Black Lives Matter Activist DeRay McKesson Detained In Baton Rouge

(AllHipHop News) A prominent member of the Black Lives Matter movement was arrested last night (July 9) in Baton Rouge, following protests over the shooting death of local resident Alton Sterling.

According to reports, BLM leader DeRay McKesson was arrested as he walked along Airline Highway.

McKesson was among the hundreds of people peacefully protesting the recent shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Sterling, 37, was unarmed when he was shot to death by a cop in front of a convenience store in Baton Rouge.

The following day, Philando Castile, 32, was shot by a white officer in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. The aftermath of the horrific act was broadcast by Castile’s girlfriend on Facebook Live.

McKesson was chronicling last night’s protests in Baton Rouge via his Twitter and Periscope accounts.

“Again, the protestors have been peaceful tonight. The police have been violent. #BatonRouge,” McKesson Tweeted before his arrest. “If anything happens tonight, it was caused by the police. Everybody has been peaceful tonight but them.”

Witnesses said the activist was arrested as he filmed the protests, but as of press time, it was not known why he was detained.

Police had a heavy presence during the protests in Baton Rouge, which came on the heels of the shooting deaths of five officers in Dallas, during similar protests.

The sniper, military vet Micah Johnson, was allegedly upset with the Black Lives Matter movement as well as white police officers and white people in general.

Despite the carnage in Dallas, protests over Sterling and Philando Castile continued over the weekend in cities like St. Paul, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Atlanta, San Francisco and Fresno.