A protest outside the Iowa State Capitol ended just after midnight Wednesday without police confrontation, but several people were arrested after leaving the demonstration.
Tuesday …
A protest outside the Iowa State Capitol ended just after midnight Wednesday without police confrontation, but several people were arrested after leaving the demonstration.
Tuesday was the fifth straight day of protests decrying police brutality and racial inequality in Iowa. About 1,000 people marched from the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park to Terrace Hill, the governor’s mansion, where organizers spoke about creating change at the local level.
At the request of protesters, some Iowa State Patrol officers took off their riot gear as they guarded the mansion. Organizer Will Robinson exchanged hugs and handshakes with the officers, and later asked the crowd to leave peacefully: “We came here without violence. And that’s exactly how we will leave.”
After the Polk County curfew took effect at 9 p.m., hundreds continued to march peacefully for several miles through downtown and the East Village, as nationwide protests continued following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.
More: New charges in George Floyd’s death: Derek Chauvin faces second-degree murder; 3 other officers charged
They were still marching peacefully until about 11:20 p.m., when a small group broke off and stood at the Iowa Capitol.
Just after 11:30 p.m, some protesters formed a human chain by linking their arms to prevent others from approaching the police line. State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, who has led negotiation efforts at protests since they began last week, continued to talk with the group as more protesters left the scene.
Then shortly after midnight, law enforcement moved down the Statehouse steps and read formal dispersal orders — a similar timeline to Monday night’s protest. But unlike Monday, when they deployed tear gas and flash bangs after their final order to protesters to leave, police advanced to the bottom of the steps without incident, and remaining protesters left without confrontation at the scene.
