8 arrested in Phoenix protest; chief condemns Floyd's death, pledges support for peaceful demonstrations
Police Chief Jeri Williams pledged her department's support of peaceful protesters but said officers would respond if criminal activity occurred during any demonstration.
“We as a community can not stand for criminal activity, which can result in injury or property damage,” Williams said at a Friday news conference.
She criticized the actions of the officers involved in the death of Minnesota man George Floyd while in Minneapolis is police custody, which sparked a large protest in downtown Phoenix on Thursday night. Williams called Floyd's death a "tragedy."
She said she doesn’t know all the details of the case, but like many, she has seen the video and she was outraged.
“Every time that we watch a video of something happening that’s so so tragic as police chiefs we all sit back and think, ‘Please let’s just not (let this happen) in my city, in my agency,’” she said.
These were the first public comments she has made on the topic.
Phoenix police also announced that eight people were arrested at a protest Thursday night. The protest started out peacefully but took a turn as the evening progressed.
The chief said her officers "engaged and reacted amazingly" during the demonstration, saying the department had learned lessons from previous rallies in how to respond in situations when emotions run high. She also pledged her officers would support and assist those who wanted to gather in peaceful protest but would not tolerate criminal damage.
"If you want to protest, please make it peaceful and we will be there to help, support and assist,” Williams said.
Rocks and bottles thrown at officers
Phoenix police said the group of protesters arrived at the state Capitol about 9:15 p.m. and attempted to enter the closed facility. The Arizona Department of Public Safety worked to disperse the crowd, and the demonstrators moved away before throwing rocks and bottles at officers, Phoenix police spokeswoman Sgt. Mercedes Fortune said.
Some protesters damaged and took equipment from police vehicles, prompting officers to deploy pepper spray, Fortune said.
An unlawful assembly was declared by Phoenix police just after 10:50 p.m., and multiple public announcements of the declaration were made.
Demonstrators proceeded to walk back toward Seventh Avenue and Washington Street, throwing rocks at Phoenix police headquarters and damaging several personal vehicles parked in the area, Fortune said.
The Phoenix Police Tactical Response Unit attempted to get demonstrators to stop and used nonlethal force including pepper spray, bean bag rounds and pepper balls.
Most of the eight arrests were for unlawful assembly, while one driver was cited for civil traffic violations, Fortune said.
A demonstrator was taken to a hospital as a precaution and has since been released.
Two officers were taken to a hospital for heat-related complications and also were released, Fortune said.
At least five marked Phoenix police vehicles, several bus stops, windows at Phoenix police headquarters, and windows at the Industrial Commission of Arizona building at 800 W. Washington were damaged, police said.
Williams asked protesters to remember that temperatures were climbing and to take proper precautions, such as bringing water.
Organizer praises police response
The organizer of the protest Thursday night in downtown Phoenix lauded the police response, blamed violence on members of other community groups and encouraged officers to arrest those who committed crimes.
At a press conference Friday afternoon in front of Phoenix Police Department, local activist Rev. Jarrett Maupin said peaceful protests are imperative when calling for change and added that Chief Williams was correct in calling the protest relatively peaceful.
"Let me say to you that non-violence and peaceful demonstration is the foundation upon which the modern civil rights movement is built and something that I personally adhere to,” Maupin said.
Maupin said he worked with law enforcement prior to the rally, sharing which routes the group planned to take with the end being at the state Capitol.
“It was highly organized,” he said. “We stopped when we needed to stop. We turned when we needed to turn. We kept everyone together and we kept everyone safe.”
Maupin accused other members of other community groups of being behind violent acts Thursday night, but he did not offer any evidence to corroborate the claim.
Maupin said that while he and others left after the protesters reached the Capitol, a couple hundred people continued marching in the streets.
A local TV news channel captured footage of some protesters shattering the rear window of a police cruiser before officers intervened with pepper spray.
Maupin claimed some of these protesters wore shirts representing civil rights organizations that were against him and encouraged Phoenix police to review body-cam footage to identify and arrest anyone caught committing a crime during the protest.
“They should be held accountable,” Maupin said. “I think we should go through those tapes and identify every person in an organizational shirt and assess the criminal damage that was done to taxpayer’s property.”
Maupin decried a protest planned Friday night at the Arizona Department of Public Safety headquarters near 22nd Avenue and Encanto Boulevard. Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro, the organizers of that 7 p.m. protest, are calling for justice in the shooting death of Dion Johnson by a DPS trooper on Monday.
The trooper found Johnson asleep in the driver's seat of a vehicle parked on the eastbound gore point of Loop 101 at Tatum Boulevard around 5:30 a.m., according to Phoenix police. There was a struggle, and the trooper fired at Johnson.
Uriel Garcia covers public-safety issues in Arizona. Reach him at uriel.garcia@azcentral.com. Follow him on Twitter @ujohnnyg.
Reach the reporter at bfrank@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8529. Follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank.