VIDEO: Berkeley, Calif., Protest Gets Violent for Second Night

A peaceful protest in the university town of Berkeley, Calif., Sunday night over police killings of black men was overtaken by a group vandalizing police cars and stores and briefly shutting a local highway, reports USA Today.

It was the second consecutive night that protests over the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., turned violent.

A roaming crowd of 300-400 protesters moved between the Oakland border on Telegraph Avenue and downtown Berkeley, leaving California patrol cars and a string of stores damaged, according to California police and local reports. Media reports said eight people were arrested.

While an air of calm returned as the marchers headed back to the University of California-Berkeley campus, they left a trail of damage and confrontations — both with police and between the groups of protesters, one trying to prevent vandalism.

Police fired teargas at protesters after a group would not leave Highway 24, shutting off the artery between Berkeley and the eastern suburbs of Walnut Creek for 45 minutes.