KCPD chief defends officers who pepper-sprayed and arrested protester in viral video
Update: Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker acknowledged Wednesday that she is reviewing the actions of officers seen in the video. That story is here.
Kansas City police officials on Tuesday defended officers who pepper sprayed a protester who yelled at police, an incident seen in a video that was widely shared and criticized online this week.
The video, posted to Twitter Saturday, shows a line of police standing at ease in the street at the Country Club Plaza amid the weekend’s protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.
A protester steps forward from the crowd and yells at officers, saying they “overreact in the moment.”
“If you ain’t got the balls to protect the streets and protect and serve like you was paid to do, turn in your damn badge,” the man yelled.
Seconds later, the video shows several officers approach the man and another demonstrator, dousing them with pepper spray canisters. The man was pulled into the street and then arrested.
The video has been viewed more than 7 million times.
Critics have accused police of overreacting — using weapons against a man who was only lobbing words at police.
On Tuesday, Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith said he had watched the video. He said he saw officers moving in to do an “extraction and arrest.”
“I think what we see is people are trying to hold that person back,” he said. “I don’t think he’s resistive, but some of the crowd is resistive.”
The chief noted that the video shows other members of the crowd throwing objects at officers. He couldn’t say exactly why the man was sprayed and arrested. But he said officers on the line need to have the discretion to determine the best approach in such situations.
The man was sprayed after stepping into the street. While officers were more lenient on Tuesday night, they have generally tried to keep protesters off the street and inside Mill Creek Park.
“When we say that curb is the line we can’t then say it’s here and then it’s here and then it’s here. We’ll be backed up against the building,” Smith said. “We have to set an expectation. We want to do it for the safety of everyone involved.”
It’s unclear what events preceded the incident caught on video.
But Deputy Chief Karl Oakman said officers generally do not deploy tear gas or pepper spray without multiple warnings and instructions to the crowd.
“We’ve very patient with going to that next level,” he said.
Police on Tuesday said they were trying to be more flexible with protesters, hoping to set a new tone with the crowd. But they said they have worked to remove the most aggressive protesters from the demonstrations.
“What you’re probably seeing is the end result of the individual repeatedly defying the orders earlier in the day,” Oakman said.
“You’ll see them going in and out of the street. And eventually it gets to the point where that’s the best opportunity to take them into custody without causing more injuries or involving other people. So it’s a tactical approach. Sometimes we do have to wait several minutes before we find the right opportunity to get an instigator out of the crowd.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 11:01 AM.
