Impromptu protests placing extra burden on Metro police

Please subscribe & share Last week, hundreds of protesters marched onto Interstate 24 and lay down in the middle of the roadway. Police had mere minutes to react. Thursday night, another group lay down in the middle of the street in front of Fisk University. "We stand for social justice, equality and human rights," said Mark Lollis with Brown Justice Chasers. Lollis said the point of the protests is to peacefully enact change. "Police brutality is a horrible issue, but there is a bigger issue to this, and that's human rights, social justice and the need to change policies in America as a whole," he said. But some are asking, at what cost? During Thursday's protests, a man was robbed and beaten by five others less than a mile away. There were at least seven robberies between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursday. There were dozens of police officers in the area, many of whom were dealing with the protesters lying in the street. In many cases, Metro officials get no warning of the protests, even though code requires it. Lollis said his group tried to warn city officials before its protest. "It's not going to happen all the time," Lollis said. Lollis admitted the protests may pose a threat to the rest of city society, but he also argued that it's worth it. "The risk of what we're doing it definitely does not outweigh the reward that we're looking to get from it and the social change that we are looking to get," Lollis said.