Demonstrations turn ugly again
With fireworks and tear gas, unrest roils Albany protests at police station
A protest around city police headquarters on Henry Johnson Boulevard late Monday night devolved into police deploying tear gas at crowds after fireworks were shot off near the officers, who were already in riot gear.
About 300 to 400 protesters were peacefully behind barricades outside the station most of the evening, continuing demonstrations that had happened all Monday to protest police brutal
ity. But after some of the crowd dispersed around 9 p.m., there was some fighting among those who remained, and police said they heard fireworks shot at them at the back of the station on Second Street, according to videos taken by Times Union staff and others posted by Albany police.
Then, after 10 p.m., the scene became tense as police and a heavy-armored vehicle began to push people south on Henry Johnson Boulevard. Tear gas drove people down the street, and at some point a large firework exploded. Other video showed someone trying to put a mattress underneath a police vehicle and light it on fire.
Many in the city had hoped the violence of Saturday night was over because Sunday had been quiet. As of 11 p.m. Monday, the extent of any damage in Albany from the police actions or the continued unrest was unclear.
Police chief’s absence over the weekend
Earlier in the day, Mayor Kathy Sheehan on Monday strongly defended Police Chief Eric Hawkins’ absence from the city during Saturday’s violence, saying the chief was at a “previously scheduled outof-town event” and worked remotely.
“He was gone before the protest was even scheduled. He has been out of town,” the mayor said during a news conference in City Hall Monday. “He was working from a remote location but he did not return from his trip, nor did I ask him to.”
On Monday night, Hawkins was present to try to calm protesters at police headquarters on Henry Johnson Boulevard.
But concerning the happenings of two days ago, Sheehan explained that the chief was prepared to return to Albany if a protest in Townsend Park on Saturday afternoon erupted into disorder. Hundreds gathered to protest police brutality after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Sheehan said that the protest was peaceful, and it was not until later Saturday night, the mayor told reporters, that the destruction began following an initially peaceful interaction outside South Station.
Saturday evening, people began to throw rocks and bricks at police vehicles — and then at officers — at South Station. The situation devolved into fires being set, windows being smashed and stores looted along South Pearl Street and Central Avenue.
Sheehan said that upon learning of the violence, Hawkins got in his car to drive back to Albany and commanded the handling of the incident on his drive back. Asked if Hawkins was in Michigan, where he lived before coming to Albany in September 2018, the mayor said: “I don’t know where he was. I didn’t ask him. When I go on vacation I don’t necessarily tell people. … It’s not a secret. I just don’t know.”
She said it was a family-related “previously
scheduled out-of-town event.”
City Treasurer Darius Shahinfar, who was at the mayor’s news conference with other city officials, said afterward that he was outraged at the criticism of the chief, and that the line of questioning from people about it was “ridiculous.”
“Why is this an issue?” Shahinfar asked the Times Union. “He was out of town on a previously scheduled vacation and he’s in constant contact with his command staff and he’s here the next morning. What’s the issue?”
Shahinfar added moments later: “I’m personally outraged — you see what’s going on on Facebook — I’m outraged at that line of questioning and attack on the chief of police who’s done nothing but work his rear end off here for years to make the city a better place.”
On Sunday morning outside City Hall, when asked if he was on the scene on Saturday night, Hawkins told reporters he had “other business” and that he had been communicating all day with his command staff. When asked where he was at the time, the chief repeatedly said “I was not at the scene” without elaborating.
“I think as a leader, leaders sometimes have other obligations that occur before a crisis hits and I think a leader has an obligation, once they understand that there’s a crisis, to get back to the city and lead the city as expeditiously as possible. And that’s exactly what I did,” Hawkins said on Sunday.
Hawkins did not appear at an Albany County news conference a few minutes later Sunday with County Executive Dan Mccoy, Sheehan and Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, where the trio discussed the violence.
But on Monday, Hawkins appeared at multiple protests and spoke to people at police headquarters on Henry Johnson Boulevard.
“We should not have to fear”
At a protest earlier Monday, Hawkins was surrounded by protesters who wanted to speak with him about holding local police officers accountable for violence against black residents.
“We should not have to fear walking down the block; we should not have to fear being pulled over; we should not have to be scared for our kids to go to the neighborhood basketball courts,” said Emrys Young, one of the organizers of the protest and owner of Kitchen 216, a Central Avenue restaurant. “We are being overly policed and they are being underly policed. That’s the issue.”
Protesters expressed dissatisfaction with Hawkins’ initial responses to their questions and demands, saying to him, “I’m tired with the political responses,” and “You’re not here to be silent, Chief.”
The crowd started chanting to Hawkins to take a knee to show his solidarity with them, which he did about a minute later.
“I get social injustice because I’ve heard the stories from my parents, I’ve heard it from my grandparents, I lived it,” Hawkins told the crowd through a megaphone. “That’s one of the reasons why I wear a uniform. Because change comes from the inside many times in many types of institutions . ... So how do I take what’s personally inside of me and use it to help my organization relate better to my communities?”
After Hawkins passed along the megaphone, a protester said the purpose of the gathering is not to hear the chief’s story.
“We’re out here because George Floyd couldn’t tell his story,” said one protester, who identified himself as Lajas. “We’re talking about the stories that we’ve been trying to tell y’all for years and y’all not listening to those stories.”
The protester continued, “Although the police chief may have taken a knee, we won’t be pacified by that symbolism. Because an apology is changed behavior.”
Common Council President Corey Ellis, who was with Shahinfar at the Monday city press conference, said he did not see an issue with Hawkins’ absence during Saturday’s upheaval, given that the chief was away and returned as soon as possible. He said it might be different if the violence had broken out at 1 p.m. and the chief had not returned as soon as possible.
“We’ve never had a riot break out in our protest, so you’re looking at history,” Ellis said.
Sheehan said: “I think that there are some who have said, ‘Well, if the chief had been here, would he have been able to dissipate the violence or the people who were throwing bricks and rocks,’” the mayor said. “The people who were throwing bricks and rocks probably wouldn’t have known who the chief was had he walked onto the scene.”
Sheehan said it is a disservice to Hawkins’ deputies because questions about Hawkins’ absence suggests they did not do an exemplary job in the chief’s absence.
“They demonstrated tremendous restraint and their goal was not only to keep our residents safe but to keep the rioters safe,” Sheehan said. “They succeeded in doing that, to their peril.”
Sheehan said the city is working with the FBI to investigate what happened after the situation escalated Saturday. She said there were “people who were traveling in caravans” and a lot of activity officials observed that is not typically seen in the city.
Mccoy “witnessed people committing vandalism who he did not recognize and were not from this community who were not people of color,” Sheehan said.
“I don’t know. I’m not going to spin conspiracy theories,” the mayor said. “What I do know is that there were certainly people who were not known to people here in the city of Albany. We believe they were not from the city of Albany here and who participated in the violence.”