From protest to unrest: Where the violence in downtown Raleigh started

For the first two hours, the hundreds who came to downtown Raleigh to protest police brutality were peaceful.

But then some came upon Wake County sheriff’s deputies protecting the back entrance to the public safety building that leads to the jail.

That’s when dozens of protesters splintered off and confronted the deputies, who then responded with tear gas, said Raleigh’s police chief, a spokesman for the sheriff and a protester who stood just outside the deck. A News & Observer photographer also witnessed the confrontation.

From there, clashes rolled across downtown. Police used smoke bombs, pepper spray and more tear gas as protesters threw bottles and rocks and set off fireworks. By the early morning downtown was littered with fires, smashed windows and looted businesses in what was the city’s worst rioting in decades.

At a news conference Sunday, Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said it all began when police were cornered by the crowd in the sally port to the jail along McDowell Street, which is where deputies bring detainees.

Deck-Brown said protesters left the gathering spot at the courthouse on Salisbury Street after two hours of peaceful protest, went west on Davie Street and turned onto McDowell Street, where there is a back entrance to the public safety building.

“Then when they got on McDowell Street they charged into the sally port . . . and when they got up there they were met with the tactical team of the sheriff’s office,” Deck-Brown said. “They were forcing their way in, and (the deputies) deployed gas.”

She said the deputies pushed the protesters back to the street, but they entered again, egged on by fellow protesters.

The entrance also includes a ramp down into the building.

“The Raleigh Police Department deployed smoke initially, with the hopes that we could get our officers, who were on the other side of that sally port, out safely,” Deck-Brown said.

She said her officers did not have tactical gear on. They had been providing a safe perimeter for those walking in protest.

“And when all of that happened, (Raleigh police officers) went over to the other side of the sally port, and were basically barricaded for lack of a better way of putting it,” Deck-Brown said. “So when the smoke did not benefit anyone, and they didn’t move back, then we deployed our tactical unit with gas, because we had to get those officers to safety.”

‘Riot gear’

Natalie Graceffa, 26, a speech therapist for the Durham Public Schools, said she was among the protesters walking along McDowell Street. When she looked into the sally port, she said she saw roughly six to 10 officers about 50 to 75 feet back into the building at the top of a ramp, dressed in what she described as “riot gear,” black suits, face shields and gas masks.

She said until then, she and other protesters had only seen police in their regular uniforms lining the streets. But the gear these officers wore triggered a response from the crowd.

“From my perspective, there was no escalation until this point, and it felt like the presence of riot-geared police was a taunt, and so the protesters started taunting back,” she said.

About 30 to 40 protesters entered the sally port, she said. She stayed outside on the sidewalk along the exterior wall of the building and did not see the confrontation. She at first heard sirens, then a bang. Protesters started pouring out of the sally port, eyes inflamed with tear gas.

Graceffa used her water bottle to try to flush the gas from the eyes of a teenager, she said.

“Before I went I thought, maybe I should bring some milk because I had read that might help,” she said. “But then I thought, that was dramatic, I wouldn’t get tear-gassed, so I brought a bottle of water because it was hot.”

She said other protesters tried to go back up the sally port ramp when the tear gas abated.

“It was like fighting over territory at that point,” she said.

When she ran out of water and couldn’t be any help to anyone, she said she made her way home on the northern edge of downtown.

An N&O photographer saw protesters entering the sally port. He went in as they made their way up the ramp and shouted at about a dozen deputies in riot gear. The deputies formed a line and tossed tear gas as they began pushing the protesters out.

“I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” protesters shouted.

Confrontation in the sally port

Eric Curry, a sheriff’s spokesman, said deputies in tactical gear emerged after protesters started to walk up the sally port ramp.

Deputies in tactical gear, helmets and face shields had been in the nearby parking area as the Sheriff’s Office monitored the protesters with a drone and teams on the ground.

The role of the Sheriff’s Office that evening included monitoring protesters as well as protecting the Public Safety Center, which includes a jail, and other Wake County public buildings in the area.

“We have residents in our Public Safety Center and detention officers so obviously that could not be breached whatsoever,” Curry said.

Deputies, who came from the top of the sally port ramp, ordered the protesters to back away, and they did not, Curry said.

“That is when gas was deployed to move them back immediately,” Curry said.

Around the same time, Curry said, “we were pelted with rocks and bricks.”

While some have been critical of the tactical gear and contend it escalates such situations, Curry said that law enforcement has to be prepared.

“If you are not an individual that is causing harm to the public or property, then what you see is not offensive,” he said.

“For those that their only mission is to wreak havoc and cause harm, our deputies must be prepared and protected through any threats of harm.”

If deputies hadn’t had on the gear, they would be vulnerable to rocks and bricks that were being thrown at them, Curry said.

After deputies deployed the gas, they set up a perimeter at the bottom of the sally port to prevent anyone else from entering, Curry said.

Other confrontations

Other confrontations followed: In front of the Raleigh Convention Center where police fired more tear gas after being hit with rocks and water bottles, outside the Wake County Courthouse where some protesters threw fireworks and police shot rubber bullets, and on Moore Square where trash cans were set on fire in the middle of Blount Street.

Deck-Brown said at the news conference it was not until some in the crowd began to throw bottles and rocks at officers that Raleigh police “escalated their response.”

The destruction did not subside until well after midnight.

Injuries, arrests

Deck-Brown said five of her officers were injured during the ensuing mayhem, including one with a “brain bruise.” All have been released from the hospital. She said citizens were injured as well, but she did not give a tally. Deck-Brown said 12 were arrested. Curry said the Sheriff’s Office made one arrest.

More arrests are expected.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to identify and prosecute those who made the choice to behave in such a lawless manner,” Deck-Brown said.

Deck-Brown has spent her entire career in the department and became chief in 2013. She said her officers and others from several other agencies acted professionally.

“Those officers collectively behaved valiantly under unprecedented circumstances and showed tremendous restraint and professionalism,” she said. “While the damage to our city was significant, the actions of these brave officers prevented more extensive and widespread damage.”

Some in downtown Raleigh questioned why police at times were nowhere to be found as protesters damaged property.

When more people are on the ground than officers, Deck-Brown said, officials have to be strategic about deploying officers. During the protest, she said, some were throwing stones and pavers.

“I will not put an officer in harm’s way to protect the property inside a building because insurance is most likely going to cover that as well, but that officers’ safety is the utmost importance,” she said.

‘Not a peaceful protest’

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said she has heard people complain about the use of tear gas, but pointed to Deck-Brown’s explanation of it as a response to agitators.

There have been many peaceful demonstrations in which Raleigh officers have protected people’s First Amendment rights to protest, she said.

“What we saw yesterday was violence,” she said. “And when you start throwing rocks and bricks and pavers at police officers and through windows, that is not peaceful protest.”

Baldwin said it is too early to say whether there will be a review of police actions during the protest.

“We are still trying to pull together what happened, and we will look at that later,” Baldwin said.

This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 6:02 PM.

Dan Kane

The News & Observer

919-829-4861

Dan Kane began working for The News & Observer in 1997. He covered local government, higher education and the state legislature before joining the investigative team in 2009.