Police in riot gear descend on Beale
Earlier protests wrap up peacefully despite some tensions
Laura Testino, Desiree Stennett, Daniel Connolly, Corinne S Kennedy and Samuel Hardiman
About two hours after a demonstration against police brutality ended peacefully Saturday night, a confrontation between a crowd of people and a team of police officers in riot gear and some on horseback played out on Beale Street.
Police had set up a barricade near the Orpheum Theatre to separate officers from the crowd. Some people in the crowd crossed the barricade to the police side. An officer on horseback appeared to try to steady his horse from
hitting a protester.
A chaotic few seconds followed: police barricades tumbled to the ground and people fell down. Police moved forward. Glass bottles flew through the air.
Later, the crowd chanted “No justice, no peace.”
The standoff was a dramatic contrast from a peaceful protest march earlier in the evening. It ended without arrests, and police did not interfere with the march. Most of the crowd from the protest march left around 9 p.m. from the National Civil Rights Museum, a short walk from Beale Street.
But after 11 p.m., a group of people began to argue with police officers and sheriff ’s deputies near Beale Street. The crowd grew to about 60. Some officers arrived with riot shields.
It’s not clear if the people in the later crowd participated in the earlier march. Nor was it clear how the confrontation began.
Two people in the crowd said a person was playing the drums and that officers told him to stop playing, triggering a reaction from the crowd. Other people talked about police breaking up a party. By 11:30 p.m., there were about 35 officers on the scene, including one armed with a long gun.
Whatever the origin of the police response, the situation soon turned back to the issue of police brutality.
One of the main people arguing with police was Darin Alston, who brought up George Floyd’s death.
Others tried to deescalate the argument, saying that they didn’t want another incident.
As police moved back toward the Orpheum, someone in the crowd jumped onto a police car.
Police barricaded themselves at the intersection of Beale and Main by the Orpheum. An officer was seen pushing people in the crowd. Soon more officers with shields, helmets and other riot gear arrived.
“No justice, no peace,” said Diasha Graham, who was part of the crowd. “No race is safe. We all are dying. We need to unite and make a change. And make a difference, all as one.”
The standoff ebbed and flowed. After police horses arrived and the barriers tumbled, the situation appeared to calm down. In announcements over loudspeakers, police told people to clear the area.
Then about 12:45 a.m., officers were beating their riot shields with batons and chanting “Move!” They began moving forward in a phalanx from the Orpheum down Beale Street. At least one woman was tackled, someone set off a firework and someone threw a bottle.
Seven people were arrested early Sunday morning during the confrontation. The woman who was tackled, Victoria Jones, was charged with disorderly conduct, rioting and resisting detention. She was released on her own recognizance. The other six people faced a variety of charges, including disorderly conduct. They remained in police custody on Sunday afternoon.
Reporters saw officers tackle at least two people, Jones and a man. A woman tried to put herself between the officers and the woman who was arrested, but it’s unclear if this second woman was also detained.
By 1:15 a.m. the confrontation appeared over and people had cleared the street.
Memphis pastor and activist Devante Hill, who helped with the earlier protest march, commented on Twitter: “Tonight just when I thought things were over and we could successfully say we had a peaceful protest, there were young men and women who staggered around near Beale and Main. MPD definitely (incited) them with riot gear, horses and AR-15S . . . “
He said two people were arrested, but this could not immediately be confirmed.
“I really believe we can do this. I truly believe we can do this another way. A crowd of 30 staggering people met with intense force like that is just uneasy for not only me to understand but a group of my other white brothers and sisters present as well,” Hill wrote.
Just after 2 a.m., Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer said she and a group of people headed to 201 Poplar to support protesters who had been arrested.
“We weren’t here to protest,” she said. “We were here for bail support.”
She said jail officials told her and the group to leave and come back at 4 a.m.
They decided to wait in the parking lot since it was nearly 4 a.m.
She said officers then started to count down and told the group they had five minutes to leave the area or “lethal force” would be used to remove them.
She said they had a right to be there so they refused to leave.
“They arrested people that we know, people that we love,” she said. “They are leaders in our community, peaceful folks.”
