Armed protesters in America create stress test for police – By Patrik Jonsson & Noah Robertson (CS Monitor) / Sept 22 2020
Amid this year’s tumult existing laws and policing norms about the clash of guns and protest slogans can feel inadequate or even unenforceable. As one source says, “It’s a basic question of law enforcement: What is the law and what are the facts on the ground?”
On a steamy Georgia summer day, the militiamen came. They came with long rifles around their shoulders and handguns stashed in the waist bands of athletic shorts.
After Stone Mountain Park denied a permit for an armed protest by an Alabama militia on Aug. 15, “that meant that everything was going to be in our yard, on our side of the mountain,” says Jasmine Little, a Stone Mountain city councilor.
Indeed, the armed group of white Alabamians proceeded to the Stone Mountain village square, where they were met by a larger group of counter-protesters, some of whom were also armed.
Residents were urged to stay out of the area, given the uncertainty of what might happen with all that weaponry around. Meanwhile – in the summer of 2020, with protests breaking out all across the nation – police decided to stay back.
When shouting and swearing escalated into brawls, police in riot gear finally moved in to break it up. Protesters had some bumps and bruises, but no officers were hurt and property was not destroyed. As a result, no one was arrested. The outcome was seen as a victory by Stone Mountain Police Chief Chancey Troutman, who declared, “All sides had their say.”
Continue to article: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2020/0922/Armed-protesters-in-America-create-stress-test-for-police
