Sapphire Williams was being interviewed by a local news station for taking part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Rochester, NY, but what happened at the end of the report left everyone shocked.
Williams said she was hanging out with friends when they stumbled upon the protest and decided to join.
In the middle of and interview with TWC News, Williams was arrested on air by local police.
Via TheBlaze:
“I’m not gonna hit anybody, I’m not gonna shoot anybody, I’m gonna speak to you, I’m gonna use my words,” she said.
Those were the last words one Black Lives Matter protester in Rochester, New York, before being arrested on camera during an interview with TWC News.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” she said as officer swarmed around her.
Sapphire Williams, 22, was arrested at a protest wasn’t planning to attend, but joined when she and her friends stumbled upon it while they were out. Not long after she started talking to the camera, officers dressed in riot gear rush up to her and arrest her.
It all started when she began speaking to fellow demonstrators, the police and, eventually, the news media about “what got us to this point,” Williams, who recently graduated from Albany University, said. Moments later, she was detained by police.
Watch the startling events that unfolded below …
Woman arrested at #BlackLivesMatter protest while giving on-camera interview to local news https://t.co/tgBhWV0P2Ahttps://t.co/fojeRXHSA6
— CNN (@CNN) July 14, 2016
In all, 74 protesters in Rochester were arrested for disorderly conduct.
According to Williams, she had no idea why the arrest took place.
“I was completely taken aback by the onrush of officers and this very SWAT-like gear coming towards me out of nowhere,” Williams told CNN.
But an NBC News report showed police thought the demonstrators were leaving when they decided to come back and block traffic in the road.
Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli also revealed that protesters, less than 24 hours after the attacks in Dallas, surrounded police and began throwing rocks.
Via NBC News:
“We actually started demobilizing officers and … arranging for some officers to be in the area just to keep an eye on things,” Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli said at a news conference early Saturday.
Officers wore riot gear “later on” and then the crowd began to surround them and throw rocks, he said.
“At this point … there were 74 arrests for disorderly conduct. There were also two charges for resisting arrest,” he said. The crowd numbered more than 400 people, he added.
…
In spite of the number of detentions, Ciminelli said the department “didn’t blindly make arrests.”
Other reports also indicate that police officers told protesters to stop blocking the streets. They did not. That’s when the arrests began.
Comment: Was the live television arrest warranted, or did police go too far? Tell us your thoughts below.
