3rd straight evening of El Paso protests features state lawmakers, peaceful end

EL PASO, Texas -- Protests over police brutality and calling for the equal treatment for people of color continued for a third straight night in El Paso.

A pair of state lawmakers attended Friday evening's peaceful protest at Memorial Park calling for police reform.

Samuel Licon Kligman, the founder of El Paso March for Criminal Justice Reform, invited state representatives Cesar Blanco and Lina Ortega to speak at the protest rally.

After hearing from the speakers, the group marched from Memorial Park to the El Paso Police Department headquarters, where they read the names of people killed recently by police before heading back to Memorial Park.

Kligman had emphasized that the protest would be "completely peaceful" and it ended that way. He said police had been notified of the protest in advance.

Kligman said he believes there needs to be more oversight with the police department and called on city officials like Mayor Dee Margo to help with change.

"We want to end qualified immunity.  We want citizens who have suffered from police brutality to take direct action at police officers instead of being protected by this law that allows them to act unlawfully," Kligman said.