Law enforcement tear-gas a crowd chanting “we want peace” right after exiting the building. | 2020-06-01
A crowd gathered on the Bentonville Square to protest. Around 9 PM, law enforcement gassed a crowd chanting “we want peace.” Local news says some people were throwing water bottles and firecrackers. Police also claim rocks were thrown. Police claim that at least one police vehicle was damaged. Local news reports vary -- some reports have protesters "kicking" a police vehicle; some televised reports have protesters "damaging" a police vehicle; most written articles merely report that police say protesters damaged a police vehicle.
It is unclear whether any order to disperse was given before the first use of tear gas; in the videos purporting to be from that time, no such order is audible. (In one video -- see third link -- a voice can be heard that sounds like it comes from a PA system, but the words are unclear.) Several people present, including one op-ed writer, claim not to have heard any such order. Orders to disperse were certainly given repeatedly between 9:00 and 11:00, as police continued to deploy tear gas.
Police posted on the City of Bentonville Facebook page that rubber bullets were not used. Police did, in fact, use rubber bullets (per 5 News); per the op ed, the police chief attributed the error to a "communication failure."
tags: less-lethal, protester, rubber-bullet, tear-gas, tear-gas-canister
id: ar-bentonville-1
geolocation: 36.3726466, -94.2106367
Links
- https://twitter.com/courtenay_roche/status/1267653137969623040
- https://twitter.com/peyjobe/status/1267656498525753344
- https://twitter.com/yagirlbrookie09/status/1267647898365427714
- https://www.facebook.com/JessAngelica/videos/10104969111123477/?hc_location=ufi
- 40/29 News Coverage
- 5 News coverage
- City of Bentonville Facebook post, falsely claiming no rubber bullets were fired
- Op Ed, containing eyewitness observations and quotes purportedly from the police chief
Protesters gathered on courthouse property during a May 30th protest. Some graffiti can be seen on the courthouse walls. Police deployed tear gas against protesters to push them off the courthouse lawn and into the street, after warning protesters they were not allowed to be on the courthouse lawn. Police continued to deploy tear gas as protesters moved towards Interstate 630, where they blocked the road for some time
tags: less-lethal, protester, tear-gas
id: ar-littlerock-2
geolocation: 34.7443623, -92.2879971
Links
Peaceful protesters kneeling in the street are shot with an explosive projectile.
Police deployed tear gas to then clear protesters out of the street after deploying an LRAD dispersal function.
tags: explosive, less-lethal, lrad, projectile, protester, tear-gas
id: ar-littlerock-1
geolocation: 34.746483, -92.2880644
Links