Protests Erupt in Cleveland After Acquittal of Police Officer in Shooting Death of 2 Suspects

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, May 24, 2015

People take part in a march against police violence, in New York December 13, 2014. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington on Saturday for a march to protest the killings of unarmed black men by law enforcement officers and to urge Congress to do more to protect African-Americans from unjustified police violence. Organizers said the event and the parallel march in New York City would rank among the largest in the recent wave of protests against the killings of black males by officers in Ferguson, Missouri, New York, Cleveland and elsewhere. | (Photo: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)

Cleveland police in riot gear arrested several demonstrators who were part of large crowds that stormed the streets Saturday night after the acquittal of a police officer charged with chasing and shooting to death two unarmed black suspects in 2012.

More than 20 people were arrested as protesters took to the streets in downtown Cleveland Saturday night, according to Reuters.

The protesters chanted anti-police slogans, and increased in number and became more unruly. Some protesters marched behind a large banner that said, "Stop murder by police," Fox News reported.

Protests erupted soon after an Ohio judge, John O'Donnell, acquitted Officer Michael Brelo, 31, saying he acted reasonably in shooting the two suspects while standing on the hood of their surrounded car and firing multiple rounds through the windshield.

Brelo, one of the officers who fired on the car, was found not guilty of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Three people were arrested Saturday for throwing an object through a restaurant window, injuring a patron, and multiple more arrests were made at East Fourth Street due to "unlawful behavior by large crowd," police said on Twitter.

Police also tweeted about an incident that involved a large crowd spraying people with pepper spray.

Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Democrat from Ohio, criticized the judgment, calling it a "stunning setback on the road to justice."

"The verdict is another chilling reminder of a broken relationship between the Cleveland Police Department and the community it serves," she said in a statement.

The Department of Justice said Saturday it would "review all available legal options."

"We will now review the testimony and evidence presented in the state trial" and see if "additional steps are available and appropriate," the department said after the acquittal.

Two black people, Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, were killed in the November 2012 chase and shooting incident, which began after reports of gunfire from their car.

Officer Brelo used a Glock 17 pistol and fired 49 rounds, including at least 15 after he reloaded and climbed onto the hood of Russell's Chevrolet Malibu and the other officers had stopped firing, according to The New York Times, which also said that more than 100 officers chased the car for over 20 miles at speeds that reached 100 miles an hour, and began firing when the car was stopped and cornered.

"Brelo was acting in conditions difficult for even experienced officers to imagine," O'Donnell said in the verdict. "He was in a strange place at night surrounded by gunfire, sirens and flashing bulbs. Brelo did not fire too quickly or at a person who was clearly unarmed or unable to run him over."

Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore have also witnessed demonstrations over the deaths of black suspects in the recent months.