Yeshiva World News

More than 100 immigration professors and scholars declared Tuesday that President Barack Obama’s decision to make several million immigrants illegally in the United States eligible to be spared from deportation is constitutional and within his administrative powers.

The 135 scholars focused on two major provisions of Obama’s executive actions announced last week. One would shield parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents from deportation and allow them to apply for work permits. The other measure would expand a program that shielded immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children. Those two programs could affect up to 4.4 million people.

The scholars’ statement asserts that the president’s actions are a proper use of prosecutorial discretion.

Republicans reacted furiously to Obama’s decision, calling the offer of deportation relief and work permits unlawful and unconstitutional. Some of Obama’s legal critics argue a president’s job is to enforce the laws passed by Congress and say Obama is acting in defiance of Congress.

The White House has argued that past Republican and Democratic presidents have used their executive authority to protect immigrants from deportation. Obama’s actions, however, would affect a far larger number of immigrants than other presidents did with their directives.

Critics like John Yoo and Robert Delahunty, both of whom worked in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel during President George W. Bush’s administration, argue that the president doesn’t have such broad latitude and that prosecutorial discretion can only be applied narrowly.

The scholars, in their statement, said the broad scope of Obama’s actions did not make them any less lawful.

“The president could conceivably decide to cap the number of people who can receive prosecutorial discretion or make the conditions restrictive enough to keep the numbers small, but this would be a policy choice, not a legal issue,” they wrote.

The statement is an updated version of a Sept. 3 letter from some of the same professors and immigration experts to Obama spelling out legal arguments and precedents for executive action.

It was organized by immigration law experts Hiroshi Motomura at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia at the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, and Stephen H. Legomsky at the Washington University School of Law.

(AP)

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is resigning at a particularly tough time for U.S. foreign and defense policy, with one war ending, another just beginning and the Pentagon struggling with the prospect of deeper budget cuts ahead.

It also raises the prospect of policy shifts as President Barack Obama seeks to sign up his fourth Pentagon chief in six years.

During a White House ceremony Monday after Hagel had submitted his resignation, Obama said he and Hagel agreed it was an “appropriate time for him to complete his service.” Neither the president nor Hagel cited specific reasons for the change. Hagel aides said he had initiated private talks with the president in late October but was not leaving over policy conflicts.

Hagel, 68, never broke through the White House’s notoriously insular national security team. Officials privately denigrated his ability to publicly communicate administration policy and more recently questioned his capacity to oversee new military campaigns against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Hagel is the first high-level member of Obama’s national security team to step down after both a disastrous midterm election for the president’s party and persistent criticism about the administration’s policies in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. It’s unclear whether Hagel’s forced resignation signals the start of a broader shake-up of the president’s team.

Obama said Hagel agreed to stay on the job until his successor has been confirmed by the Senate next year.

The timing sets up a potential confirmation fight. Republicans, who are about to take control of the Senate, have been deeply critical of the president’s foreign policy.

Among leading contenders to replace Hagel is Michele Flournoy, a Democrat who served as the Pentagon’s policy chief from 2009-12 and, after leaving, provided foreign policy advice to Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Flournoy, who would be the first woman to head the Pentagon, is now chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security, a think tank she co-founded.

Flournoy is said to be interested in the top Pentagon job, but seeking assurances from the White House that she would be given greater latitude in policymaking than Hagel.

Also mentioned as a possible successor is Ashton Carter, who served as deputy defense secretary from 2011-13.

With Hagel’s ouster, Obama will be the first president since Harry Truman to have four defense secretaries. Hagel’s predecessors, Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, complained after leaving the administration about White House micromanagement and political interference in policy decisions.

Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, suggested Obama consider his own role in his administration’s foreign policy struggles rather than seeking another makeover at the Pentagon.

“When the president goes through three secretaries, he should ask, ‘Is it them, or is it me?’” said McKeon, R-Calif.

In some ways, the more mild-mannered Hagel was seen by the White House as a Pentagon chief who would be less likely than Gates and Panetta to pitch policy fights with the West Wing.

Some foreign policy experts noted the irony in the White House ousting a defense secretary who largely played the role the president appeared to have been seeking. Others saw Hagel as slightly out of step with the White House.

