BALTIMORE, Oct. 15 (UPI) — Just hours after more than a dozen demonstrators were jailed for trespassing at Baltimore City Hall, over the tentative approval of the city’s new police commissioner, more protesters continued the rally Thursday morning.
Police said 16 people were arrested overnight Thursday — including three under the age of 18 — not long after the Baltimore City Council’s Executive Appointments Committee approved Kevin Davis as the new permanent police commissioner.
The full city council must now confirm Davis, who has been serving as the interim police commissioner, to the post permanently.
However, his occupying that office doesn’t sit well with some Baltimore residents, who argue that Davis is a questionable candidate due to a lack of experience. He has served as interim commissioner since July.
Demonstrator Lawrence Grandpre argued that Davis’ leadership has coincided with “a clear shift in tactics” by Baltimore police officers — who he believes have sometimes infringed on protesters’ First Amendment rights.
Grandpre has said Baltimore police, for example, are too quick to make arrests when people have a right to protest — an accusation Davis himself refuted.
The interim police leader told a local radio show Thursday that arresting the young demonstrators was “the last thing we wanted to do.”
“In a perfect world, they probably wouldn’t have stayed that long,” he added.
Davis was approved by the appointments panel Wednesday night — and although a contingent of supporters were present to applaud his leadership, several who feel he is not the right person for the job were ardent in their opposition.
One incident fueling the fire against Davis is a video that surfaced this week allegedly showing a Baltimore police sergeant spitting on a man being arrested. Davis called the video “reprehensible” and “disgusting.”
That officer has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation.
“Just when we’re making progress, it’s two steps back,” Davis said of his department’s efforts to win back public trust.
The video is the latest in numerous public grievances against the police department, which drew global outrage in April following the death of Freddie Gray — a man who died of severe injuries while in Baltimore police custody.
The demonstrators, many of whom were teenagers, decided to underscore their opposition by staying inside city offices after business hours. Multiple police officers, they said, ultimately threatened to arrest them if they did not leave.
The police department said after “hours of communication and warnings, a small number of protesters inside of City Hall decided to leave the building.” The rest, 16 in all, were handcuffed, taken to jail and charged with trespassing.
Grandpre, of Baltimore United for Change, was among the protesters who left without being arrested — but he returned, with a small contingent, later Thursday morning.
“The goal is to get our protesters out of jail,” said Grandpre, who also claimed that police turned away advocates who showed up at the jail with food for the demonstrators early Thursday.
Returning demonstrators asked the community for financial help for the arrested protesters, who were scheduled to appear in court later in the afternoon.
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