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At least 50 protesters chanted and marched to a Montgomery County police station in Silver Spring, Maryland, from a nearby library Monday night, and rallied outside.
Some carried signs with slogans that included “Stop Racial Profiling,” “Black People Are Not ‘Suspicious!” and “Black Lives Matter.”
The demonstration was a response to videos recorded last week, of a white officer using a racial slur.
.@willjawando talks about his meeting with two of the men who were questioned by Montgomery County Police during last week’s incident at a Silver Spring McDonald’s @WTOP pic.twitter.com/NCqGy2fbUb
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) May 14, 2019
A lawyer is detailing a lawsuit filed against Montgomery County Police on behalf of two people. She says unlawful police conduct happened in her case and the incident from last week @WTOP pic.twitter.com/xYEjfLCA1P
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) May 13, 2019
Jay Jimenez with the ACLU, a former Montgomery County resident, is describing being personally racially profiled and harassed by police. There are 50+ people here now @WTOP pic.twitter.com/Rntg90Slop
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) May 13, 2019
Getting ready for press conference as chanting continues @WTOP pic.twitter.com/2umhQ53DQl
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) May 13, 2019
Protest nearing the MoCo 3rd District police station @WTOP pic.twitter.com/IfDvbBxGlV
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) May 13, 2019
More chants outside MoCo police station @WTOP pic.twitter.com/UjLMkxMU2D
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) May 13, 2019
The videos show four young black men being detained and questioned by several Montgomery County police officers who were responding to trespassing report at a McDonald’s.
One of the men said to officers, “You [n-words] came to write a whole bunch of paper work.”
Then an unidentified person is heard asking, “What did you say, sir?”
Not long after, a white female officer uses the slur.
When the man who used the slur first calls her a racist, she tells him she was only repeating his words.
Police have called the incident disturbing, and it is still under investigation.
Among the speakers at the protest was Montgomery County Council Member Will Jawando, who said police officers are expected to interact with residents in a respectful, courteous manner.
“That’s not what happened here just a few days ago,” he added.
Jawando said he just met with two of the black men seen in the videos.
“When you hear these young men tell their story, one of whom actually is a recent graduate from a county-funded program, Latin-American Youth Center, when you hear them talk about their disappointment, their fear, their lack of understanding of why they, as paying customers of McDonald’s where they got their breakfast a couple times a week before being picked up to go to their job, why they were hassled like they have been before, and written trespass orders and detained and demeaned and talked down to.”
Jawando also has a problem with what the restaurant is allowing.
“McDonald’s has … allowed the police to use trespass authority anytime they wanted, and they don’t have to ask if anyone’s being destructive or anything, they can just stop the people and go in. Where else is that happening?”
Jawando is asking for the release of all body camera video from every officer involved in last week’s incident. So far only video from the accused officer has been released.
He also wants to see all of the trespassing orders issued in the county in the last two years.