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DeRay Mckesson, Arrested While Protesting in Baton Rouge, Is Released
DeRay Mckesson, Arrested While Protesting in Baton Rouge, Is Released
(about 3 hours later)
DeRay Mckesson, a national voice for the Black Lives Matter movement, was among hundreds of people arrested at demonstrations across the country late Saturday and early Sunday, as protesters expressed anger over the shootings of two black men by police officers last week.
DeRay Mckesson, one of the best known voices for the Black Lives Matter movement, was among hundreds of people arrested at weekend demonstrations across the country. He spent 16 hours in a Baton Rouge jail cell until he was released Sunday afternoon, vowing to continue demonstrating because he was convinced that the authorities want activists to be “too afraid to protest.”
Thousands of people took to the streets in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities. In just two cities — St. Paul and Baton Rouge, La., — where protests escalated at times into tense encounters with the police, more than 200 people were arrested.
Mr. Mckesson, in a telephone interview shortly after his release, said he believed that his arrest was unlawful and that the police unfairly conducted mass arrests while people were peacefully assembled and out of the way of traffic along a highway.
In St. Paul, protesters angered by the killing of Philando Castile in nearby Falcon Heights, Minn., clashed with police officers wearing riot gear, shutting down an interstate for hours. At least 20 officers were injured as people threw rocks, bottles and bricks, the police said.
In a booking record, Baton Rouge authorities said Mr. Mckesson ignored a police officer’s order to stay out of the road and as a result was charged with simple obstruction of a highway of commerce. He was released on his own recognizance and said he planned to protest again Sunday night.
The authorities in Baton Rouge, where Alton Sterling was fatally shot early Tuesday, said they arrested more than 100 people in connection with a protest outside the city’s Police Headquarters, charging most with obstructing the road. Eight firearms were confiscated and one officer lost several teeth after he was struck by a projectile, the police said.
“The police want protesters to be too afraid to protest, which is why they intentionally created a context of conflict, and I’ll never be afraid to tell the truth,” he said. “What we saw in Baton Rouge was a police department that chose to provoke protesters to create, like, a context of conflict they could exploit.”
Among those arrested in Baton Rouge were three members of the news media and Mr. Mckesson, who filmed his encounter with the police using the live-streaming app Periscope. He was released around 3:30 p.m. Sunday after more than 16 hours in custody.
He said that officers chased several protesters and that he had retained a lawyer. He added that he and others jailed remain committed to the Black Lives Matter movement and would continue to use civil disobedience to make their points.
Mr. Mckesson, 31, was confronted by a police officer around 11:15 p.m. as he and other protesters were marching along the shoulder of Airline Highway, which passes in front of the city’s Police Headquarters. The police warned them not to stray onto the road.
Mr. Mckesson and several others traveled to Baton Rouge to protest the death of Alton Sterling, who was fatally shot early Tuesday. The authorities arrested more than 100 people in connection with a protest outside the city’s police headquarters, charging most of them with obstructing the road. Eight firearms were confiscated and one officer lost several teeth after he was struck by a projectile, the police said.
Mr. Mckesson tells viewers in the broadcast that there is no sidewalk where they are walking. An officer can be heard shouting, “You with them loud shoes, I see you in the road. If I get close to you, you’re going to jail.”
At a news conference in Baton Rouge, law enforcement officials defended arresting people who had stepped onto a highway against police commands, saying that streets had been closed for marches elsewhere but that this was a major thoroughfare and needed to remain open.
“I think he’s talking to me, y’all,” says Mr. Mckesson, who often wears red sneakers to demonstrations.
“We certainly respect the right people have to gather peacefully, to protest peacefully and were going to protect that right,” said Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux III of East Baton Rouge Parish. “At the same time were not going to tolerate any violence, we’re not going to tolerate any lawlessness, we’re not going to tolerate any destruction of property.”
Later, Mr. Mckesson says, “Watch the police, they are just literally provoking people.”
Mr. Mckesson filmed his encounter with the police using the live-streaming app Periscope. On camera, he told viewers that there was no sidewalk where they were walking. An officer could be heard shouting, “You with them loud shoes, I see you in the road. If I get close to you, you’re going to jail.”
