Phoenix police in riot gear hose down anti-brutality protestors with pepper spray

[L. Coyote]

WATCH: Phoenix police in riot gear hose down anti-brutality protestors with pepper spray
Tom Boggioni 09 Jul 2016 at 08:32 ET



An anti-violence rally in Phoenix ended abruptly Friday night when police used massive amounts of pepper spray and bean bag projectiles on protestors sending them running in panic, reports AzCentral.

The protest following the police officer-involved shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile had been scheduled earlier in the week, with city authorities asking organizers to hold off after the tragic shooting deaths of police officers in Dallas the previous evening.

Undeterred, marchers showed up late Friday night and attempted to shut down the I-10 freeway when they were met by a phalanx of police in riot gear who blocked them and demanded that they disperse.

As the crowd chanted “Hands up, don’t shoot,” police unleashed wave after wave of pepper spray as the protestors fled, with police following some and making arrests.

............

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

1. So everything is back to normal then.

[etherealtruth]

2. This response will surely help

[Hoppy]

3. Do the protestors have the right to shut down an interstate freeway?

How 'bout the next Superbowl if they can afford the tickets? Game 4 of the World Series? Is I-80 ok for a two hour shut down? How 'bout next years Memorial Day in D.C.?

What shouldn't they be allowed to shut down?

Well, we can all agree they shouldn't be allowed to disrupt The Voice or the Kardashians.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Nope. It's disobedience, but not very civil at all.

A lunch counter sit-in never prevented a woman in problematic labor from reaching a hospital in time, or a behind-payments mortgagee meeting a payment deadline.

[Travis_0004]

14. No. they don't have the right

The police should arrest anybody who is on the highway.

[uppityperson]

17. At 10 PM? Wait them out and they'll leave. This helped nothing.

[Duckhunter935]

51. Nope, protest all they want

On the sidewalks. Follow the police officers requests to vacate the highway.

[Ohioblue22]

4. Q the next sniper

[Skittles]

28. protesting racist gun humpers

by becoming a racist gun humper?

[Marengo]

34. Speaking of gun humpers, did Philando Castile call into that category?

[Skittles]

46. anyone who CLINGS TO THEIR GUNS

*YES*

[Marengo]

47. You are saying Philando Castile and Alton Sterling were gun humpers and cowards?

[Skittles]

48. ANYONE WHO CLINGS TO THEIR GUNS

YES YES YES

[Marengo]

49. You're being evasive, were those two individuals cowardly gun humpers? Answer just yes or no.

[sarisataka]

53. Gun humper would be an improvement

Earlier a poster put Mr. Castile in the same category as the Sandy Hook shooter and OKC bomber.

[Marengo]

54. Ugh, that is despicable.

[Duckhunter935]

52. Yes that poster is

Sickening

[AgadorSparticus]

5. Oh. My. God.

[SheriffBob]

6. closing I-10

the police would never allow the major drug supply route in the country to be closed. It would end the cottage industry of drug money for the law and drug dealers.

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

[dbackjon]

23. Pathetic

That is an urban freeway. The major hospitals in Phoenix are blocks north of the freeway.

They had to shutdown the quickest route to both.


Take your tinfoil elsewhere

[puffy socks]

7. See how the police protect their right to protest?

The same as protecting the rights of the Ferguson protesters or OWS protesters.



But if you're a neo nazi or KKK member they really protect you right to protest with no problem.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. Protecting and serving again

[LongtimeAZDem]

9. "Please do not throw objects at us."

A more thorough account of the timeline of events:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2016/07/08/phoenix-protest-rally-march-city-hall-police-shootings/86878488/

I cannot see where police deployed pepper spray until the protestors threatened to shut down the freeway.

[romanic]

10. I heard it got messy with protestors throwing rocks at police first.

Last edited Sun Jul 10, 2016, 05:31 AM - Edit history (1)

[bluedigger]

11. You "heard"?

A rumor travels the world before the truth pulls up it's socks.

[LongtimeAZDem]

15. No evidence of that from what I can find, but at least one water bottle was thrown at them

once police began to disperse the crowd. It looks like everything was fine until the protestors decided to try and force past the police onto the freeway, and even after something was thrown, they kept in formation.

Given the fact that every single officer there had to be thinking about what happened in Dallas, I think they performed well.

[L. Coyote]

22. If that is all you heard, why pass that along? Heard from whom? Who witnessed what?

Who filmed this, or should we ask, how many people filmed this? Today, the truth is out there.

[LongtimeAZDem]

33. The protest organizer confirmed that three people threw rocks

but that the protest was peaceful overall. He praised both the police and the protestors.

http://ktar.com/story/1165453/rev-jarrett-maupin-march-was-successful-nonviolent/

[L. Coyote]

37. So you admit what you said is NOT true, "people threw rocks first" ??

[LongtimeAZDem]

39. I didn't say that; you're responding to someone else's post

I was the one that said, "No evidence of that from what I can find".

