CROWD UPENDS COUNCIL MEETING
200 turn out to rail vs. officers’ rally crowd-control tactics
About 200 people commandeered Wednesday’s Phoenix City Council meeting to rail against city leaders and vent frustration over the Phoenix Police Department’s crowd-control tactics during President Donald Trump’s Aug. 22 downtown rally.
The individuals came to the meeting to criticize an independent investigation into police action that the council was expected to approve, but took the opportunity to lambaste the Police Department and the council’s lack of action.
Thousands descended on downtown last week to hear Trump speak inside the Phoenix Convention Center. Thousands more protested outside.
Although protests were largely peaceful, the night ended with Phoenix police deploying teargas, pepper balls and foam projectiles.
The crowd that took over council chambers Wednesday was raucous. When council members tried to restore order and turned off the public microphone, members of the crowd began yelling their comments.
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton at one point re-
cessed the meeting. One man called out, “You’re a chicken, Stanton,” while others chanted a loud refrain of “Shame on you.”
Minutes later, the mayor came back and allowed the protesters to keep airing their comments to the council.
Redeem Robinson called Stanton cowardly for walking away from the public when they began criticizing the city.
“Mayor Stanton and members of the council, don’t you ever, as long as you’re elected officials, run from the people when we hold you accountable,” Robinson said.
“The crazy thing about this is, the whole time we were worried about white supremacists and Nazis harming us, but it was Phoenix police that attacked us.”
Ira Yedlin, 70, told the council that he had never seen a police response like the one he witnessed in Phoenix.
Yedlin, who came from Bisbee to protest Trump, said he had to stop in the emergency room in Sierra Vista because of his wounds from the rally. While there, he saw Stanton on television saying that everyone went home safe.
“That was not the case, and heads need to roll over what happened to those of us who were non-violently protesting,” Yedlin said.
Although many of the protesters have been asking for an independent investigation since last week’s rally, they said they believed that the one suggested by the city would not be “truly independent.”
The city recommended the California-based firm OIR Group. Protesters accused the group of being too cozy with Police Chief Jeri Williams.
Heather Hamel told the council the “so-called independent investigation” is a $50,000 delaying tactic. “We don’t need an investigation to know what happened. We don’t need an investigation to know that the Police Department’s use of force was excessive,” she said.
Councilman Michael Nowakowski, who previously said he would support the independent review, seemed to change his view after he heard from residents.
“How can we have an evaluation process without including individuals from the community?” Nowakowski said. “This is very enlightening, all of this information that we’re receiving from the community.”
Arrian Wissel was one of several residents who asked the council to instate a public-oversight committee to review excessive-force issues like this. She said spending $50,000 on an outside firm would not be useful to thoroughly reform the department.
Many residents also questioned why police officers have access to chemicals for crowd dispersals.
“When you militarize our police force, there is no one for them to go to war with except their own citizens,” Chrystal Lutton said.
Janey Pearl Starks said she attended de-escalation training the day before the rallies and that her protest group felt safe because “we knew the police were there.”
Starks said she did get a warning from police officers. One told her to get out of the area, but when she turned around to get the volunteers she was with, “That’s when the gas happened.”
Raquel Denis said she “was terrified, not just for myself but for the youth that were there with me to exercise their right ... I am sick and tired of institutions that perpetuate and promote trauma.”