Video Shows Freddie Gray Protesters Occupying Baltimore City Hall Overnight

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Police arrested more than a dozen protesters who for several hours overnight occupied Baltimore City Hall as officials gathered to vote for the permanent appointment of the city's interim police chief, Kevin Davis.

Roughly 50 activists were involved in the demonstration that police confined to the upper balcony of the building. Footage of the sit-in showed protesters yelling "No justice, no peace" and "All night, all day, we will fight for Freddie Gray," a reference to the 25-year-old unarmed black man who was killed while in police custody in April.

The protest lasted almost eight hours as demonstrators refused to leave until Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other officials agreed to a list of demands that included calls for access to better education and social services, for officers to wear name tags and badges at all times, and the ability to protest in bigger areas and for longer periods, according to the Associated Press.

"If we don't get it shut it, shut it down," protesters yelled.

Eventually the protesters thinned out as police threatened participants with arrest. Police charged at least 16 people with trespassing, including three minors, when the demonstration ended at around 4:00 AM Thursday.

Rawlings-Blake fired former police commissioner Anthony Batts and replaced him with Davis in July as violent crime and murders rose steeply in the city, just three months after Gray's death triggered widespread protests and riots, providing further fuel to the nationwide protests calling for an end to police brutality.

Davis attempted to address the activists Wednesday night, saying he'd be "more than happy" to meet with the group in private.

"I'd like to propose this to you, because we can accomplish a lot more at a table where we can all fit," he said.

"You have our demands, you let all your supporters speak," someone retorted from the balcony. "This is the space where we can talk."

Davis left the building after a while. As the commotion on the balcony continued, committee members quietly voted in a 3-1 decision to hire Davis for $200,000 a year through June of 2020.

The dissenting vote was made by Councilman Nick Mosby, who is married to State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, while the committee's fifth member, Carl Stokes, who is running for mayor, abstained from voting. The decision will now be voted on by the wider City Council Monday.

Related: Baltimore Reaches Tentative $6.4 Million Deal With Freddie Gray's Family

Mosby is currently spearheading the prosecutions of the six officers involved in Gray's death. The officers have been indicted on a range of charges from second-degree murder to assault and misconduct.

Last month the city reached a tentative $6.4 million settlement with Gray's family, but said that the deal was not an admission of liability by the city.

Officers arrested Gray on April 12 after a foot chase in crime-ridden West Baltimore. Witnesses say he was hoisted into a police transport van while in handcuffs and shackles, where he was placed on the floor in the prone position, with his head facing forward. He was not secured with a seatbelt.

Gray died a week later from a spinal injury, and a medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. Three of the officers charged are white and three are black.

Watch VICE News' Talking Heads: A Look Back at the Violence in Ferguson: