Raleigh police chief defends law enforcement after night of protest and destruction

Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown defended the actions of law enforcement in its response to protests Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

“Officers collectively behaved valiantly under unprecedented circumstances and showed tremendous restraint and professionalism,” Deck-Brown said at a news conference Sunday.

Police shot tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. Protesters broke windows and looted downtown businesses. Protesters gathered over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis; a police officer is charged with murder in his death.

Police did not react until rocks and water bottles were thrown at them, Deck-Brown said.

Five officers were treated at the hospital, she said. All were released. Among the injuries were a brain bruise, broken teeth and cardiac issues, she said. Twelve people were arrested and more arrests will follow, she said. There were civilians injured as well, she said.

Deck-Brown said officers from five other police departments and the Wake, Johnston and Wayne county sheriff’s departments were there.

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin called Saturday night “heartbreaking and devastating.”

She said there were two “very different experiences” Saturday, a peaceful protest and a “second group of people who came in the dark of night who had no intent of protesting peacefully.”

This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 11:38 AM.