13 charged in Atlanta police protest near Buckhead mall

ATLANTA (AP) -- Atlanta police say charges have been filed against more than a dozen people who blocked an intersection during a protest near a busy mall in Buckhead.<br /> <br /> Department spokesman John Chafee says a group of demonstrators protesting recent fatal shootings involving police and unarmed black men temporarily blocked a busy intersection outside Lenox Mall Saturday afternoon. Some of the protesters were lying in the middle of the street with their arms locked together with PVC pipe.<br /> <br /> Chafee says police told protesters they were unlawfully blocking traffic and needed to disperse or go to jail. Chafee says 13 protesters failed to clear the intersection and have been charged with obstructing highways, streets, sidewalks or other public passages, and unlawful assembly.<br /> <br /> Protesters who were arrested ranged from 18 to 50 years old.