Protesters upset over the death of a convicted criminal while he had been resisting arrest and another who attempted to take a police officer’s gun to shoot him blocked a California highway for hours Monday night.

The protesters had been marching through Berkeley in a mostly peaceful protest although some businesses suffered broken storefront windows.  After a short time, the protesters jumped a fence and blocked Interstate 80.

The protesters continued to block the highway despite a heavy police presence forcing police to stop traffic on the highway for the safety of the protesters.

The protesters were shouting, “Shut it down for Michael Brown.”

The protesters also forced an Amtrak train to stop.  The California Highway Patrol said they arrested over 150 protesters on a variety of charges.

Despite the damage and delays caused to others not connected to the Michael Brown or Eric Garner situations, protesters continued to insist the protests were only peaceful.

“I want to tell you this is a peaceful protest,” said Nisa Dang, an African-American student at U.C. Berkeley. “I want to also say this is a protest for black students, for black bodies. If they want to take the lead, let them take the lead.”

Berkeley’s mayor told the New York Times he was disappointed in the protests.

“It’s ironic that the place with probably the strongest supporters is being trashed,” said Tom Bates. “What we have are a lot of people who are outside agitators who want to disrupt and cause violence with the police.”

“[I am] totally devastated and disappointed,” Bates added.  “What could have been peaceful deteriorated into people attacking the police and doing damage.”