“The focus has now shifted from budget cuts and (troop) withdrawals to new military action, especially in Syria and Iraq, and in the full course of that, he often hasn’t seemed to be on the same page with the White House,” said Stephen Biddle, a professor of political science at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

Hagel’s aides assert he is leaving at an appropriate juncture, after having brought to fruition this year several major reviews of problem areas for the Pentagon — most recently a plan for top-to-bottom changes in management of the nuclear force. He also took on reforms to the military justice system and to the military health system.

But the national security landscape looks far different than when Hagel was brought in to oversee the drawdown of the Afghanistan war and navigate the Pentagon through budget cuts. White House officials suggested the shift in emphasis was behind the need for a change in leadership.

The political skills Hagel showed as a two-term senator from Nebraska never fully translated to the Pentagon job, which is a complex mix of politics, public diplomacy, defense planning and management of a far-flung bureaucracy.

At times Hagel struggled to publicly articulate his views and the nuances of administration policy. Although he often visited military bases, he seemed reluctant to use his Vietnam combat experience as a way to connect. He was the first enlisted combat veteran to serve as Pentagon chief.

Hagel joined the Army at age 21. After completing training, he volunteered to fight in Vietnam even though the Army intended to send him to Germany as part of a classified project involving a new shoulder-fired missile.

“All my friends thought I was out of my mind” to insist on Vietnam, he said in a 2002 interview with a Library of Congress veterans history project. “Nonetheless, I just felt it was the right thing to do. A war was going on. They needed their best people, and I didn’t want to be in Germany when there was a war going on in Vietnam.”

(AP)

Emergency service agencies are busy preparing for what is promised to be the first major winter storm, beginning on Tuesday evening 3 Kislev. Forecasters expect major thundershowers and heavy winds beginning at 8:00PM Tuesday, lasting a number of hours. The storm is expected to continue during the night but the heaviest rains will only last a few hours, forecasters explain.

The main concerns being addressed by Israel Police, Israel Fire and the Israel Electric Company (IEC) is flooding in low-lying areas and areas prone to flash floods. IEC officials realize such a storm is usually accompanied by downed trees, which result in outages.

Police will be calling in additional manpower ahead of the storm including more dispatchers at the ‘100’ emergency center, Israel’s equivalent of ‘911’ in N. America.

Police urge motorists to stay off the road if and when possible and to exercise caution and to drive in line with the inclement weather conditions. Local government, Israel Police, IEC, MDA, Ichud Hatzalah, Zaka and other agencies are preparing for the predicted major storm.

IEC officials warn the tzibur that if one sees downed electric lines to distance oneself from the potential life-threatening danger and to call the utility to report the situation immediately.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

A nor’easter was expected to develop along the East Coast just as millions of travelers head to their Thanksgiving destinations, bringing mostly rain close to the coast, but heavier snow farther inland. The exact track and severity of the storm had meteorologists on alert.

“A small deviation in the track could change things dramatically,” said Jeff Masters, chief meteorologist for Weather Underground. The storm, forecast to dump rain along the coast and snow inland, could cause delays along busy Northeast highways and had the possibility of upsetting travel plans at airports throughout the region.

Precipitation was forecast to sweep in from the south Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and exit the region on Thursday morning.

“I would pack your patience,” said Robert Sinclair of AAA New York. “Unfortunately, the storm is scheduled to hit right in the middle of getaway day.”

Masters said coastal cities are likely to mostly receive rain, although meteorologists were keeping a close eye on the rain/snow line. As of Monday, the highest amount of snow was expected to fall in northeastern Pennsylvania, the Catskills of upstate New York and into Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Up to 10 inches was possible in some places, forecasters said.

Officials at the three major airports in the New York City area ? Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty ? were “monitoring weather forecasts carefully,” and were ready to take action if needed, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airports.

All the major U.S. airlines were closely monitoring the situation but have not yet canceled flights or made any other changes.

American Airlines was allowing passengers flying to some Northeast cities on Wednesday to move their flight, for free, to Tuesday or Thursday. Delta Air Lines had a similar waiver for Wednesday flights to the region, but it was letting passengers only reschedule for flights on Thursday or Friday, which might be too late for many travelers.

