What started as a peaceful gathering in Oakland to protest the Ferguson decision ended in arrests, chaos and flames.

Many major cities held protests on the evening of Nov. 24, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. In Oakland, a crowd of about a hundred gathered to show solidarity and protest with demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri.

The Oakland protestors started off at 14th Street and Broadway. They were calm and peaceful, chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot” or “We are Michael Brown.”

A Missouri grand jury had been deliberating whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson for shooting Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, in August.

Demonstrators in Oakland, who were listening to car radios, heard the decision not to charge Wilson around 7:15 p.m. It did not surprise them, yet prompted them to move further down Broadway towards the Oakland Police Department.

Dozens of police officers surrounded the gathering but did not interfere with the march.

Various signs displayed names of Bay Area and nationwide victims of police shootings. A group of white demonstrators held up signs saying “Black lives matter” and “Standing on the side of Love.”

Police officers in riot gear marched in groups behind the protestors. Near Seventh Street, protestors had to change route as another group of officers barricaded the street and did not allow passage to the Police Department.

Tensions were high among demonstrators, many of whom did not want not want to give their names to reporters. Black bystanders shouted at white demonstrators.

A man on the sidelines drummed on garbage cans, yelling at the gatherers, “Get out of here. Are you getting your ‘Hallmark’ moment in? This is all a money-making gig for you. Tomorrow you won’t care.”

A woman shouted. “You go home at night. Does this make you feel better about yourself? We live this every day.”

Another woman yelled at reporters, “The whole damn system is guilty as hell. That man needs to be in jail for killing our children!”

Later, the scene grew more chaotic as the crowd grew to several hundred and moved onto the Interstate 580 entrance, shutting it down. Towards early morning protestors had lit some trash cans on fire and vandalized some local businesses, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. At least 40 people were arrested.

Protests continued on Tuesday night. Correspondent Jesse Sutterley took the images in the following slideshow.