What began as an afternoon anti-police protest in Rochester, New York, turned violent Monday evening. Chanting protesters began overturning police barricades to get to the station.
Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets of Rochester Monday afternoon to protest in response to a nine-year-old girl who was pepper-sprayed by police late last week. An officer used handcuffs and “an irritant” on the minor who reportedly threatened to harm herself, RochesterFirst.com reported.
A custodial parent called the police and reported she intended to cause self-harm to herself and others. She then fled from the residence. The responding officers chased the girl down and handcuffed her when she refused to cooperate.
When she would not put her feet in the police car, one of the officers sprayed her with the “irritant,” the local news outlet stated.
The girl became “agitated when she saw her custodial parent,” officials said. “This caused the minor to pull away and kick at officers, which required an officer to take the minor down to the ground.”
Monday afternoon, protesters began marching in the streets in response.
The protest continued moving toward a police station.
“The mother was there,” one protester told the Rochester news station. “In this incident, there was no reason for the police officer to be so rough with this child. We’re here because we want change. We want our police officers to stop abusing our babies.”
As darkness fell on the city, the protesters assembled at the police station, independent journalist Geoffery Rogers tweeted.
The protesters became more aggressive and began moving and overturning police barricades in an attempt to approach the station.
After breaking through the barricade, the protesters assembled along the parking lot fence and began shouting at police, videographer Brendan Gutenschwager tweeted.
“You just maced a little kid,” the protesters shouted.
The crowd eventually left the police station and supporters in vehicles joined the marchers.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s Sunday-morning talk show, What’s Your Point? Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, Parler @BobPrice, and Facebook.
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