OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) - The Omaha Police Department released information Saturday about protests that happened Friday night following a fatal officer-involved shooting of a Black man the day before.
Police also announced a handful of arrests stemming from Friday's protests.
Police said a protest held by Problac remained lawful until 8:23 p.m. when the group began marching in the street through the Old Market and back to police headquarters. Police had blocked off the streets for the protesters.
According to police, officers standing in the Police Plaza had eggs thrown at them by unidentified protesters at 8:31 p.m. About 15 minutes later, police said a protester began ripping down police tape sectioning off the plaza which caused the crowd to encroach towards officers.
Police said the protester who took down the police tape tried to flee but was caught and booked for disorderly conduct and property destruction.
At that point, police said the crowd became uncooperative and one man shined a laser light and struck an officer in the face. That man was later arrested and charged with assault on an officer and carrying a concealed weapon (two large knives).
Police said other people assaulted officers before vanishing into the crowd. They said some people obstructed officers from detaining the assault suspects and were cited for obstructing a peace officer and disorderly conduct.
Police determined the protest to be an unlawful assembly due to the group "blocking roadways, property destruction and violence."
Police said they used pepper spray and crowd control to push back encroaching suspects and disperse the crowd. Around 9:30 p.m, officers said the group began to leave the area.
Later on Friday night, officers responded to Douglas County Corrections for a crowd that was gathering. Officers said around 30 people from the earlier protest were spotted in the parking lot of the jail.
Officers told the crowd that they needed to leave the parking lot, and one woman in the crowd said she was injured. According to police, the woman refused assistance and left in a private car. She was not identified and the rest of the crowd either left or stood by on a near-by sidewalk.
Problac is organizing another protest on Saturday night to demand the release of body-cam footage from the officer-involved shooting. The body-cam footage is something Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said can't be released by Omaha Police right now.
Stothert has said a grand jury will review the officer-involved shooting. The grand jury could be delayed due to COVID-19, as many investigations are on hold or backlogged.
Those arrested Friday night were:
35-year-old Brian Moum of Lincoln
Booked for Assault on an Officer and Carrying a Concealed Weapon
18-year-old Kiara Williams of Lincoln
Booked for Disorderly Conduct and Destruction of Property
33-year-old Maghie Miller-Jenkins of Lincoln
Cited for disorderly conduct
31-year-old Dom Sang of Friend
Cited for obstructing an officer
30-year-old Linda Mullen of Carter Lake
Cited for disorderly conduct
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