Around 3:30 a.m., about 50 people were outside 201 Poplar, waiting on the sidewalk and grassy area in front of the Downtown building.
There was no noticeable law enforcement presence at that time, although Memphis police officers had been there
earlier with riot shields, followed by Shelby County sheriff’s deputies.
By 4:30 a.m., only about 10 people remained outside 201 Poplar.
Earlier Memphis protest ended peacefully despite some tensions
Earlier Saturday evening, a crowd had gathered outside the National Civil Rights Museum in Downtown Memphis. More than 300 protesters ended a similar protest in that spot Friday night.
On Saturday, the crowd of around 500 walked together, making stops at Clayborn Temple and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Reflection Park and kneeling for several minutes at the intersection of Beale Street and Second Avenue, and on Poplar Avenue in view of the Hernando Desoto Bridge.
At the Civil Rights Museum, protest leaders attempted to start the rally the same way Friday’s started — by passing the megaphone from person to person.
But there was disagreement about who should speak.
Protester Rob Brown, who is black, said black people needed to be at the center of the movement and instructed white attendees to stand back and allow more black attendees to speak first.
The response was mixed. While one person handed him a second megaphone so he could speak louder, others yelled their opposition.
Karen Spencer Mcgee, a black woman, was among several people who loudly disagreed, saying, “It’s gonna take all of us, black, white, gold, yellow!”
Shortly after that disagreement over tactics, the crowd marched to Clayborn Temple, where a list of demands was read. The demands included releasing all protesters from jail and dropping all charges against them; activist involvement in creating a new curriculum and budget for Shelby County Schools; and a citizen veto power for the Shelby County budget.
Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery was among the hundreds marching up South Second.
He said his daughter brought him out Saturday night. “I’m here for her. I’m here for George Floyd,” Lowery said. “There are people at home watching, being inspired and hopefully waking up in the morning doing something differently.”
While walking in the protest around 8:20 p.m., Theryn Bond, the longtime Memphis activist who read the demands earlier, said: “I’m tired, hot, but it’s important to apply pressure until the needs of community are met.”
She said leaders need to hear from those in the community, the ones with high MLGW bills or who have been furloughed from their jobs, for example.
“We need to begin to address the symptoms and the problem,” Bond said.
She advocated for a better response from Mayor Jim Strickland.
When the crowd approached Front Street and Poplar Avenue, multiple police squad cars were there to meet them. The entrance to a parking garage that leads to Mud Island was blocked, and as the crowd got closer, Tennessee Highway Patrol vehicles filled any space not filled.
At about 8:45 p.m., the crowd briefly splintered into two, with one group of 150 shouting “bridge” and heading down Union Avenue toward the Mississippi River before turning to rejoin the larger group moments later on Main Street.
As that group walked down Front, Phalisha Jackson walked near the back.
“It shouldn’t take the outrage of the public to arrest a police officer,” Jackson said of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was charged with third-degree murder in the death of Floyd.
By 9 p.m., the group had completed a fast-paced walk through Downtown and returned to the Lorraine Motel.
Devante Hill said the protesters would use their ability to protest with order and decency. He said tearing up businesses will make them look bad.
“With this type of momentum, we can do anything,” Hill said.
Just after 9 p.m. hundreds of protesters went back to their cars and walked north on Mulberry Street.
David Schuermann, 69, stood on his porch and applauded. A pair of protesters handed him a cardboard sign that had “Black Lives Matter” written in marker.
“I think they’re doing a good job being peaceful,” said Schuermann of the protesters. He said he thought it stayed that way because the police presence didn’t antagonize the crowd.
“The police have been pretty good. I think they’ve been well behaved, and the protesters have been well behaved,“Schuermann said.
He saw similarities in the death of Floyd and others at hands of police to that of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 100 yards away, 52 years earlier.
“I was a teenager when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed . ... It’s the same damn thing. It keeps happening,” Schuermann said. “We need to solve the problem, which is systemic racism.”
Earlier in the day, another group of about two dozen protesters met outside the Mt. Moriah police station, according to a video of the event posted on Facebook.
In the video, the protest organizer said the group was there to stop police brutality.