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ASU Criminology Professor At Trump Rally Discusses What He Saw

Published: Thursday, August 24, 2017 - 3:06pm
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Many in the community are still reeling from the president’s visit to the Valley on Tuesday, and the mostly peaceful protests outside that ended with tear gas and flash bangs being deployed on the crowd.

Phoenix police say a small number of protesters began throwing rocks and tear gas at the officers, instigating a forceful effort to dispel the crowd before things escalated.

Many protesters, though, argue the police response to the actions of a few seemed sudden. The ACLU of Arizona is calling on an independent investigation, saying the police failed to protect the First Amendment rights of the protesters.

ASU criminology professor Ed Maguire was there at the protests observing with a team of researchers. He studies police tactics at protests and says for the most part, the protests were peaceful, but toward the end things got heated.  I spoke with him about what he saw.

We reached out to the Phoenix Police Department to respond to what the Maguire had to say. They sent us a statement saying that they will conduct an after-action review to determine what worked and what might need improvement.

"As is standard practice, we will conduct an after action review to determine what worked and what might need improvement. Our initial impression is that the officers acted exactly as expected; professional, decisive, and immediately responsive to the criminal conduct that marred an otherwise peaceful event. We will wait until our review is complete before we comment further," the Phoenix Police Department said.

Their initial impression, they said, is that officers acted exactly as expected, immediately responding to the criminal conduct that marred an otherwise peaceful event.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said he and Police Chief Jeri Williams will speak with leaders of organizations that took part in the rally to hear their concerns.




 
 

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