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WATCH: Hundreds participate in 'Freedom March' to Belle Isle

Posted at 8:53 AM, Jun 04, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-05 20:27:18-04

(WXYZ) — Hundreds of people joined arms with police officers to march across the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle on Friday afternoon.

Related: Photo Gallery: Freedom March to Belle Isle happens in Detroit

The Belle Isle Freedom March aimed at recreating the Selma March from 1965 during the Civil Rights movement.

"This will be A PEACEFUL demonstration. This march is to offset the tension that has unfortunately been attached to this wonderful movement. We need to come together in solidarity at this time," organizers said on a posting for the march.

Michigan State Police will be closing the bridge to vehicle traffic starting at 3 p.m. for the march, and it includes both inbound and outbound traffic. Those who are on Belle Isle after the bridge closes will have to wait until the march ends to leave.

On March 9, 1965, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led thousands of marchers across the Edumnd Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama as part of the Selma to Montgomery March during the civil rights movement.

The march is the latest demonstration to happen in Detroit after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.

It happened on the 8th day of demonstrations in the city of Detroit over Floyd's death.