Sinclair noted that an estimated 41.3 million travelers were expected to hit the nation’s highways for the holiday weekend. That’s a 4.3 percent increase over last year.

He suggested travelers consider traveling on Tuesday or Thursday, instead of Wednesday, if they can.

(AP)

Authorities say that more than 80 people were arrested as chaos enveloped sections of the St. Louis area overnight.

St. Louis County police released records early Tuesday showing 61 people were arrested in Ferguson on charges including burglary and trespassing.

And St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said 21 people were arrested in the city.

Angry protesters set fire to buildings and police cars and looted businesses in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson on Monday night after it was announced that a grand jury decided against indicting the white police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, in August.

(AP)

The Legislative Law Committee on Sunday Rosh Chodesh Kislev debated a bill initiated by MK (The Movement) Amram Mitzne. The Independence Day Bill calls for observing Israel’s holiday on the same day every year, the Thursday before 5 Iyar. Mitzne hopes to push the bill through to prevent moving observance of the day to another day for example, which is often done to prevent chilul Shabbos. Mitzne however feels by observing Independence Day on a Thursday will provide Israelis with a long holiday weekend, which is what most people would prefer.

Hours before the committee was scheduled to meet Tzohar Rabbonim released a statement objecting to the bill. The organization explains that tradition demands observing the day on 5 Iyar and not a set day on the Gregorian calendar since 5 Iyar “is the day that compels us to rejoice and recite Hallel and that day should not be changed unless there are special circumstances such as to prevent chilul Shabbos”.

Tzohar rabbonim also fear that if observance is no longer tied to the actual Jewish day of the calendar then “An element of the kedusha of the day would be lost”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Iran’s Supreme Leader said Tuesday that western powers will not be able to bring the country to its knees in nuclear talks, his website reported.

“On the nuclear issue, the United States and European colonialist countries gathered and applied their entire efforts to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees but they could not and they will not,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, speaking to a group of clerics.

The remarks were the first by Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, since Iran and major global powers agreed Monday to decide by March 1 what needs to be done and on what kind of schedule. A final agreement is meant to follow four months later.

Khamenei has so far backed the nuclear negotiations. His reference to the future indicates that the extension of the talks would have his approval as well.

Earlier on Monday and in a nationwide broadcast, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told his nation that it “has achieved a significant victory” and “negotiations will lead to a deal, sooner or later.”

Rouhani also said many gaps in the talks “have been eliminated.”

But he also vowed that Iran will not relinquish its right to nuclear capability.

“Our nuclear rights should be admitted by the world,” Rouhani said. “We will continue the talks.”

The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, have engaged in intensive negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran has denied its nuclear research has any sort of military dimension, saying it is focused on peaceful uses like power generation and medical treatments.

(AP)

Deputy Minister of Religious Services Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan has introduced a bill seeking to harshen conditions for recalcitrant husbands, those who refuse to give their wife a get, preferring to leave them as agunos. The bill stipulates that if such a husband is imprisoned for his refusal, he will no longer be entitled to mehadrin food in prison. The deputy minister, who is a former CEO of the nation’s batei din, is pushing the bill through the Ministerial Legislative Law Committee.

“We will deal harshly with recalcitrant husbands. A man cannot ignore religious law on the one hand, ignoring a psak din instructing him to give his wife a get and on the other hand make demands to accommodate his heightened religious observance”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

After hearing a facts and figures from various sources, Saar Shalom Jerbi, who oversees state-run national service programs released the official figures pertaining to chareidi enlistment in the latter. Government officials supporting the share the burden efforts to draft chareidim into the military were confident thousands of chareidim would join national service programs as an option to avoid military service.

Jerbi began by stating the Shaked [Share the Burden] Ministerial Committee reported 1,500 chareidim entered national service programs during the year but in actuality, that number stands at a mere 300 nationwide.

Jerbi added that the Shaked Committee added slots to induct chareidim into national programs, especially in Israel Police and the Israel Prison Authority. He reports that a total of seven chareidim entered Israel Police and one the Israel Prison Authority under the national service banner.

