KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Peaceful protesters on Thursday recounted what they say were their unlawful arrests, the same day Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker made it clear her office would not be pursuing charges against non-violent protesters.
"This office is not, not going to prosecute protesters," Peters Baker said.
Peters Baker said she views the protesters as peaceful demonstrators.
Protesters are telling their stories, including local attorney Stacy Shaw.
"I was unlawfully arrested. I was kept in handcuffs for two hours," Shaw recounted outside City Hall on Thursday.
She is providing pro bono representation to those who allege mistreatment by police, or who were taken into custody.
read from prepared statements in a press conference on Thursday.
"I was met by multiple officers, sprayed in my eyes with pepper spray, pulled from the crowd and dragged into the street," Tarence Maddox recalled.
"Several police officers marched up to me and sprayed me in my eyes with very powerful pepper spray," Na’Tya Maddox, Tarence's daughter, said.
Tarence Maddox is the man seen in a viral video now viewed nationwide.
"I asked my arresting officer what I was being charged with, why I was being arrested, to which he replied with, I’ll figure that out later," Ethan Maxey, another protester, said.
41 Action News asked the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department about the arrests. A spokesman referred us to the policing changes announced by Mayor Quinton Lucas on Thursday.
"It’s time to stop placating us. It’s time to stop showing up for photo opportunities," Shaw said.
Peters Baker agrees, saying this moment and movement feels different.
"The power of video. There is nobody who can deny what they saw, nobody. Not just in George Floyd’s murder but in the incident in Central Park. Maybe for white Americans, it’s the first time seeing racism right in your face," Peters Baker said.
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