Raleigh group disbands not long after police deem gathering unlawful

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Friday marks the second week in a row that demonstrators gathered at the state capitol to denounce law enforcement and seek to abolish the police.

The most recent gathering in response to the most recent police shooting deaths being 42-year-old Andrew Brown Jr. out of Elizabeth City and 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant out of Columbus, Ohio.

Around 6:30 p.m., nearly 50 demonstrators gathered at the state capitol chanting "Black Lives Matter" and "Abolish the police."

The group would later grow to more than 100 about an hour later near the Morgan Street Food Hall. Demonstrators demanded the attention of patrons as they chanted the names of Andrew Brown Jr. and other victims of law enforcement shootings.

Raleigh police followed closely behind the group for the entirety of the group's campaigning downtown Raleigh.

At 8:15 p.m., Raleigh police declared the largely peaceful demonstration to be an "unlawful assembly" as a small number of individuals began to throw trash cans to prevent Raleigh police from following.

The peaceful group dispersed not long after police deemed the gathering unlawful.

Last weekend, hundreds gathered in downtown Raleigh and Durham over the police shooting deaths of 20-year-old Daunte Wright and 13-year-old Adam Toledo. To make tensions even higher, the verdict of the Derek Chauvin trial was still up in the air. Ultimately, graffiti and vandalism marked some businesses.