(Monday, June 1st) The fourth day of peaceful protesting started off in the early evening as a great success. Protesters gathered for a meeting in front of the capitol building where community leaders and activists spoke to the public about advocating for black and other minority Iowans. This peaceful rally ended with the entire crowd kneeling in solidarity. After the meeting concluded, a large group of protesters decided to keep marching despite the curfew enacted just one day before. Hundreds of people continued to march from the downtown police department and back to the capitol building yelling chants such as, “Hands up, don’t shoot!” and “I can’t breathe!”. This parade of protesters going through the streets of downtown Des Moines was completely peaceful. Nothing was thrown in either direction for hours. Then the protesters gathered in front of the capitol building one last time near midnight.
Beforehand, The Guerrillas had been with the crowd for the entirety of the day. At one point we had managed to mount a parking garage where the protesters had already left us behind to continue marching down the streets. At this point, we were just taking photos of downtown and taking a small break before heading back to the protesters. Within three minutes of being in the parking garage, two unmarked SUVs came up the parking ramp directly towards us. 5 agents immediately got out of the car in full protective gear and questioned us for being in the parking lot where we promptly answered all their questions and they told us to go home. To obey the laws and current restrictions of our beautiful state, we did head home for about 30 minutes. And then we became aware of live streams showing that people were still protesting and immediately headed back to the capitol building where tensions started to escalate once more.
As we rejoined the crowd of protesters you could hear the chants resonating from a distance. Protesters had remained peaceful for the entirety of Monday’s protest. We asked a few protesters what the current situation was and they told us that they were issuing a last call ordinance to clear the vicinity. Then suddenly, law enforcement started firing and charging the protesters with full force.
Smoke bombs, tear gas, mace, and flashbangs were used within seconds after midnight. The riot officers descended from all directions surrounding the peaceful protesters, running at full speed and shooting tear gas into the crowd. Our crew began to go back from the front of the Capitol towards Court Ave. We kept the camera rolling before turning around to see a group of riot police shooting mace directly at us. People shoved and grabbed each other to run to safety. Tear gas left protesters coughing and choking. Abusive police forces left protesters bloodied and paralyzed. Fortunately, we came prepared with water and milk to help people who had been attacked. Videos of chaos and fear littered the internet following this event. We were able to get out safely and help a few people get to where they needed to go. We made multiple trips back and forth to downtown to get the protesters that we could out of the violent situation. Around 70 people were thrown in jail for failure to disperse after being hit with rubber bullets, maced, and tear-gassed. One correspondent, who had been put in jail and released the next day, also mentioned how about 20 people had been released from Polk County Jail all at the same time by groups raising money to bail out protesters.
Last night will go down as one of the most appalling days of our lives. A full day of peaceful protests led to violence at the hands of the police; the ones who are sworn to protect us. Until the law enforcement reform we demand gets implemented, we will continue to report the current situation around Des Moines, Iowa. After last night, it is clear to us now that this has turned into a full out war with no end in sight.
Edited and Revised by Tarun Yenna
