Daily Press

HAMPTON POLICE ANNOUNCE CHARGES FOR BLACK LIVES MATTER 757 ORGANIZER

- By Jessica Nolte Staff writer

Hampton police announced charges Tuesday for a Black Lives Matter 757 leader after protesters marched Friday on Mercury Boulevard and blocked traffic at a major intersecti­on.

Police charged 35-year-old Aubrey “Japharii” Jones, of Newport

News, with one count each of obstructin­g the free passage of others, improper use of a highway by a pedestrian and failing to obey the lawful order of police.

A group of about 100 activists met around 8 p.m. Friday at the old Kmart parking lot on Mercury Boulevard in Hampton before marching to the intersecti­on of Mercury and Coliseum Drive.

The group was marking four years since its inception on July 10, 2016.

Protesters took a knee at the intersecti­on of Mercury and Coliseum for eight minutes and 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed when a police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest.

Hampton police blocked the intersecti­on as the protesters knelt. Two officers joined the protesters by kneeling with them.

Hampton police said in a news release that the protest was not a sanctioned or permitted event and that attempts to contact the organizer before the event were unsuccessf­ul.

Police said that after the organizers arrived at the parking lot of 210 West Mercury Boulevard, they were “instructed to keep the crowd on the sidewalk for the duration of the event to ensure the safety of participan­ts and to minimize the impact to vehicular traffic in the area.”

The police division did not say whether it plans to charge anyone else in connection with the protest.

Jones was released on a summons for each of the charges, according to the news release.

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