Please read carefully.

[L. Coyote]

40. Sorry, my confusion. That lie is not being defended, apparently.

[LongtimeAZDem]

41. If they did actually hear it, then it is not a lie, and it is unfair to characterize it as such

Someone did throw rocks, according to the leader of the protest, so it is certainly possible the person heard that. Furthermore, we don't even know for certain that it is untrue that it happened first; but, there's no corroboration at the moment, as I stated.

Ascribing malicious intent to a reasonable mistake is unfair, and is how these things get out of hand.

Just my .02

[L. Coyote]

42. If someone heard a lie, it remains a lie. Hearing it does not change the lie.

It may or may not be true that it was heard, or that it was a lie. It was just thrown out there without any supporting information.

[LongtimeAZDem]

43. If simply saying something isn't true is a lie, then you were lying when you claimed it was my post

Except that clearly wasn't your intent; I knew you were mistaken and so I did not accuse you of lying.

How you respond to another person's mistake is your choice.

[Skittles]

27. WTF is a PEOTEDTOR

[romanic]

30. borked auto-correct on my phone :p

sorry lol

[Skittles]

31. I WILL KICK PEOTEDTOR ASS

YES INDEED

[Orrex]

35. It's that Arnold movie with the see-through alien thing.

[Skittles]

45. OMG ORREX

I SWEAR I THOUGHT OF THAT TOO

[Orrex]

50. Twisted minds!

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Alternately - what happened in Atlanta

after this freeway standoff yesterday -



With patience by those LEO keeping access to the freeway blocked, the protestors eventually went home after 3 am. But with no need for pepper spray, tear gas, or rubber bullets, and no APVs or tanks with howitzers and other nonsense... The crowd did not respond to a few trying to instigate at the front of the gathering. I couldn't stay up to see what the result would be but found this today -

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/rallies-protests-in-atlanta-following-police-shoot/nrtrS/

It seems that at some point during these protests, municipalities make a decision to "break it up", and that seems to amount to throwing gasoline in a hornet's nest. One wonders if spending the extra $$ to wait folks out means that eventually they will go home and come back tomorrow without headlines of riots and police thuggery.

[LongtimeAZDem]

16. I would submit that the fact that it happened in daylight helped to keep things more restrained

as opposed to the events in Phoenix, which occurred at around 10pm.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Did you read my link?

Those crowds were still mostly there at that spot until around 11 pm when some broke off and headed towards Centennial Park. When I went to bed, it was dark and they were still there with the flashing blue/red cop car lights making for a dramatic images -





News video - http://www.wsbtv.com/video?videoId=393253805&videoVersion=1.0

[LongtimeAZDem]

19. No, I missed it; my apologies. Did the protestors there threaten to force their way past police?

[BumRushDaShow]

20. There were a couple protestors at the head of the group

right in front of the cops, who were bouncing back and forth with signs and apparently yelling and gesturing and posturing and attempting to get aggressive in the cops faces. They were mostly ignored by the crowd behind them. I have to give major kudos to that large mass of protestors for not taking any bait and keeping it peaceful.

[LongtimeAZDem]

21. I have to agree; to the officers as well (nt)

[Rex]

26. Wow!

[dbackjon]

24. They were justified in keeping them off the freeway

[L. Coyote]

38. They did not intend to march onto that route.

[dbackjon]

44. Originally no. But they tried to change the route

[Rex]

25. They are holding up commerce, so you know, that never goes over well.

You can do whatever you want, but do not disrupt commerce.

[longship]

29. Let's fire up the iNews 5000 WiFi headline translator...

Da Dum dee Dum Dum Dum Mmm Mmm Mmm

Okay! Let's feed a headline!

Phoenix police in riot gear hose down anti-brutality protestors with pepper spray

Spring sprong splock bong spring sprong splock DING!

Translation: Phoenix police in riot gear brutally put down anti-brutality protesters.

Let's try that one again.

Phoenix police in riot gear hose down anti-brutality protestors with pepper spray

Spring sprong splock bong spring sprong splock DING!

Translation: As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

[LongtimeAZDem]

32. Statement from protest organizer Rev. Jarrett Maupin: "March was successful, nonviolent"

"First, let me thank the Phoenix Police Department for their extraordinary public service,” Maupin said. “Particulary, Chief Yahner who was present and accessible throughout the demonstration. Secondly, let me thank the over 1,000 people who showed up to rally and march, and did so, in a spirit of nonviolence and peace.”

“The march was successful,” Maupin added. “It was nonviolent. Three people threw rocks, but no officers or marchers were injured. Six people suffered very minor reactions to exposure to what has been reported as two to three shots of pepper spray, including some members of the media. Again, no police or marchers were hospitalized.”

http://ktar.com/story/1165453/rev-jarrett-maupin-march-was-successful-nonviolent/

[NightWatcher]

36. How not to win the hearts and minds for $1000 Alex