the demonstration was to protest against pass laws. the crowd went to the police station demanding to be arrested for not carrying their passes. at some point the south african police started shooting. people have different explanations to what the crowd was doing. some say that the crowd was peaceful. others say that the crowd were throwing stones at the police. the shooting started when the crowd started going toward the fence around the police station. some say this was what led nelson mandela to engaging in more violent protests.