This story was produced in collaboration with WKNO-FM public radio.
What started as a peaceful protest as part of the national string of No Kings protests ended with three people arrested following an encounter between the Memphis Police Department and protesters.
More than a thousand protesters showed up at Robert R. Church Park in downtown Memphis on Saturday for the No Kings protest. Speakers included community activists and elected officials like state Rep. Gabby Salinas and Congressman Steve Cohen, both Memphis Democrats. Then, protesters began marching down Beale Street.
But at the intersection of Ida B. Wells Street (South Fourth Street) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue near FedEx Forum, a clash broke out between protesters and police.
“We were nearing the end of the march when horses and police officers by the dozens showed up, starting to push protesters, drag them, push them on the ground,” saidstate Representative Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, who spoke and marched alongside the protesters.
Fifty-five-year-old school teacher Christy Edwards said she was surprised by the aggressive actions by the police.
“So, we were walking, everybody was very peaceful and calm,’’ Edwards said. “Then, the next thing we know, my granddaughter, was like, ‘Everything’s not okay.’ And she told my daughter to look back and that’s where my daughter was like, ‘Let’s go, let’s go!’ Because they noticed that (the police) had started pepper spraying the (parade) marshals, and the marshals was only maybe 10, 15 feet behind us.”
The Memphis Police Department later said in a statement that officers responded to a disturbance involving individuals associated with the rally who were blocking traffic and refused to get off the streets despite repeated requests from officers. Protest organizers had a permit to rally in Church Park, but didn’t have a permit to march in the streets, an MPD spokeswoman said.
According to police, an officer began using pepper spray after individuals resisted arrest. However, video footage by a reporter shows MPD officers deploying the chemical agent before officers attempted to make any arrests. MPD said a total of six individuals were detained. Three were charged with disorderly conduct and highway obstruction. Three of the detainees were released minutes later. The investigation is ongoing, MPD said.
Memphis Councilman JB Smiley called MPD’s actions excessive.
“I was deeply disturbed about the use of pepper spray particularly because we were literally at the end of the march,’’ Smiley said. “…Those folks in in leadership got to be more cognitive (of) the type of efforts that we use when we’re dealing with people who are peacefully protesting.
Rep. Pearson echoed those sentiments.
“Regardless of if you think it’s a permitted march … you do not at any point need to push, hurt or harm people who are citizens of this community who pay taxes in this city in order for the police to even exist,” Pearson said.
“But we got (a) response with horses and pepper spray, and one officer pushed me and then pulled out his pepper spray as though he’s going to pepper spray us. What are we doing? What are we doing? It’s despicable, it’s unnecessary, and it’s dangerous. This is how people die and get killed.’’
