Crackdown Intensifies as Protests Hit U.S. Cities

Date: 18 April 2021 - 23:00

News ID: ۸۹۳۲۶

MINNESOTA (Dispatches) -- Hundreds of people gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Saturday for a seventh night of protests over the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
As the crowd gathered along Humboldt Avenue in front of two barriers ringing the police station, with letters reading "Stop State Terror” affixed to the chain-link fencing, fallout continued from a police crackdown on protesters and journalists the previous night.
Protesters also gathered earlier Saturday in Stillwater, Minn., outside the home of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput who is handling the case of Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer who shot Wright during a traffic stop last Sunday. They called on Orput to file more-serious charges against Potter.
The protest started as a peaceful demonstration and march, but several hours later it quickly descended into chaos as a large contingent of law enforcement officers rushed, pursued and surrounded protesters.
More than 130 protesters were arrested, and journalists were also caught up in the crackdown and detained, with some pepper-sprayed and others required to be photographed and have their IDs photographed.
It was a drastic change in tactics from Thursday night, when authorities opted against enforcing a curfew and let protesters disperse on their own, without any arrests.
Criticism of the tactics used by law enforcement grew during the day Saturday, with photos and videos spreading across social media. The detention and pepper-spraying of journalists drew particular scrutiny, as it appeared to violate a court order filed hours before the protest.
Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson met with protesters outside the police station on Saturday evening.
Police in Portland, Oregon, said Saturday they arrested four people after declaring a riot Friday night that started after police fatally shot a man while responding to reports of a person with a gun.
It came after the police shooting earlier Friday and also was part of vigils and demonstrations already planned for the night in the name of people killed in police shootings nationwide. They include 13-year-old Adam Toledo of Chicago and Wright.
Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis told reporters a white man in his 30s had been shot and killed in Portland by police. The man was pronounced dead at the scene in Lents Park, a leafy, residential neighborhood of the city.
Two officers fired a 40mm device that shoots non-lethal projectiles, and one officer — an eight-year veteran — fired a gun, police said in a statement. Police identified the officer who fired his gun as Zachary Delong. He is on paid administrative leave, authorities said.
Portland has been the site of frequent protests, many involving violent clashes between officers and demonstrators, since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.
Over the summer, there were demonstrations for more than 100 straight days. Earlier this week, a crowd set a fire outside the city’s police union headquarters following recent fatal police shootings in Chicago and Minneapolis.
In Chicago, where Toledo was killed, thousands marched in Logan Square after the video of the 13-year-old being shot with his arms raised was released this week. The protesters planned to march to mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home, some of them calling for her resignation.
The event was largely peaceful, though some police and protesters scuffled as the night drew to a close.