 No business of any kind was being conducted downtown . Organizers planned to flood the downtown area businesses with black people . Smaller groups of decoys were set out to distract police attention from activities at the 16th Street Baptist Church . Protesters set off false fire alarms to occupy the fire department and its hoses . One group of children approached a police officer and announced , " We want to go to jail ! " When the officer pointed the way , the students ran across Kelly Ingram Park shouting , " We 're going to jail ! " Six hundred picketers reached downtown Birmingham . Large groups of protesters sat in stores and sang freedom songs . Streets , sidewalks , stores , and buildings were overwhelmed with more than 3 @,@ 000 protesters . The sheriff and chief of police admitted to Burke Marshall that they did not think they could handle the situation for more than a few hours . 
