Kenneth Harding Protest: SF Police Arrest 43 During Demonstration Against Fatal Shooting

35 Arrested During Protest Against Fatal Police Shooting

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A march through San Francisco protesting the fatal police shooting of a 19-year-old parolee disrupted transit service as at least one protester dropped a smoke bomb in a light-rail train station and officers say another threw a hammer at a window but did not cause damage.

San Francisco police told KTVU-TV they arrested about 35 protesters who would be cited for failure to disperse after an unlawful assembly was declared. On Wednesday, the SFPD confirmed 43 individuals had been arrested in total.

The march, which began through the Mission and Castro districts around 6 p.m., came the same day investigators said tests found gun residue on 19-year-old Kenneth Harding's hand, indicating he fired the first shot at officers Saturday.

Police Chief Greg Suhr said the Seattle man fired the first shot at the officers, who shot back about nine times. Harding was pronounced dead after the chase in the Bayview neighborhood that began when officers approached him for not paying his fare on a light-rail train.

Harding was on parole for promoting prostitution in Washington state and was a person of interest in a fatal shooting in Seattle last week, authorities said.

During the protest Tuesday, some marchers carried a banner reading "They can't shoot us all."

The group arrived at a Muni light rail station, where they overturned garbage cans and attempted to break ticket machines, KTVU-TV reported. Video footage showed a protester throwing a smoke bomb.

Officer Albie Esparza tells the news station that police declared the gathering of about 150 protesters an unlawful assembly around 7:45 p.m.

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