Philadelphia

Coinciding ‘Day of Rage' Protests in North Philadelphia, Center City Snarls Rush Hour Traffic

Coinciding protests in North Philadelphia and Center City marking what demonstrators are calling the "Day of Rage" snarled rush-hour traffic on Thursday.

The protests were led by two separate groups but joined together in solidarity.

In the first, Temple University students and faculty walked out at about 2 p.m. to join neighborhood residents for a 3 p.m. demonstration against the football stadium the university wants to build in North Philadelphia. The demonstration will begin at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, according to a news release from organizing group Stadium Stompers, and protesters then joined a larger march “against displacement and low wages, standing in solidarity with fast-food workers, healthcare workers.”
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The protesters then to marched south on Broad Street to Temple University’s campus through lower North Philadelphia into Center City, with an action set to take place at Arch Street at 5 p.m., according to the news release.

A coinciding rally and protest, which organizers refer to as a "Day of Rage," eventually combined with the protest beginning at Temple kicked off at about 4 p.m. at Broad Street and Girard Avenue, according to a news release from the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice, the organizer of that demonstration. That rally was planned as the one-year anniversary of Freddie Gray’s death and the ensuing mass protests in Baltimore approaches, organizers said. Participants plan to rally against “police terrorism of black communities, Mayor Kenney’s broken promise to end ‘Stop and Frisk’ and Temple University’s proposed $126 million stadium in North Philly,” according to the news release.[[375781151, C]]

"The problems of gentrification, displacement, and police terrorism are bigger than just a handful of racist politicians and cops. The problem is the lack of power Black people have over their lives and communities," the news release read in part.

Protesters then moved south on Broad Street toward City Hall.

The demonstrations took place during rush-hour traffic, causing some headaches for commuters, but Philadelphia police worked to open roads as protesters moved south.

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