Police break up street barricade, arrest 4 protesters at Durham police headquarters
Police arrested four people and removed wooden pallets blocking the street Thursday at a camp-out protest outside the Durham Police Department.
“I’ll get locked up every day if I have to,” one demonstrator shouted through his coronavirus mask as police officers led him away, according to a video shot by ABC11, The News & Observer’s media partner.
The four people, including organizer Sheddrick “Skip” Gibbs, 33, were charged with impeding the flow of traffic and resist, delay and obstruct a law enforcement officer.
Police arrested Gibbs as he clung to one of the pallets.
“Don’t put no knee on him now,” a protester told officers, who pushed Gibbs to the ground during a short struggle.
Thursday marked the 10th day of “Occupy Main,” the Black Lives Matter demonstration outside the police headquarters building on East Main Street. About 20 people have taken turns staying at the makeshift campground, which has sleeping areas, a kitchen/living room tent, and a place to donate goods and store tarps and other items.
The group escalated its protest by blocking East Main Street around 3 a.m. Thursday. Things had reached a stalemate, said Sebastian Waldron, 28, who added the demonstrators will stay there until changes are made.
“As long as it takes,” he said. “Or until they lock us all up. Hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
Police chief releases statement
Initially three officers, including one officer who was recording the encounter, spoke with protesters.
After those officers left, about a dozen officers came out on foot and with a pickup truck and removed a row of pallets blocking the street. When four protesters tried to protect a second row of pallets they were arrested and taken to jail.
Police Chief C.J. Davis released a statement after police reopened the street but did not say whether the camp-out would be allowed to continue.
“The Durham Police Department is respectful of those who wish to exercise their First Amendment Rights and peacefully protest,” she said in the statement. “However, those privileges must be exercised while ensuring the highest level of public safety is afforded to our entire community. Blocking and impeding the flow of traffic with permanent structures in the public right of way is unacceptable, and interferes with the commuting public at large.
The News & Observer could not reach Gibbs Thursday morning for comment. He is an organizer with the Durham grassroots Other America Movement, which held one of the first protests in Durham after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and later met with city officials after briefly blocking the Durham Freeway.
Police budget increased
Gibbs and others started camping out after the City Council approved a $502.6 million city budget on June 15 that included a 5% increase for the Police Department, compared to the previous fiscal year’s budget.
The increase mostly covers costs associated with a federal grant that funded 15 police officers for three years, six gang-unit positions the council approved in March, and mandatory state retirement expenses.
Elected leaders have stressed that the budget didn’t fund any new police positions or programs.
Before the budget vote, the City Council agreed to earmark $1 million to fund future recommendations of the city’s Community Safety and Wellness Task Force, which will explore alternatives to policing.
Gibbs, meanwhile, has published a budget request online that asks for $11 million for community efforts, such as $1 million to support Black-owned businesses, $3 million to expand youth job opportunities and $2 million for a rent and mortgage assistance program for people of color.
Others groups, like Durham Beyond Policing, have different suggestions on how the city should address policing and community safety and wellness.
Durham Beyond Policing organized a demonstration on Juneteenth, painting the word “DEFUND” in giant yellow letters on East Main Street with an arrow pointing to police headquarters. About a block away, they painted “FUND” with an arrow pointing at the Durham County Human Services Building.
Staff writer Mark Schultz contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 9:19 AM.
