Akron Police Chief Not Ready to Provide Walker Protest Details

Akron, Ohio — almost 24 hours later Law enforcement used pepper spray to disperse Jayland Walker’s protestAkron Police Chief Steve Mylett said he was not ready to provide any concrete information about what happened.

In a statement released Wednesday night, Mylett said, “We are waiting for video footage from some of our partners’ law enforcement agencies to clear up any confusion.” If information is released prematurely and without facts, that misinformation could cause irreparable damage.”

Mylett said he will release that information to the public “when we can confidently determine the exact circumstances of last night’s events.”

“If we make mistakes, we’ll improve them, and if the behavior of our officers is reasonable, we’ll share that information as well,” Mylett concluded in a letter to the community. You can read the full text.

Wednesday night’s protest came two days after a grand jury Refused to indict eight police officers involved in Jayland Walker’s death.

An initially peaceful march began near Copley Road and South Hawkins Avenue before the crowd eventually made its way down Copley to East Avenue for more than an hour, officials said. Around the 30 minute mark, police claimed some members began throwing objects such as stones and bottles at officers, and eventually law enforcement members used pepper spray to break up the rally.

It’s unclear at this time which agency deployed the tear gas, but members of the Akron Police Department and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office were at the scene. Some protesters posted videos of the rallyclaimed the event was peaceful before police began spraying irritants.

Igal Kaufman of Ideastream He joined the protest and filmed a video of himself using multiple smoke grenades as well as authorities “spraying people on the street or standing too close to the sidewalk.” .

In response to complaints from protesters about the behavior of officers during the protest, Akron police told WKYC that a caravan of 70 cars was part of the rally, with members of the crowd surrounding officers and throwing objects at them. He repeated reports from Chief Steve Mylett that there were

On Thursday, the Akron Police Department received criticism for its response from both community and political leaders. Akron City Councilor Tara Mosley, who is also a candidate for mayor of Akron, said: condemned the use of pepper spray by the police And I wondered what was “illegal” about the demo.

“There have been no reports of injuries or property damage before police declared the rally illegal,” Mosley wrote. “So what was illegal about this rally? It claims the officers issued the order to disperse because the marchers threw bottles at them.

“However, the available evidence, much of it online, was that the protests were peaceful before police ordered people to disperse. People were demanding accountability. No less.People were protesting Jayland Walker’s decision.They were crying for healing and standing up for their neighbors, communities, families and children.The rally was illegal. There was no.

Ray Greene Jr. of The Freedom BLOC went one step further, calling the police response “Gestapo tactics.”

“More than 100 peaceful protesters marched down Copley Road in Akron when they came across a police barricade with SWAT gear, cars and tanks. They started spraying tear gas on the streets.

“The very violence that this incompetent regime and black leaders are asking not to happen continues to happen by them. These Gestapo tactics will not deter us from the streets of Summit County. No. We keep marching until the 8 cops who killed Jayland show up.Walker is fired.

“I am personally asking Deputy Mayor Marco Somerville and Chief Steve Mylett to stop his militia from torturing citizens and just do the right thing,” he wrote in a statement.

Additionally, the Freedom BLOC is calling on the Akron City Council to ban the use of tear gas in the city.