State, local police decry Floyd killing

Connecticut State Police on Monday strongly condemned the Minneapolis police officers involved in the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day, along with any others who might support their actions.

“If you wear a badge and aren’t appalled by that what you saw, please turn it in and find a new profession; we don’t need you,” read part of a long statement released after a weekend of demonstrations across the state and country.

Law enforcement officials in many Connecticut cities and towns expressed solidarity with protesters throughout the weekend.

In Stamford, the new police chief knelt Sunday alongside demonstrators for an eight-minute moment of silence, meant to symbolize the eight minutes former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck.

The Stamford chief, Tim Shaw, said Monday he wasn’t planning on taking part in the protest, but Black Lives Matter organizers asked him to say a few words once activists reached the Stamford Police Station. Afterward, he took a knee with them.

“Everyone in law enforcement feels the same as the community,” Shaw said Monday, adding that officers feel “disgust” over Floyd’s death. “The police, they’re as angry as everyone else.”

Sunday’s protest sites included New Haven, Stamford, Norwalk, Waterbury and Bridgeport, as rallies took place all over the country to denounce police brutality. Locally, demonstrations continued Monday, including in Greenwich, where a group of officers knelt in front of the police station in support of marchers who chanted George Floyd’s name.

“The Greenwich Police Department abhors all forms of police brutality and any action that deprives the people we serve their Constitutional rights or due process of law,” Greenwich Police Chief James Heavey said in a statement issued over the weekend.

Most demonstrations in the state were peaceful, though a few resulted in arrests, and one in a confrontation with police.

In New Haven, a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrated on city streets — and Interstate 95 — without incident Sunday. But a smaller group clashed with police later as they continued the protest outside police headquarters. Some were pepper sprayed as they tried to get into the building and called for Mayor Justin Elicker to come out.

A protest on Route 8 in Bridgeport shut traffic for three hours Sunday. After state police issued three requests for protesters to clear the roadway or be arrested, two people agreed to be “peacefully and respectfully charged” said Brian Foley, spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

Foley called the demonstration peaceful, and said the pair would likely be charged with disorderly conduct.

In Waterbury, 28 people were arrested, after a protest ended, for allegedly not leaving a street after police told them to move.

Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo, who called the protest “wonderful,” said those arrested were not part of the group that organized the demonstration.

Spagnolo, in a video message on the department’s social media sites, said he was “grateful for the officers and the work they did today. I’m grateful that no citizens’ property has been damaged and no citizens have received injury.”

Throughout the state, law enforcement officials denounced the Minnesota officers.

Keith L. Mello, Milford chief of police and president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, called the images of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck “beyond disturbing.”

“(They) cast a stain over the law enforcement profession and the dedicated men and women who strive to protect and serve their communities with honor,” he wrote in a statement.

Of equal concern, he said, was the fact that other officers on the scene did not intervene to stop Chauvin.

“We are reminded that we are leaders in our communities, especially during a time of crisis. Our oath and our ethics require us to act whenever we are witnessing an unjust act, even by another police officer,” he wrote.

In Trumbull, Police Chief Michael Lombardo released a joint statement with Police Commission Chairman Raymond G. Baldwin, First Selectman Vicki Tesoro and Town Council Chairman Marybeth Thornton, denouncing the Minnesota officers.

“The practices seen in this incident are inconsistent with basic humanity and violate each individual’s given rights and protections,” read the statement.

New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski also condemned the actions of police officers involved in Floyd’s death.

“The video footage of Mr. Floyd’s death was shocking,” he said. “The actions, as well as the inactions by the involved officers, were inexcusable.”

But the most forceful statement came from state police.

“To say we condemn this behavior is accurate, but still, the word ‘condemn’ doesn’t begin to come close to what we’re feeling,” the statement read. “We saw what you saw. We watched in disbelief as that individual calling himself a police officer kept his knee on the neck of a human being for almost nine minutes.”

It continued, “Those police officers on scene, including those that stood around and did nothing, simply failed. They failed not just on a law enforcement level, but on a basic human level.”

The statement said the Minneapolis officers “betrayed” their oath to protect the community.

“The damage done from this is immeasurable and will ripple throughout our country, including our Connecticut communities,” the statement read. “We’re disgusted that anyone wearing a police uniform would do what we all saw in that video. We’re angry that the actions of a few will affect all of us.”