Network today: Strong Towns turns a skeptical eye toward the 60 Minutes report on America's decrepit infrastructure. And Streets.mn says its time for Minnesota to institute a state sales tax on gasoline and motor vehicle purchases.