Police deploy pepper spray again, multiple led away as protests start Saturday on KC Plaza
This story has been updated. The latest can be found here.
Police on Saturday afternoon used pepper spray on demonstrators gathered near Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza who were protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“This is assault,” a woman shouted several times.
Officers told the protesters, who were in the street, to get on the sidewalk as the repellent was deployed. Two were arrested by police early in the evening. One of them was ushered into a police car.
At least five others were led away before 5:30 p.m. as protesters began running for a short period of time.
The group took to the streets for a second night of protesting. People began gathering before 3:15 p.m. for the scheduled 5 p.m demonstration.
Cars drove by 47th Street and JC Nichols Parkway, honking their horns in support of those gathered with signs. Demonstrators chanted “Black Lives Matter.” Someone played Beyonce’s “Freedom.”
Among those who showed was former Councilman Terry Riley, who brought out his 13-year-old son.
“They just want to come out here and let their voices be heard,” Riley said. “We want to keep the attention on it. They just don’t want it to go away, you know, after a weekend.”
At 3 p.m., Kansas City Police Department spokesman Capt. David Jackson spoke with reporters at J.C. Nichols and Ward parkways.
“Tonight as we get started it’s similar to last night. We want everyone to come out voice their opinions, demonstrate, exercise their first amendment rights,” he said. “We’re happy to engage in that. We just want everything to remain peaceful.”
Jackson said he was not expecting Saturday’s protests to be substantially different from what occurred on Friday. However, he said there may be a few more officers present and they hope the crowd would stay in the park. He declined to comment on police tactics to control the crowd.
Officers used pepper spray on demonstrators at least twice Friday night.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published May 30, 2020 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Police deploy pepper spray again, multiple led away as protests start Saturday on KC Plaza."
