Nas, Russell Simmons, and former Def Jam VP Kevin Liles joined tens of thousands of protestors in New York City yesterday in a march against the recent deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Akair Gurley, and Tamir Rice, who were all killed by police in recent months.

The “Millions March NYC” protest was a mile long and lasted four hours but continued on unofficially throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. The demonstration moved from Washington Square Park to the NYPD headquarters and consisted of as many as 27,000 protesters according to police estimates. Demonstrations in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Boston, and more coincided with the “Millions March NYC” protest yesterday.

Organizers for the protest released a statement via Facebook leading up to the event.

HipHopDX | Rap & Hip Hop News | Ad Placeholder
AD

AD LOADING...

AD

“We go into the streets out of anger, but more so out of love, for Mike Brown, for Eric Garner, for Akai Gurley, for all the precious lives of those we have lost and will lose at the hands of the racist police,” they wrote. “Most of all, we will stand up to make clear to those who are in power that we won’t stop until ALL Black lives matter. A lot of people of our generation sometimes wonder what they would do if they were alive in the Civil Rights Movement , NOW is the time to find that out. This is not just a moment anymore, it is a movement. And we can win this time.”

After the march, other rappers offered their support by reposting images of the protests to their social media accounts.

#blacklivesmatter #allLiveMAtter #HISTORY

A post shared by Diddy (@diddy) on

Today is Powerful? #millionmarchnyc ?? #blessings #positivevibes

A post shared by therealswizzz (@therealswizzz) on

#PowerToThePeople

A post shared by The KOB (@mainohustlehard) on

For additional Nas coverage, watch the following DX Daily: