A
group of activists have organized a rally for this afternoon to
protest, among other things, the police response to a march over the
weekend.
The
rally starts at 5 p.m. at Washington Square Park and will be followed
by a march to City Hall. In a press release, organizers say they
applied for a permit but the police department denied their request.
Police have a history of breaking up protest marches on city streets
due to lack of permits.
In
general, the rally is a response to “various abuses committed by
the Rochester Police Department in recent months,” says the press
release sent out by the organizers. Among the examples they cite:
-The
police fatal shooting of Israel Andino in June. Media reports say
that Andino had bipolar disorder and hadn’t been taking his
medication. He was pacing the street with a long gun and fired on
officers. Family members questioned why the department didn’t
deploy its Emotionally Disturbed Persons Response Team, which is made
up of specially trained officers.
-The
arrests of 18 protestors on Saturday. The protestors say that police
had been escorting the march and gave them no warnings or orders to
disperse before the arrests began.
-Officers’
use of “chemical agents” as they broke up a house party recently.
At
City Hall, the marchers plan to issue three demands: they want Chief
James Sheppard dismissed, charges against the 18 arrested protestors
dropped, and civilian review board to be given subpoena power.
This article appears in Jul 25-31, 2012.
