Syracuse Freddie Gray Protesters Charged With Not Having Protest Permit
The Syracuse reports that two men who police say helped organize a protest against the death of a Baltimore man in police custody have been charged with violating city law by not having a permit for the protest.
Rev. Lemorris Micah O. Dexter II, 45, and Derek Ford, 30, were each charged with violating the city’s general ordinances that require permits for assemblies or parades.
According to a complaint signed by Lt. Richard Shoff, who oversees the Syracuse police Ordinance Enforcement Division, Dexter and Ford were observed assembling, marching and congregating with about 80 other people in the middle of South Clinton Street.
The group was seen obstructing southbound traffic on Clinton Street and east-west traffic on Erie Boulevard, Shoff wrote. The incident occurred about 2 p.m. on April 30.
A lengthy afternoon of protests that day ended peacefully in Syracuse despite arguments, some traffic jams and virtually no police presence.
Protesters met at Syracuse University carrying signs that read “Black Lives matter,” “Stop police brutality,” and “We can’t breathe,” and, without warning, marched off toward Clinton Square. The group, which was protesting the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in Baltimore police custody, easily numbered more than a hundred people and filled all four lanes of East Washington Street as it moved past City Hall.
During the protest dozens of people filed into South Clinton Street near the Jerry Rescue Monument and refused to move for traffic. Dozens of cars and trucks were forced to stop and turn around.
Syracuse police had almost no presence during the protest.
A marked Syracuse police car appeared to be tailing the protesters after they left Clinton Square. The officer driving blared his horn during one of the chants, but did little else. City officials said the protesters had no permit so police were not aware in advance.
The department’s Special Events Section, which coordinates staffing and traffic control for events, issued 123 legal assembly permits last year.
According to Sec. 16-35 of Syracuse’s general ordinances, “No persons, society or organization of any name or nature shall assemble, congregate, parade or march in or through any of the streets of the city,” without having a permit. The permit application must be submitted to the chief of police at least 48 hours in advance of the event.
The law does allow for an exemption to the permit requirement for “lawful assemblages, congregations, parades or marches solely upon the public sidewalks.” The city ordinance does not say what the punishment is for violating the law.
Dexter, of The New Salem Missionary Baptist Church of Syracuse, and Ford, an SU graduate student, appeared in court earlier this month for arraignment, The Daily Orange reported.
Lt. Eric Carr, a police spokesman, said in an email that Dexter and Ford were the only people who received summonses as a result of the protest because “they were believed to be the organizers of the protest.”
Dexter told Syracuse.com at the time of the protest that the event had come together with just a few days notice. It included the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Syracuse Answer coalition and The General Body, an SU student coalition, he said.
Carr declined to say how police identified Dexter and Ford as the organizers of the protest.
“We also are not going discuss Police tactics on how the protest … was investigated or handled at the time, so that these tactics will not be exploited in the future by other protesters,” he said.
Published by Ken Sturtz
