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Dallas Residents Demand Police Chief's Resignation, Question Use Of Force During Protests

LM Otero
/
Associated Press
Protesters gather in front of Dallas City Hall, Tuesday, June 2 in Dallas.

At a nearly eight-hour city meeting on Friday, Dallasites demanded the firing of Police Chief Renee Hall, called on the City Council to defund the Police Department, questioned the use of tear gas and so-called- less-than-lethal-weapons and requested the citywide curfew be lifted.

These requests were made during the public comments portion of the meeting. It was a meeting Mayor Eric Johnson said he called because he wanted people to “share their concerns regarding the city’s response to the protests.” 

Dallas Police shot tear gas into a crowd, Chief Hall said, after bricks were thrown at police officers on May 29. Law enforcement officers used a wooden round of ammunition on protestors on May 30 when 26-year-old Brandon Saenz lost his eye after being shot. But much of the anger was sparked by an incident on Monday June 1, when police were accused of turning a peaceful protest chaotic by deploying a technique known as kettling

“My perception of what happened,” said Adam Schwartz, the first public speaker at the meeting, “was that police tactically turned a peaceful, rightful first amendment protest into a potentially massive and dangerous conflict.”

Several protesters who were at the June 1 protest on Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge said they felt like they were “set up,” including Reza Askari. 

“It absolutely felt like we were gonna march,” said Askari describing what happened on the bridge. “I don’t think there was a misunderstanding there. [Police] knew that because they were closing off streets and as I walked up the bridge I passed a couple cop cars. We saw cops. No one spoke to me. No one told me to not go on the bridge, certainly.” 

Askari’s account of police that night included officers in riot gear, gas, smoke and rubber bullets being shot into the crowd and handcuffs. 

“My friend got hit in the head with a tear gas canister,” Askari said. “It wasn’t smoke. It definitely was not smoke. And they just started firing at us. My girlfriend has a gnarly bruise on her leg.” 

More than 600 demonstrators were detained and charged. Chief Hall defended the decision to arrest protesters at the bridge the following morning.

“I strongly believe we made the right decisions to deter and disperse the large crowd on the bridge,” saidChief Hall. “We had to protect the protesters from vehicular injury on a roadway still open to traffic. It was critically important to process protesters and then safely reopen the bridge.”

But by Thursday, Hall had changed her tune and said protesters who marched on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge will not be charged. Thursday was also the day Hall announced an order that requires Dallas police to intervene when a fellow officer is using excessive force.

"They have a duty to ensure that if they witness or are part of a use of force situation that is unnecessary or excessive, they have a duty to intervene and stop it or they are subjected to the same penalties as the officers who are using it," Hall explained via conference call to a group of 30 community organizations. 

The order is meant to prevent a death like George Floyd's, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis. 

Activist and president of Acción America, Carlos Quintanilla, called Hall's order toothless. He said the city's police oversight board must instead be given more power, like the ability to subpoena police.

“Not all of the officers are going to follow that behavior, right? Some of them are going to say, 'You know what? I’m not gonna do this Chief. I’m not your spy.' So we need to have something independent that can do a thorough investigation of the behavior of that particular officer at that particular time," he said.

Meanwhile, City Manager T.C. Broadnax also issued a memo that outlines his plans aimed at restoring trust in policing. 

The plans include a review this summer of all use-of-force policies and creating a policy regarding the release of bodycam and dashcam footage during critical incidents. Broadnax also said the city will implement a program by January aimed at building community relationships. 

Hady Mawajdeh has been a reporter, producer, and digital editor at KERA since 2016. He is the creator and the co-host of KERA's first narrative podcast, Gun Play. And prior to his work in engagement, he also reported on arts and culture, social justice, and gun rights for the newsroom.