POLITICS

Demonstrators, police clash in raucous protest on streets of Providence

Madeleine List
mlist@providencejournal.com
Protesters and police square off in front of the Providence Public Safety Complex at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the start of a demonstration calling for the defunding of the police department.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the organizer of the protest. The protest was organized by the activist group MATCH.

PROVIDENCE — Dozens of protesters calling to defund or abolish the police marched through the streets of Providence on Saturday night, clashing with police officers, chanting slogans and temporarily blocking traffic at various intersections around the city.

The protest, organized by the activist group MATCH, began just after 8 p.m., as demonstrators marched to the Providence Public Safety Complex. Officers in riot gear, some holding long batons, waited for them behind a barrier.

The group then headed to the intersection of Washington Street and John J. Partington Way, where the confrontation between protesters and police quickly became physical.

Officers and protesters struggled with one another briefly in the middle of the street as cars honked at them. On the sidewalk nearby, two pairs of officers were each pinning a person to the ground using their batons. One person was seen flailing as a group of three officers led them into the public safety complex.

The Public Safety Complex was also the site of protests on Thursday night, when counterprotesters faced off with pro-police demonstrators. The Providence External Review Authority is investigating the arrests of two young activists, 18-year-old Najeli Rodriguez and 28-year-old Jonas Pierre, during Thursday night’s protest.

Providence police said five people were arrested on Saturday night.

Those arrested were Gregory Wakmulski, 38, of Pawtucket, charged with obstructing police in execution of duty; Joan Steffen, 27, of Quincy, Massachusetts, charged with three counts of assaulting a police officer, a felony, and resisting arrest; Lauren Matthias, 30, of South Kingstown, charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest; Michael Simpson, 24, of Providence, charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing police; Ella Fassler, 27, of Pawtucket, charged with unlawful use of a laser and obstruction.

Police Chief Col. Hugh Clements told The Providence Journal that about 150 people gathered outside police headquarters on Washington Street and also marched to a police substation on Broad Street.

Clements said that some of the protesters threw a red substance like paint that burned the skin of officers and that they also threw smoke grenades, bottles and other objects.

They also broke windows of an occupied unmarked Providence police vehicle, said Clements, who added that no one was hurt.

“We promote peaceful events,” Clements told The Journal. “We’re not going to tolerate that kind of violence.”

After a few minutes of confrontation with police, the marchers moved on and began heading south on Broad Street.

Some participants on bicycles cycled ahead of marchers to block traffic. Volunteer medics with red crosses taped to their shirts and backpacks passed out water bottles and cough drops.

Protesters chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!” “No justice, no peace!” and “Black lives matter!” as they marched, and some picked up trash along the protest route. The group also utilized a protest tactic of having white protesters stand at the perimeters of the group to protect Black protesters from police.

When protesters arrived at the police station on the corner of Moore and Broad streets, they once again faced off with officers standing guard out front. Some of the protesters shouted, “Quit your job!” and one person threw a glass object in the direction of officers.

The most heated escalation occurred near the intersection of Elmwood Avenue and Whitmarsh Street when a protester shouted that a member of the group had been arrested and pulled into an unmarked van. In Portland, Oregon, where demonstrations have continued every night for two months, protesters have reported being arrested by federal agents in unmarked vehicles.

Demonstrators surrounded the van, threw water bottles at its windshield and attempted to obstruct its wheels with traffic cones as a siren-type noise emanated from the vehicle.

A few minutes later, Providence police cruisers with sirens blaring descended on the protesters, who had formed a human chain across the street. One cruiser drove toward the line of people, speeding up before jerking to a stop inches away from the protesters.

Maj. David Lapatin later said that federal law enforcement had not responded on Saturday night, and that he had not heard of officers using any unmarked vans.

After a brief standoff, the group continued on with a line of officers in riot gear pursuing them for a few minutes.

At one point in the night, Patrice Maina pulled her car over to the side of the road and jumped out, fist raised, to stand with protesters.

“This isn’t just a protest, this is our life,” said Maina, who marched with the group for the rest of the night. “My parents are law enforcement and I’m not hating cops. I’m just hating the ones that are killing us, period.”

The protesters continued their loop through the city as bystanders watched from their windows, porches and front stoops, often cheering along or filming on their smartphones.

When the group reached Classical High School at around 10:40 p.m., the protesters dispersed.

The action was part of a series of protests and demonstrations that have been held in Providence since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May to demand an end to police brutality against Black Americans and to call on city and state funding to be reallocated from police departments and toward community services.

Staff writer Paul Parker contributed to this report.

mlist@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7121

On Twitter:@madeleine_list

Protesters with their hands raised form a line in front of a police cruiser on Elmwood Avenue near the intersection with Whitmarsh Street at around 9:40 p.m. Saturday.