PHOTOS: Police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile cause protests in NYC

On Thursday, thousands of people gathered and marched through New York City streets to protest against the recent police killings of Alton Sterling from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile from St. Paul, Minnesota.

Demonstrators gathered at Union Square as early as 5 p.m. to rally against police violence. At around 6:30 p.m., the large group took to the streets and marched to Times Square to join others who were part of the protests.

Protesters shouted “Black Lives Matter” and encouraged others to join the march.

There was a heavy police presence in the area to help control the crowd.The NYPDattempted to keep protesters from entering the streets and blocking traffic by issuing pre-recorded warnings via a PA system and threatening to arrest people if they did not adhere to the warnings.

Film director Spike Lee and television personality La La Anthony joined the protests and marched with demonstrators at Times Square.