Then, about five minutes into the broadcast, the video gets shaky and a police officer can be heard saying: “City police. You’re under arrest. Don’t fight me. Don’t fight me.”
“I think he’s talking to me, y’all,” said Mr. Mckesson, who often wears red sneakers to demonstrations. Later, Mr. Mckesson said, “Watch the police, they are just literally provoking people.” Then, about five minutes into the broadcast, the video becomes shaky and a police officer can be heard saying: “City police. You’re under arrest. Don’t fight me. Don’t fight me.”
As Mr. Mckesson is taken into custody, his phone is passed into the hands of fellow protesters who continue to march and demand to know where he has been taken.
Sunday night, Mr. Mckesson said once he was taken into custody he was put in a van with dozens of others and was able to use another person’s phone to text people about what happened. He was eventually taken to East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. There he was at times housed with some 50 other men who took turns sitting on packed benches and sleeping on the floor.
In a booking record, the Baton Rouge authorities said Mr. Mckesson ignored a police officer’s order to stay out of the road. He was charged with simple obstruction of a highway of commerce.
“Not everybody could fit,” he said. “Some of us had to stand. I, like many other people, slept on the floor or didn’t sleep at all because there just wasn’t enough room.”
Brittany Packnett, an activist who was with Mr. Mckesson when he was arrested, said he had communicated with friends early Sunday and said he was not physically harmed.
After hours, Mr. Mckesson and others were then told to change into prison-issued jumpsuits and were fed a breakfast of orange juice, oatmeal and pastries. While inside, Mr. Mckesson was able to make several calls to his lawyers and friends to strategize how to be released.
Ms. Packnett suggested that Mr. Mckesson had done nothing to provoke the arrest. “They told him they would arrest him if he stepped over the line, and, like, every single eyewitness and the video prove that he never stepped over that line,” she said.
Mr. Mckesson, 31, a public school administrator turned activist, first gained national notice with his blunt critiques on Twitter of the police response in Ferguson, Mo., after the death of Michael Brown in 2014.
As word of Mr. Mckesson’s arrest spread on Twitter, where he has more than 460,000 followers, #FreeDeray began trending, with thousands posting messages of support.
The Louisiana National Lawyers Guild, which is providing legal support to protesters, set up a fund-raiser to help bail out Mr. Mckesson and other protesters who were arrested.
State Police officials defended the arrests of Mr. Mckesson and others as a matter of public safety.
“Well, they’re clearly blocking the roadway,” a Louisiana State Police spokesman told Maya Lau, a reporter with The Baton Rouge Advocate, in a video she posted on social media. “We welcome the protests. We want them to voice their opinions. That’s what we’re here to do, to make sure they’re safe and they’re able to do that.
Three members of the news media were also arrested in connection with the demonstrations in Baton Rouge. Ryan Kailath, a reporter with the public radio station WWNO; Chris Slaughter, a field producer for the local broadcaster WAFB; and Lee Stranahan, a reporter for Breitbart News, were all charged with obstruction of a highway, the news organizations said.
Largely peaceful but intermittently tense demonstrations have taken place each night in Baton Rouge since Mr. Sterling was fatally shot by the police last week outside a convenience store. Thirty people were arrested Friday night and early Saturday, officials said.
Mr. Mckesson, a public school administrator turned activist, first gained national notice with his blunt critiques on Twitter of the police response in Ferguson, Mo., after the death of Michael Brown in 2014.
He ran for mayor of Baltimore, his hometown, this year, ultimately losing the Democratic primary in April to Catherine E. Pugh.
He ran for mayor of Baltimore, his hometown, this year, ultimately losing the Democratic primary in April to Catherine E. Pugh.
Mr. Mckesson’s campaign was seen as a major step into the mainstream for the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been criticized for a lack of organized structure and tactics. His detractors have accused him of being an antipolice anarchist whose comments helped foster protest violence.
Mr. Mckesson traveled to Louisiana on Saturday morning to join the protests there. As he was being taken away by police officers late Saturday, several supporters cried out. “What was his crime?” one shouts. “Why is he being arrested?”
