PHOENIX — Demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality continued in Arizona Tuesday afternoon.
The protests mark 13 days of marches and rallies after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
Video of now-fired officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he begged for air while three other officers idly stood by sparked a national furor.
His death has sparked massive protest and marches across America and Arizona.
That includes Mesa.
"I think it's very beautiful for the young people to see this and witness this protest. Kids are very smart. They know Black lives matter. They see police brutality and I know they want to make a change," said Brandon Trotter, a middle school teacher in Phoenix.
Protesters of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life fighting against racism, injustice and police brutality met at Mesa City Hall Tuesday evening and marched together to the Mesa Police Department.
The movement to end police brutality is nothing new for the City of Mesa. Protests with the same chants heard Tuesday have been heard there before.
"His last words were, 'Please don't shoot me! Yes sir,'" said Laney Sweet, Daniel Shaver's wife.
For Laney Sweet, this protest is personal.
"My husband died alone, lying on the ground of a hotel hallway, with no dignity or anybody around to check on him," Sweet said.
Former Mesa Police Officer Philip Brailsford shot Laney's husband, Daniel Shaver, five times. Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder and was ultimately found not guilty.
"To this day, four and a half years later, I have not received an apology," Sweet said.
Two years after that, body camera video in February 2018 caught Mesa officers wrestling an 86-year-old woman to the ground.
A few months later, the police department suspended two officers after an incident involving the arrest of a 15-year-old.
In May 2018, video showed officers punching and kneeing Robert Johnson.
Protesters Tuesday hope they don't see any more videos, demanding a systemic change.
On Tuesday night, the Mesa Police Department said they have developed Critical Incident Community Briefings to provide more transparency to community members after an incident involving use of deadly force. The first completed video was released.
In addition to releasing the video, Mesa Police released the following statement:
Moving forward, Mesa’s Police Chief Ken Cost has committed to a 45-day turnaround of these Critical Incident videos after an officer involved shooting occurs. Chief Cost has made it an organizational directive that Mesa Police Department continues to research and implement ways to connect with our community, foster trust and maintain positive relationships across community groups that represent the City of Mesa.
We thank our Community and our Community Leaders for their continued support and willingness to work together with us to keep Mesa a safe place to live, work and play.
A Mesa Police Department spokesperson released an additional statement in response to Tuesday night's protest:
The Mesa Police Department has worked in partnership with Mesa community leaders over the years to improve our service delivery. We are a learning organization and we acknowledge our missteps when they occur. We have worked with numerous outside organizations seeking insight and recommendations for organizational improvement. This can be evidenced by our work with the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), Police Assessment Resource Center (Merrick Bob), former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, Department of Justice, Community Relations Service and President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
As a result of this outreach, the department, along with the community has been working tirelessly over the last 18 months to review all our policies related to discipline and use of force. The Use of Force Review and Implementation Committee met every two weeks for nine months to review every use of force policy. The Committee consists of 12 community members and 12 members of the police department. Every review has gone before the executive staff for review and implementation.
As a result of their work, the following policy directions have been provided:
1. Implementation of concurrent investigations that ensures incidents involving force are reviewed for legal, policy and training issues in a timely manner.
2. The creation of the Critical Incident Review Board consisting of representation from labor association, member from Advance Training, Legal Advisor and two community members.
3. Prohibition of shooting at or from a moving vehicle.
4. Prohibit strikes to the face, head, or neck other than when a suspect engages in active aggression or aggravated active aggression.
5. Ensure officers have a duty to intervene when they observe unreasonable, unnecessary, or disproportionate use of force.
6. Emphasize that the policy of the Mesa Police Department is to value and preserve human life in all situations.
The nationwide protests have sometimes been marred by riots and looting, but the demonstrations in Phoenix remained peaceful all last week and were without a single arrest.
Marchers on Monday also made stops at a Confederate memorial erected outside the Arizona State Capitol. Arizona's secretary of state has called for the removal of the monument, and several military branches have signaled a desire to distance itself from memorials to a war that harkens back to slavery.
Last Friday, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams walked in solidarity with protesters and pledged change within her department. Williams announced Tuesday that officers in her department will no longer use the Carotid Control Technique, or headlock, that can cause the recipient to pass out.
"We can't function as a department without the trust of our community, and there are adjustments we can make to strengthen that trust,” Chief Williams said in a statement.
Williams will also be part of a national committee of mayors and police chiefs created to find new ways of police reform.
Marchers have also cited the shooting death of Dion Johnson by a DPS trooper as an example of police brutality, but details of the incident remain scarce.
Floyd was laid to rest Tuesday morning after a private funeral in Houston.
"No child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations: Why?” former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, said in a video eulogy played at the service. “Now is the time for racial justice. That is the answer we must give to our children when they ask why.”
Chauvin and the three other officers have since been arrested as the nation struggles to find solutions to end police brutality.
The video below is coverage of Monday's demonstrations.
