Hunter
09/04/20
The city of Iowa City has released police videos showing officers using tear gas and flash bangs to keep Black Lives Matter protesters from advancing on Interstate 80 on June 3rd.
The videos are body cam footage from the front and the back of the police line as the confrontation unfolded.
In a news release, City Manager Geoff Fruin said the crowd control measures were deployed after law enforcement warned protesters that they would use tear gas and the flash bangs if they tried to get on Interstate 80.
Fruin says that the Iowa State Patrol made the call to keep the protesters from getting on the interstate out of safety concerns for the traveling public as well as the protesters.
The strategy was employed, according to Fruin, as a safer alternative than other hands-on tactics that could have caused more serious injury.
Members of the State Patrol, Iowa City Police, and University of Iowa Police were involved in the incident.
The city council has hired an outside firm to review the ICPD’s involvement in the incident; a report is expected within 90 days once the firm begins their review.