Protesters Block I-95 In Providence

PROVIDENCE, RI — A crowd gathered in downtown Providence Wednesday night to protest the death of Breonna Taylor, according to reports.

A livestreamed video posted by Uprise RI showed a large crowd at the top of the Interstate 95 north on-ramp at the Providence Place Mall. Photos showed police blocking the on-ramp to the highway after the protesters marched on the highway, partially blocking traffic.

A state police cruiser was parked in the right lanes, blocking traffic from getting too close to the throng. In the video, a state trooper approached the crowd and appeared to say they could not protest there. The trooper was met with a repeated chant of "Breonna Taylor!" Cars could be seen passing the crowd in the two left lanes.

As of 9:45 p.m., the livestream showed a large crowd gathered in the intersection of Memorial Boulevard and Francis Street, loudly chanting. A line of state troopers was blocking the street, ushering the crowd toward the grassy median in the middle of the road.

Photos on the Twitter account RI Breaking News Source showed police cars parked at the intersection of Memorial Boulevard, blocking cars from entering the highway at the I-95/Route 6 on-ramps.

According to ABC6, the protest began in Burnside Park around 8 p.m. and quickly spread throughout downtown.

The protest came in the wake of an indictment related to the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was fatally shot by police in March. One of the officers involved, former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison, was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury with wanton endangerment for shooting into neighboring apartments. No charges were filed against the other two officers, nor any directly related to Taylor's death, sparking national protests.