OAKLAND — More than two dozen Oakland police officers have been disciplined for tactics used against protesters during a George Floyd demonstration last year, Mayor Libby Schaaf told KTVU Wednesday morning.
Chief LeRonne Armstrong, the mayor said, will announce the exact number of officers disciplined and the severity of the discipline as well as policy changes at a noon press conference. Schaaf said most of the policy violations by officers occurred on June 1, 2020, after a large group of demonstrators led by high school students marched from Oakland Technical High School to downtown Oakland.
“I expect him to be as transparent as the law allows. Oaklanders deserve no less,” Schaaf told KTVU. “I can assure you that today he will announce the framework of four separate investigations that lead to the discipline of more than two dozen officers. I want to also commend the chief, he did not wait for the discipline and investigations to be completed before he started an intensive retraining of the department.”
Two federal lawsuits filed against Oakland allege officers violated the department’s crowd control policies, which were established after heavy police reaction to prior demonstrations, including Occupy Oakland. The policy places restrictions on the use of certain weapons, such as tear gas and flashbangs, because lawful protesters, legal observers and passerbys might be mixed in a crowd with unlawful protesters.
On June 1, just before a citywide 8 p.m. curfew, officers near 8th Street and Broadway fired tear gas and projectiles at a crowd of demonstrators, injuring multiple peaceful demonstrators, according to one of the federal lawsuits. At the time, Interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer and Armstrong, then a deputy chief, said people were throwing objects at police and preparing Molotov cocktails, although the department has not produced evidence of the latter.
A review of the events of June 1 by online news outlet Oaklandside found it was likely a pair of water bottles tossed by protesters that prompted the show of force by law enforcement.
The June 1 demonstration was the fourth night of protests in Oakland, following the murder of Floyd by Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin. On May 29, protesters set fires on downtown streets and inside at least two businesses and looted stores along Broadway.
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