Cops Arrest Protesters; Dog Bites Cops

An anti-Donald Trump protest in New Haven ended with cops arresting two demonstrators — and fending off a state canine.

Under the banner of ​“No Ban No Wall New Haven,” some 200 protesters marched downtown against President Trump’s executive orders to ban travelers from entering the U.S. from seven Muslim nations and to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

They marched to Route 34, a state road, around 5 p.m. and blocked traffic. State police arrived on the scene.

“They started walking toward us with dogs. We waited for them to give us the order to get arrested. But it never happened,” said John Lugo of Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA), one of the groups organizing the protest.

According to a state police arrest, the demonstrators ​“obstructed an ambulance carrying a critically ill patient. Due to this delay ambulance personnel were required to perform an emergency medical procedure in the ambulance instead of at the hospital.” (Asked if the patient in the ambulance was OK, a state police spokeswoman responded, ​“Contact the hospital.” A hospital spokesman said he did not have information.)

At that point in the event, it was state police handling the crowd.

Attorney Patricia Kane said she had told police she was there representing the group. ​“Who is the leader of the group?” she said the police demanded. She said she responded that the group had no leader.

Kane said state police were acting in a hostile manner toward the demonstrators. ​“The trooper with the dog frightened everybody. The dog jumped on me. Shades of Selma.”

After about a half hour, according to Lugo, the marchers did leave the scene. They marched back toward the Green.

Once the demonstration was back on city streets. New Haven police joined the dozens of state cops on the scene. State police went looking for the veteran city protester Norman Clement, one of several organizers who had been directing the crowd through a bullhorn.

Meanwhile, a city police officer asked one of the protesters to move out of the way of an emergency vehicle, according to shift commander Lt. Sam Brown. Brown said the man refused to move. ​“The officers tried to guide him out of the way. He pushed an officer trying to get back.” The officers brought him to the ground and arrested him. (See photo at the top of the story.)

The arrestee, a barista at a downtown coffee shop, could not be reached for comment as this story was published.

“I was in the area at the time police piled on him. I do not believe he was engaged in anything that warranted the action,” said Kane, who is serving as his attorney. She said she has not yet been able to speak with her client about the incident.

After his arrest, members of the crowd asked police about it. The state police who were looking for Clement caught up with him. He still had his megaphone. Lugo said Clement asked the officers through the megaphone why the other man had been arrested.

“Clement ran from law enforcement personnel through the crowd, knocking over several of his supporters, before being apprehended. Clement actively resisted arrest and was sprayed with capstun,” the police report stated. They charged him with inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, interfering with police, and reckless use of the highway by a pedestrian.

Clement could not be reached for comment. Lugo, who witnessed the events, said Clement was trying to avoid the pepper spray. ​“Norman tried to run. Then he got pushed to the ground” by several officers, Lugo said.

Attorney Kane, who also represents Clement, said Clement ran because a police dog ​“lunged at him.” She said officers chased him and pepper-sprayed him three times. She said she has video — which she doesn’t want to release yet — of a state police dog snarling at protesters and of cops knocking over an elderly woman. She called it ​“a police riot.”

In the confusion, state police dogs got ​“rambunctious” and ended up biting two city cops and a state cops, according to New Haven Assistant Police Chief Tony Reyes. He said the three cops had minor injuries.

Local police detained a third New Haven man but released him without charge, he told the Independent.

Clement was released on a $5,000 bond. He has a Feb. 13 court date. He went to the hospital Saturday night for treatment.

The barista was charged him with disorderly conduct and released him around 9:30 p.m., Kane said.

As protests have become daily occurrences here and across the nation in the wake of President Trump’s inauguration and stream of controversial executive orders, New Haven police this week were holding meetings to prepare for an extended period of demonstrations.

“It’s happening,” Reyes said. ​“We have to be ready to deal with and try to do it in a way that balances our commitment to community policing while keeping our officers safe.”