WASHINGTON (AP) — Protesters carrying signs bearing names of black Americans killed by police have marched outside the U.S. Capitol to demand a human rights investigation.

About two dozen protesters were met by a line of police who stopped them from advancing toward the building Monday morning. The protesters stood side by side to mourn black Americans killed by police. They said they were seeking an international investigation of U.S. police violence.

A number of protests have been staged around the country following recent grand jury decisions not to indict white police officers in New York and Ferguson, Missouri, over the deaths of unarmed blacks.

Zoe Spencer, a Virginia State University associate professor and protest organizer, said the names and characters of victims have been dragged through the mud "to justify their own murders."

Shouts of "Hands up, don't shoot" began as protesters marched away from the Capitol but quickly changed to chants of "Fists up, fight back."

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(Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)