PROJECT 41
WASHINGTON, DC -- 8/27/20 -- Protests after the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have continued unabated in the District, with a dedicated group of activists who have been showing up nightly since the end of May. On August 13, protestors and activists staged a march from Malcolm X Park to the 3rd District precinct to call for defunding police and ending police brutality and misconduct. Though mostly peaceful, a trashcan was set alight outside a Starbucks halfway through the march, but activists continued to the precinct without interference from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Late that night, MPD suddenly surrounded protestors using a tactic called âkettlingâ, preventing them from leaving and began making indiscriminate arrests. 41 protestors, medics, legal observers and an independent photojournalist [DISCLOSURE: that photojournalist is the son of this photographer] were among those detained and initially charged with felony riot. All but two were released with no charges, the remaining were charged with other offenses and released. Protestors dispute the account of MPD, and are still trying to get the phones and equipment returned, which MPD says are being held as evidence. The 33 co-defendents in the initial case was the largest ever in the District of Columbia before charges were dropped. MPD has faced scrutiny and lost lawsuits over similar tactics in the past, and further legal action on behalf of protestors is in the worksâ¦by André Chung #_AC11783