In response to Jerbi’s facts and figures, Shaked stated the figures are worrisome, testimony that they failed to compel chareidim to abandon their lifestyle to meet the new share the burden realities.

Jerbi explains that traditionally, older chareidim joined national programs but “now that they emptied the pool” and chareidim 22 and older can receive exemptions from national service, there is a sharp decline in the number of volunteers. Hence the share the burden effort pertaining to national service is a colossal failure.

Shaked turned to committee member MK (Yahadut Hatorah) Meir Porush to ask what can be done. Porush responded it is time to change the government.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

It appears that the chareidi boycott of Housing Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Ariel may be over. A meeting took place with Ariel and HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch of the Degel Hatorah Moetzas Gedolei Hatorah and Rosh Yeshivas Slobodka.

The meeting was held in recent daysin the rav’s home in Bnei Brak. Also taking part in the meeting were HaGaon Rav Yehuda Silman and Yanki Bechler, a prominent PR person. They discussed chareidi community housing needs and the critical housing shortage today.

Chareidi lawmakers have bene boycotting Ariel because he was part of the coalition that has imposed harsh gezeiros on the chareidi tzibur. MK Moshe Gafne did not miss opportunities to attack Ariel for his remaining in the coalition and working with the Yesh Atid party. Gafne accused Ariel of selling the chareidi community down the tubes to promote his own interests.

Ariel listened attentively to the rabbonim. He also told them that he believes elections are not too far in the future.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The Federal Aviation Administration outlined steps Monday to improve its security and air traffic control backup systems following the sabotage of a suburban Chicago air traffic control center that disrupted travel nationwide ? but said widespread upgrades will require money from Congress.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said work has begun to reduce the system’s disaster response time from days to hours. But he said broader security and technology changes depend on federal lawmakers providing the funds.

“We hope to never see an event like this again,” Huerta said in a conference call with reporters. “But we must be prepared.”

It took more than two weeks to fully repair the Aurora, Illinois, regional control center after a 36-year-old contract worker set fire to communications equipment before trying to commit suicide. The fire caused more than 2,000 canceled flights and brought Chicago’s two international airports to a standstill.

That “inconvenienced passengers, reportedly cost the airlines over $350 million and raised questions about the resiliency of our national airspace system and its ability to withstand a similar systematic attack in the future,” according to a five-page FAA report.

The company that employed the contract worker, the Harris Corp., is paying for the damage to the facility, but the FAA had to pick up the tab for moving controllers to other facilities during the outage. Huerta said that part of the recovery effort cost the FAA “in the millions,” but that he didn’t have a final number.

The FAA is immediately revamping its backup systems that would allow for a smoother transfer of control of high-altitude air traffic to alternate facilities in the event of another outage at a major facility, the report said.

The report also called for speeding up the transition from a 1950s-era radar-based system to one based on GPS. Known as NextGen, the FAA’s more modern satellite-based program should improve the response to disaster, Huerta said.

(AP)

The Knesset Officer has revoked the credentials of the parliamentary aide of MK (Ra’am-Ta’al) Masood Ganim after the former he was heard stating “let’s go slaughter 50 Jews”.

The Knesset Officer updated Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein of his decision and actions. The aide was instructed to leave Knesset immediately pending the outcome of the investigation into the matter.

When speaking to the media Ganim stated his aide apologized for the remarks, which he stated may have been in poor taste but definitely stated in jest. He added the aide has been at his side in Knesset for 12 years and anyone who knows him can attest to the fact that he would never seriously make such a statement for that is not the person he is.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Some posit the days of Israel’s socialized medicine are nearing an end as more and more citizens are purchasing supplemental and expanded policies, seeking additional coverage to the basic kupat cholim healthcare system. While Israelis pay a monthly health tax that is supposed to cover their medical insurance, a growing number of citizens have come to the realization that the basic coverage under the health tax has significantly deteriorated. As such more and more people are shelling out sums to supplement their basic medical plan with silver, gold and platinum plans offered by the various kupot cholim (HMOs) today. Health Minister Yael German reports that in 2013, citizens and companies spent an additional 800 million shekels on supplemental healthcare plans. German adds that the figure represents an 8.5% increase as compared to 4% in other areas of healthcare.

The ministry cites health insurance in the most expensive component of healthcare, with households spending 35.8% of total medical costs monthly on insurance. That figure was 34.6% in 2012. Two-thirds of the remaining medical expenses for households were spent for additional healthcare services and the remaining one-third for supplemental policies. For a first time, health insurance has passed the 2% mark in relation to total expenses for the average household.

German explains she is truly concerned with the continued increase in the cost of healthcare. She is working to improve the standard kupat cholim coverage in the hope of minimizing the need for additional coverage.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Israeli Minister of Economy Naftali Bennett launched the flagship “Water City” project in China on Monday, 2 Kislev, announcing that the city of Shougang in the Shandong province would be the focus of Israel’s water-related activities in the country. The announcement was made in the presence of Chinese municipal officials during Minister Bennett’s current visit to China. The minister landed in China on Sunday to head a business delegation with representatives of 15 Israeli companies seeking opportunities for Israeli water technologies.

The minister’s visit is the high point of an ongoing process led by the Israeli Ministry of Economy through its trade attachés in China. The attachés are working with Chinese authorities to advance Israeli companies and incorporate Israeli technology in the country’s massive water system. The Chinese water system faces many challenges including rapid population growth and widespread contamination of the country’s water resources. Beijing is therefore “thirsty” for Israeli solutions.

Israeli water technologies will be implemented in the “Water City” project in Shougang for commercial use, which will showcase solutions offered by Israeli companies in real-world conditions in an effort to persuade Chinese authorities to adopt these solutions in other Chinese cities. The city of Shougang was chosen following a stringent selection process by representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and their Chinese counterparts. As part of the project, the city will enjoy technologies offered by Israeli firms in the fields of desalination, sewage management, irrigation, reuse of water for agricultural, water supply and more. This is a first-of-its-kind enterprise supported by the joint Israel-China Mission entrusted with advancing bilateral economic ties.

“Israel and China are natural partners for technological and business cooperation,” said Minister Bennett during the inauguration of Shougang as ‘Water City.’ “We have extensive experience in management of water resources and the ‘Water City’ project will help open the Chinese market to Israeli water companies, as well as advancing bilateral relations.”

The minister’s tour will continue until Thursday, during which the delegation will visit Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing. In Nanjing, seminars and business meetings will take place between representatives of the Israeli companies and a wide range of government and non-government representatives in the country’s water-management sector.

Minister Bennett will hold further meetings with senior Chinese government officials from the Ministry of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM), as well as senior executives from the Chinese business sector, including Robin Li, CEO of Internet trade giant Baidu, and with the Chairman of trade giant Suning, with an eye towards helping Israeli companies forge partnerships with these companies and towards bringing the Chinese concerns to Israel to open investment arms and R&D centers. The minister is also expected to launch the China-Israel Business Center in Shanghai and, at the end of his visit, to inaugurate the Israeli exhibition farm in the south China province of Fujian. This agricultural demonstration center is a commercial farm established and supported by the Israeli Ministry of Economy, housing several Israeli companies which showcase their expertise and knowhow in the hopes of drawing clients from China and across Asia.

According to the Foreign Trade Administration at the Israeli Ministry of Economy, Israel’s trade with China stood at $10.8 billion in 2013. Trade with China is expected to rise by 15% in 2014.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has announced his willingness to send troops into the future Palestinian State towards guaranteeing Israel’s security. The Egyptian leader made his comment during an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera published Sunday. Members of the president’s staff explain Sisi feels this is a move that Egypt feels will assist in encouraging Israel to move ahead towards implementation of the two-state solution.

It is reported that el-Sisi detailed his plan in meetings with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA (Palestinian Authority) leader Abu Mazen. El-Sisi is quoted saying that Israel needs to “take a courageous step”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Thousands of people rallied late Monday in U.S. cities including Los Angeles and New York to passionately but peacefully protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer who killed a black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri.

They led marches, waved signs and shouted chants of “hands up, don’t shoot,” the refrain that has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the country.

The most disruptive demonstrations were in St. Louis and Oakland, California, where protesters flooded the lanes of freeways, milling about stopped cars with their hands raised in the air.

