Police kneel, meet with protesters in Connecticut

Connecticut protests remained peaceful Wednesday, as activists took to the streets in Danbury, briefly shutting both side of Interstate 84, and protesters met with officers on the steps of the New Haven Police Department where only days before tensions boiled over.

In Danbury, demonstrators followed a planned march from the library to the city police department, where Mayor Mark Boughton and Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour addressed the protesters.

Another group of protesters made their way onto I-84, where State Police shut down both lanes of travel.

In New Haven, a throng of activists carrying signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “say their names” marched to the steps of the New Haven Police Department while singing “We Shall Overcome.”

Chief Otoniel Reyes knelt with protesters and spoke with them in an open forum — where on Sunday demonstrators had been met with riot shields and pepper spray when a group tried to rush inside.

Among those hit was Brad MacDowall, a member of Hamden’s town council, who pushed back Wednesday against Reyes’ defense of the tactic earlier in the week, calling it “garbage”.

The protests in Connecticut cities came as authorities in Minneapolis upgraded the charges against Derek Chauvin, the white police officer filmed pressing his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes before his death. Authorities are now charging Chauvin, who was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department on May 26, with second-degree murder, and three other officers who stood by have been charged with aiding and abetting murder.

The Memorial Day video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck sparked protests across the U.S. that are now in their second week, including violent clashes between demonstrators and police in several major cities.

But despite instances of police using pepper spray in Bridgeport on Saturday and in New Haven on Sunday — in both cases, after protesters tried to enter a police station — Connecticut municipalities have been spared the violent clashes seen in New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., among other places.

After protesters shut down a section of I-84 between exits 5 and 4 Wednesday, Danbury police sent their armored truck to the scene after reports of motorists being assaulted, Ridenhour said. The team inside never left the vehicle, he said.

A video posted to Facebook showed a woman standing among the protesters arguing with a driver on the highway out of frame, before taking a photo of the vehicle with her phone and walking away.

State police said a crowd of around 500 people closed the highway for about one hour before the people were dispersed without any arrests, property damage or injuries.

In New Haven, police offered up to $5,000 in reward money Tuesday after two police substations on Winchester Avenue and Howard Avenue were hit with Molotov cocktails Monday morning.

More demonstrations are planned as the week unfolds.

A New Canaan rally planned for Wednesday was postponed due to weather concerns, and will now be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, starting at Saxe Middle School.

In Bethel, state Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan and First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker plan to hold a candlelight vigil on the town’s green beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday.

In Derby, organizers plan to hold a “unity rally” on the green beginning at 7 p.m. Friday.

Meanwhile, Bridgeport’s city council introduced a resolution Wednesday, seeking to ban knee and choke holds by police officers, as West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi and the Guilford and Hamden police departments issued statements condemning Floyd’s death.

“We understand that we can and must do better. With the assistance from the communities we represent, we must pledge to continue to train and educate ourselves to be the best that we can be,” Hamden police Capt. Ronald Smith said in a statement. “This endeavor will be a continuous work in progress.”