Five people turned themselves in to jail in Decatur today on charges of disorderly conduct for blocking traffic during a protest over the police killing of Stephen Perkins.

Decatur police said they issued warrants after traffic backed up last Thursday as protesters blocked the Hudson Memorial Bridge on U.S. 31. A Decatur Police Department spokesperson told AL.com that the department is not releasing the number of people with warrants out for their arrest.

Rodney Gordon, the president of the Morgan County chapter of the NAACP, spoke to news reporters outside the Morgan County jail before turning himself in on Tuesday afternoon.

He said the protest was not planned in advance. He said his car broke down on the bridge and people recognized him and decided to protest while he got his vehicle repaired on the roadway.

“The protest on the bridge was not a planned protest; my car stopped on the bridge, okay? And people know it was me, and they just started chanting, and that’s what happened.”

Gordon and four others were released on bail later Tuesday afternoon. All five were charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.

The police said the protesters intentionally blocked both southbound lanes of traffic.

“This intentional obstruction of traffic not only backed up traffic for several miles, it also created a hazardous situation for motorist and emergency vehicles attempting to cross the bridge in order to come into and through Decatur,” the police said in a news release posted to Facebook on Monday.

“During the course of the recent protests the Decatur Police Department has made a specific effort to give protestors the space necessary to exercise their constitutional rights without interference,” the news release added. “There have been situations where it was necessary to make arrests to ensure the safety of both the protestors and those citizens and motorists who are not involved.”

Protests have continued in Decatur since a police officer shot and killed Perkins in the front yard of his home on Sept. 29. Police said Perkins had a gun and turned it toward the officer.

But security camera footage from the neighborhood appears to show police hiding in the dark while accompanying a tow truck driver attempting to repossess Perkins’ vehicle in the middle of the night.

Police initially said Perkins refused to drop a gun, but they walked back that statement 13 days later, after the security footage became public and conflicted with their account.

Police have arrested multiple people during protests in the city, including at least one woman they charged with disorderly conduct for cursing in public.

Gordon raised questions about police overreach, saying that at least one person with a warrant for the Thursday protest was not even on the bridge. Police later dropped that warrant.

“He had a drone; he was flying a drone,” Gordon said.

Gina Fuqua said she was with Marcus Hampton while he operated a drone to get video footage for media organizations. She said the investigating officer withdrew the warrant for Hampton’s arrest, saying it was a mistake.

“He talked to me and heard me out and we actually confirmed with him who we were and he was like, it was a mistake and that he was going to lift the warrant and that he had nothing to worry about,” Fuqua told AL.com.

Chikena Crittendon waited outside the jail as her husband turned himself in this afternoon. She said she was with her husband Thursday afternoon when they noticed someone’s vehicle broken down on the bridge.

“That’s not the first time that traffic has been backed up on that bridge; that happens every other day, and we got out to see what was going on, and just so happened, other people were on the bridge, because everybody had something with Steve Perkins on it, Justice for Steve Perkins or whatever. So people started putting those signs out their windows. So, of course, being an active protest, yes, I’m going to say Justice for Steve, because that’s what we want.”

Crittendon explained why she supports the protest movement.

“I don’t want what happened to him to happen to me, to my sons because, if someone’s outside my house at 1 o’clock in the morning, my husband’s coming out there and he’s coming with his gun to see what’s going on because nobody has any business on our property at 1 o’clock in the morning. So that could happen to my husband, my son. So I am an active protester,” she said.

“I want justice for this family, and I don’t want this to happen again in our city. I don’t want it to happen anywhere, but especially in our city, I don’t want us to be the next hashtag so we have to stand up,” Crittendon added. “We need change in that police department because I feel that those officers felt that it was OK that they were gonna get away with being over there at his house, hiding beside his house and hiding behind the neighbor’s truck”

Crittendon said the arrested protesters have court dates next May.

Gordon again this afternoon called for the arrest of the officer who shot Perkins.

“It took you four days to get us, but you got 24 days; you ain’t made no arrest on the murder, and we’re here in solidarity.”