Activists had been planning to protest even before the nighttime announcement that Officer Darren Wilson will not be charged in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

The racially charged case in Ferguson has inflamed tensions and reignited debates over police-community relations even in cities hundreds of miles from the predominantly black St. Louis suburb. For many staging protests Monday, the shooting was personal, calling to mind other galvanizing encounters with local law enforcement.

Police departments in several major cities braced for large demonstrations with the potential for the kind of violence that marred nightly protests in Ferguson after Brown’s killing. Demonstrators there vandalized police cars and buildings, hugged barricades and taunted officers with expletives Monday night while police fired smoke canisters and tear gas. Gunshots were heard on the streets and fires raged.

But police elsewhere reported that gatherings were mostly peaceful following Monday’s announcement.

As the night wore on, dozens of protesters in Oakland got around police and blocked traffic on Interstate 580. Officers in cars and on motorcycles were able to corral the protesters and cleared the highway in one area, but another group soon entered the traffic lanes a short distance away. Police didn’t immediately report any arrests.

A diverse crowd of several hundred protesters marched and chanted in St. Louis not far from the site of another police shooting, shutting down Interstate 44 for a time. A few cars got stuck in the midst of the protesters, who appeared to be leaving the vehicles alone. They chanted “hands up, don’t shoot” and “black lives matter.”

“There’s clearly a license for violence against minorities, specifically blacks,” said Mike Arnold, 38, a teacher. “It happens all the time. Something’s got to be done about it. Hopefully this will be a turning point.”

In Seattle, marching demonstrators stopped periodically to sit or lie down in city intersections, blocking traffic before moving on, as dozens of police officers watched.

Groups ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred people also gathered in Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C., where people held up signs and chanted “justice for Michael Brown” outside the White House.

“Mike Brown is an emblem (of a movement). This country is at its boiling point,” said Ethan Jury, a protester in Philadelphia, where hundreds marched downtown with a contingent of police nearby. “How many people need to die? How many black people need to die?”

In New York, the family of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man killed by a police chokehold earlier this year, joined the Rev. Al Sharpton at a speech in Harlem lamenting the grand jury’s decision. Later, several hundred people who had gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square marched peacefully to Times Square.

In Los Angeles, which was rocked by riots in 1992 after the acquittal of police officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, police officers were told to remain on duty until released by their supervisors. About 100 people gathered in Leimert Park and some held a small news conference demanding changes in police policies.

A splinter group of about 30 people broke away and marched through surrounding streets, blocking intersections, but the demonstrations remained mostly small and peaceful.

Chris Manor, with Utah Against Police Brutality, helped organize an event in Salt Lake City that attracted about 35 people.

“There are things that have affected us locally, but at the same time, it’s important to show solidarity with people in other cities who are facing the very same thing that we’re facing,” Manor said.

At Cleveland’s Public Square, at least a dozen protesters’ signs referenced police shootings that have shaken the community there, including Saturday’s fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who had a fake gun at a Cleveland playground when officers confronted him.

In Denver, where a civil jury last month found deputies used excessive force in the death of a homeless street preacher, clergy gathered at a church to discuss the decision, and dozens of people rallied in a downtown park with a moment of silence.

(AP)

Protesters blocked a portion of Interstate 44 near Grand on Monday following the grand jury announcement.

Both eastbound and westbound lanes of the interstate were shut down around 10:00 by protesters.

The group of protesters gathered at Shaw and Grand earlier in the evening and then moved to the interstate.

Traffic was stopped on the interstate. Protesters swarmed vehicles, but there didn’t appear to be any injuries.

(AP)

Dozens of people in Oakland, California, protesting the Ferguson grand jury decision have gotten around police and are blocking traffic on a major highway in the Bay Area.

Television images show people milling around cars, raising their hands in the air, and holding signs on Interstate 580. Officers in cars and on motorcycles are trying to corral the protesters, and others are standing in a line to keep more people from getting on the highway.

The demonstration in Oakland is just one of the rallies taking place in several U.S. cities after a grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer who killed a black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri.

Officials in the majority of the cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle, say the protests have been large and loud but mainly peaceful.

(AP)