Demonstrators blocked traffic in downtown Buffalo during Monday evening rush hour to protest the death of India Cummings.
The demonstration began around 4:30 p.m. in Niagara Square in front of City Hall, and later moved to Main Street and Court Street to block the NFTA metro rail. According to 7 Eyewitness News photographers on scene, the protest lasted at least two hours.
India Cummings died in February after spending two-weeks in the Erie County Holding Center. The 27-year old was taken to Buffalo General Hospital from the Holding Center in cardiac arrest.
According to the New York State Commission of Corrections, Cummings was not technically "in custody" at the time of her death because she was released from custody when she was admitted to the hospital.
According to Matt Albert, the attorney representing the Cummings family, Cummings was severely dehydrated, had broken bones and was brain dead when she was admitted to the hospital.
Protestors are demanding information about how Cummings sustained such injuries while in custody.
Monday’s rush-hour traffic stop is the latest in a series of protests that have taken place in reaction to Cummings’ death. In March, demonstrators rushed the 16th floor of the Rath building in downtown Buffalo. Four of them were arrested for refusing to leave the property.
The New York State Commission of Corrections is investigating her death.
