Clad in riot gear, police arrest 15 people after clashes with protesters in Tallahassee
Nada Hassanein
Tallahassee Democrat
What began as a peaceful march on Saturday afternoon ended with more than a dozen arrests and heated clashes between officers and demonstrators in front of the Old Capitol building.
The protest came a day after a Leon County grand jury chose to exonerate Tallahassee Police Department officers involved in the three lethal force shootings of Mychael Johnson, Tony McDade and Wilbon Woodard.
Before marching from Bronough Street to Monroe Street, protest organizers reminded the crowd not to engage agitators or counter protesters and to move off the streets and into the sidewalk when asked by police.
Documents:Read the grand jury findings from the three TPD-involved shootings
“I know yesterday was a slap in the face to all of us,” activist Tesia Lisbon said. She paused, holding back tears as her fellow protesters clapped in solidarity. “We love you,” they told her.
“This is war. We are not standing down anymore … because you are literally telling me every day this is war against my skin, war against my body,” Lisbon continued.
“We gave you an opportunity,” she said.
Carrying signs that read, “Stop killing us” and “No more killer cops,” the crowd of at least 100 protesters marched from Bronough Street to Monroe Street.
Upon reaching Monroe Street in front of the Capitol building, chaos ensued.
Officers conducted a traffic stop on local activist Trish Brown, who was driving slowly to lead the caravan of protesters. Officers determined she was impeding traffic.
Brown, who recently ran for City Commission, pulled over to the curb, and officers asked her to step out of the car during the traffic stop. Protesters came forward and began chanting “let her go” and “no” as they surrounded her car on the sidewalk and the grass.
“Just give her the ticket,” Lisbon said, yelling the demand repeatedly. Instead, officers began forcibly removing Brown from the car and pushing the protesters away from the car and onto the grass in front of the sidewalk.
Protesters resisted and tried to prevent Brown from being taken into custody and more police moved in.
At least a dozen were on the ground, several linking arms, as officers pulled on their arms and legs to separate them and take them into custody. In total, 15 were arrested, according to a City of Tallahassee press release sent out on behalf of the arresting agencies.
Three of the arrested were also sent to the hospital with injuries, said local activist Saskiya Fagan.
Multiple agencies including the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Capitol Police and Florida State University Police Department joined TPD in crowd control.
“As the individual was being placed under arrest, several members of the crowd attempted to interfere. They were given commands by law enforcement and did not comply,” the release said.
The release says officers arrested those interfering and others who “blocked the officers’ efforts, including striking officers.”
“Due to their actions and, again, unwillingness to comply with officers’ commands, they were also arrested,” the release continued.
Brown was arrested as well as Tallahassee Community Action Committee’s Regina Joseph.
Meanwhile, dozens of law enforcement officers in riot gear lined Monroe Street —outnumbering the protesters. Over a megaphone, an officer called it an “unlawful assembly.”
After officers dragged protesters away in handcuffs, several protesters lingered and expressed their dismay, yelling at the line of stoic, shield-donned officers who stood along the curb.
“This is our community. We our kids and our family members to have a place to live in peace. Y’all are shoving people’s faces into the pavement, showing up without… masks,” one protester said.
“Why are you in riot gear?” another asked.
Some walked away in tears, others voiced their anger and confusion about why Brown was taken into custody during the traffic stop. They collected the signs strewn on the grass and stray shoes left behind from people dragged away.
The crowd then dispersed into a nearby parking lot. There, organizers asked those whose friends were taken into custody to step forward with their names. The group organized a bail fund to bail out the arrested.
Earlier this week, the county enacted a curfew at the request of law enforcement in order to preserve police resources that may be needed to respond to incidents that break out at “impromptu protests,” according to the ordinance. TPD also announced it would no longer allow protesters to violate traffic laws and impede traffic.
After the announcement of the curfew, the Tallahassee Community Action Committee took to social media to express concern over the ruling, emphasizing the protests the group has organized throughout the summer have been peaceful.
On its website, the city published dash cam and body camera footage of the incidents.
Following release of the grand jury’s decision, Mayor John Dailey applauded the judicial process and praised Police Chief Lawrence Revell for his leadership. Dailey also acknowledged the pain the “tragic” cases brought on and announced a three-fold “reform” of local police response, including a review of TPD’s current use-of-force policy.
Protesters in the capital city earlier this summer demanded release of the officers’ names as part of a wave of unrest across the country demanding better policing accountability.
The names of the officers who fatally shot two of the three suspects were redacted from the grand jury’s presentments.
Attorney Mutaqee Akbar, who is representing the families of both McDade and Johnson, said he understands the grand jury’s findings.
But he believes officers could have done more to avoid the bloodshed.