Activists and protesters in the US city of New York have rallied against police brutality and violence.

Activists and relatives of those killed by police recited the names of their loved ones at a rally on Thursday in Times Square.

The rally marks the start of three days of protests and marches against police violence.

Recent deaths at police hands have spurred protests nationwide over officers’ use of force.

Organizers of the ‘Rise Up October’ protest said their goal was to organize “mass determined resistance” to a “matrix of oppression,” RT reported.

The theme of the Thursday rally was “Say Their Names” as people gathered in midtown Manhattan to hear relatives speak about their slain loved ones.

Friday morning will see the “Shut Down Rikers” protest, aimed against the city’s notorious prison, which is plagued by accusations of violence, brutality and sexual abuse.

The main event is scheduled for Saturday, October 24, with an 11 a.m. rally in lower Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, followed by a march to Bryant Park in midtown, according to the report.

Police brutality in the United States has raised nationwide debates amid a string of police killings of unarmed black men that has resulted in creating the Black Lives Matter movement.

Large-scale demonstrations were held across the country after a series of high-profile incidents of white police officers killing unarmed African-American men, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio; Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York and Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.