By Julietta Bisharyan
ASHEVILLE, NC/COLUMBUS, OH – Videos from the George Floyd protests show police officers in Asheville, NC, and Columbus, OH, viciously destroying demonstrators’ medical supplies and plastic water bottles on the third day of demonstrations here in response to the death of George Floyd.
One video, which has over 5.3 million views on Twitter, shows police officers cutting open brand-new packs of water bottles with a knife and stomping on them outside of Farm Burger, a local restaurant. Behind the officers, a cardboard sign spells “medic” in large letters.
In the background, the voice of an officer announces, “We will be enforcing the law. Please leave the area peacefully, and you will not be harmed.”
Various other officers stand guard with a protective circle, as one water bottle rolls down the pavement. The camera pans to the right, revealing the visibly empty street.
“We are a city that cares, and I want to thank all of our officers who have taken a knee and worked to protect us,” wrote Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer in a Facebook post. “But this was a disappointing moment in an otherwise peaceful evening.”
1️⃣6️⃣3️⃣ Asheville, NC: police destroy medical supplies and cut open all the water bottles
Creating a tremendous plastic mess outside of Farm Burger
— T. Greg “Bouquet of F*ckery” Doucette (@greg_doucette) June 3, 2020
Another video shows one of the medics, Glenna Grant, wearing a mask and goggles, describing the events that just took place. On Grant’s shirt there is tape, in the shape of a cross, with the word “medic” on it.
“We had set up a medical center so that anyone protesting would be safe. We were not protesting. We were not agitating,” Grant said, pointing at the officers near the destroyed supplies.
According to Grant, the medical team had brought eye wash and sutures because police have been routinely pepper spraying and tear-gassing peaceful protestors nationwide. Doctors and emergency medical service workers and technicians were also present at the station to aid anyone injured.
“They came in with full riot gear, hit us with shields, threw several people to the ground. We were grabbed, thrown, shouted at, screamed at, treated as criminals. No one resisted,” she concluded.
More on 1️⃣6️⃣3️⃣ in Asheville NC above
You can see the destruction from the rioting cops mid-video
— T. Greg “Bouquet of F*ckery” Doucette (@greg_doucette) June 3, 2020
Asheville Police Chief David Zack issued a statement:
“As the Chief of Police, I understand the concern has been raised over the destruction of water, food, and medical supplies. The Asheville Police Department would always prefer confiscation over destruction. We apologize for not being able to confiscate these supplies last night.”
Over the past several days of protests, the department “has tried to eliminate objects that can be thrown at protesters and law enforcement,” Zack said. “Because water bottles, in particular, have been continuously used over the last three nights, officers destroyed them.”
According to Farm Burger general manager Sara Burton, Farm Burger staff stayed after their shifts to help medics clean up the mess the police left behind, namely piles of plastic water bottles and food.
“We believe that, had we given the medics permission to be stationed solely on our own patio, the same result would have culminated,” she said.
Another video in Columbus, Ohio, shows several other officers opening plastic water bottles from a pack and pouring the water out onto the street. Protesters holding signs shout at them, but the officers continue.
“More police destroying private property without due process,” states the caption. The video has more than seven million views on Twitter.
(Due process refers to the legal requirement that holds the state to respect all legal rights owed to a person. The actions of the Asheville and Columbus Police Department, as observed through multiple video accounts, are visible violations of due process.)
Defense Attorney Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) has collected hundreds of videos showing police misconduct during the protests across the country, and the numbers continue to grow with the days.
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