LAPD arrests 14 protesters after #BlackLivesMatter demonstration

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LAPD officers arrest one of about a dozen anti-police brutality protesters blocking the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Police surround about a dozen anti-police brutality protesters blocking the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A sheriff’s deputy mans a perimeter around the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles, where about a dozen anti-police brutality protesters blocked a Metro Blue Line train on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Anti-police brutality protesters block the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles as about a dozen of their colleagues are arrested on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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An anti-police brutality protester confronts LAPD officers after about a dozen of them were arrested for blocking the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Police arrest an anti-police brutality protester blocking the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

By Veronica Rocha

April 15, 2015 8:04 AM PT

More than a dozen demonstrators protesting the treatment of minorities by law enforcement were arrested Tuesday after blocking traffic during rush hour in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles police arrested 13 adults and a teenager about 5:45 p.m. for refusing to disperse after orders were given asking the group to leave, Officer Liliana Preciado said. The group was blocking the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Broadway.

Earlier that day, demonstrators gathered outside Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.

The group marched through downtown Los Angeles and blocked the Metro Blue Line tracks near Los Angeles Trade Technical College off Washington Boulevard.

Trains were stopped as demonstrators wandered onto the tracks and staged a die-in, affecting the rush-hour commute throughout the rail system.

Demonstrators nationwide took to the streets Tuesday, sharing images of their protests under the social media hashtag #ShutDownA14 and #BlackLivesMatter.

In San Francisco, the California Highway Patrol arrested six demonstrators after they climbed onto eastbound Interstate 80 and allegedly tried to take it over.

Multiple lanes of Interstate 880 were blocked by protesters in Oakland, the CHP said.

The nationwide demonstrations were sparked by a series of controversial shootings and beatings involving police and minorities.

In South Carolina, a police officer shot and killed 50-year-old Walter Scott running away from him after a traffic stop on April 4.

LAPD officers shot and killed 43-year-old Charly Leundeu Keunang, a homeless man, on skid row March 1 after the man allegedly grabbed an officer’s holstered gun during a struggle, police said.

Then last week, 10 San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies were placed on leave after a video taken by a KNBC helicopter showed them repeatedly punching and kicking Francis Pusok, 30, after he mounted a horse and led them on a pursuit in Apple Valley.

The FBI has launched a civil rights investigation into the beating.

For breaking California news, follow @VeronicaRochaLA