By Metyia Phillips
DENVER, CO – Police officers have taken extreme measures against people protesting police brutality in Denver, Colorado, leading a District Court judge to order an injunction restricting the use of force against protesters.
Tear gas, paintballs, pepper spray, and fire have been maliciously used and aimed at protesters, people recording, and reporters, to name a few.
Denver is not the only city with mass protests all over the city as a result of the death of George Floyd, a victim of police brutality in Minneapolis. On May 25 George Floyd was apprehended in Minneapolis on forgery accusations.
George was later killed by Derek Chauvin, an officer who used excessive force by pressing his knee into George’s back and neck, causing him to utter the words, “I can’t breathe.” After eight minutes and 46 seconds of Derek Chauvin’s excessive force, Floyd died.
3️⃣3️⃣2️⃣ Denver, CO: a federal District Court Judge has entered an injunction prohibiting certain Denver police practices (screenshots in the tweet below)
Violations will now mean potential contempt of court https://t.co/I1C6VPM2ys
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) June 6, 2020
This outraged people all over the country and all over the world, causing mass protests calling for an end to police brutality and for justice for the black community.
Multiple incidents have been shared on Twitter where police have unfairly targeted citizens during protests.
One incident that was shared showed a picture of a reporter and his camera after he had been hit four times by police officers with pepper balls, and his camera was also hit. The cameraman and the reporter were just standing on the sidelines away from the protest doing their job, but the police still fired at them for no reason.
A similar incident was also documented on Twitter, with officers walking down the street saying, “Stop recording” and pepper-spraying anyone who was recording the events during the protests.
1️⃣1️⃣5️⃣ Denver, CO: casual conversation between a protestor and riot cop
👤: "Can I ask you what's going to happen at 8? Sir?"
👮🏼♂️: "What's gonna happen is we're gonna start beating the fuck out of you."
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) June 1, 2020
Although there is no law that makes it illegal to record during a protest, and there is no reason to pepper spray a law-abiding citizen using their First Amendment right to protest, officers are doing attacking them anyway, said First Amendment experts.
Aside from pepper spray, there are other means to “get back” at protesters, according to reports. In one case, a group of officers pushed a man into an open fire because he was protesting and openly speaking out against the police and their actions.
This and similar actions have occurred in Denver where officers appear upset about people protesting over police brutality and speaking out about the negative actions of police all over the country.
1️⃣1️⃣7️⃣ Denver, CO: DPD no video for this one. DPD conducting an investigation after one of its officers posts an admission on Instagram that police are deliberating instigating riots https://t.co/oaI51ZCbb8
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) June 1, 2020
There have also been countless incidents with tear gas being fired/thrown into crowds with no reasonable explanation.
For example, tear gas has been fired into unsuspecting cars sitting in traffic. One of the tear gas bombs hit a car with a pregnant woman in the passenger seat. When the driver got out of the car in anger to tell the police they hit a pregnant woman, the police responded by firing more tear gas bombs at the car.
Police officers in Denver have been outspoken about their disdain for the protest, protesters, and the reporters covering the protests.
One officer posted a picture on Instagram in riot gear and captioned it “let’s start a riot,” starting an investigation into the Denver Police Department to see if police are purposely starting riots.
3️⃣3️⃣ Denver, CO: police caught on camera pushing a reporter into an open fire
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) May 31, 2020
Another officer was filmed on camera saying, “We’re gonna beat the f**k out of you.”
Due to the actions of officers in Denver and the complaints that have been filed, a District Court judge has ordered an injunction restricting the use of force against protesters.
This injunction includes the restriction of the use of tear gas and pepper spray, calls for the use of either only in extreme situations and calls for a warning before either pepper spray or tear gas is used, to give people enough time to disperse.
Police just fired off paintballs and tear gas.
Our photographer got hit four time and our camera got hit.
Luckily, I ducked and avoided getting struck.#denverprotests @DenverChannel pic.twitter.com/8KstNp39HS
— Adi Guajardo (@AdiGTV) May 30, 2020
5️⃣9️⃣ Denver, CO: non-protestors stuck in traffic get hit by a stray shot from police. The driver gets out, yells at police that there's a pregnant woman in the passenger seat…
…so a bunch of police repeatedly shoot the car
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) May 31, 2020
In today's criminal justice news, police in Denver CO are leaving a pre-curfew protest – but make sure to take direct aim at a man recording on his phone, shooting him with a pepperball for sport
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) May 31, 2020
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