Dallas

Activist Group Rallies in Dallas After Recent Police Shootings

The Next Generation Action Network planned the protest in the wake of police shootings in Tulsa and Charlotte

Dallas police say there were no arrests as a peaceful rally and march moved through downtown Dallas Thursday night.

More than a hundred people joined the Next Generation Action Network as the group streamed from Main Street Gardens to Belo Gardens. As they marched protesters held their hands up, chanting in unison. The group stopped just shy of the site of the fatal shootings of five officers on July 7 in Dallas before returning to Main Street Gardens.

"No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace," the group shouted.

NGAN has been pushing for reform within the Dallas Police Department for several months. Their efforts have led to the elimination of the 72-hour waiting period between the time an officer is involved in a shooting and when they give their official statement. The group is demanding the department release dash camera and body camera footage shortly after a use of force incident.

"Be transparent. That is our interest with regard to police reform. We want transparency and accountability. And thus far the Dallas Police Department hasn’t demonstrated either," said Kim Cole, the NGAN legal counsel.

The group is also taking aim at the Dallas Citizens Review Board. The city council-appointed advisory board is a means for citizens to communicate their concerns over alleged inappropriate behavior by officers. NGAN wants the board to have subpoena power, allowing members to directly question an officer being investigated by internal affairs. Cole said she wants to work with outgoing police chief David Brown and his interim successor, David Pughes.

"We’re here because this continues to persist all across the country. We will be here until there are changes made and there is serious police reform, not only here in Dallas but across the country. We will be here and we will march," she said. "If you're frustrated, vote. If you're angry, vote. "Our votes are our weapons."

A day before the rally the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas released a letter to respond to the recent killings of Terence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott.

"One side tells us remaining silent on this issue is necessary to survive in this profession, the other tells us to speak up loudly if we are to survive in our ethnic community. As black officers we will choose the side of right and use all of our energy, time, expertise, and funds to render this epidemic officially over," the letter said.

One of the more boisterous moments of the night came when Next Generation Action Network founder Dominique Alexander, who had just been released from prison on Thursday, made a surprise appearance. Alexander did not learn of the fatal shootings of Terence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott until he was released. He said their deaths compelled him to rejoining the group for the march.

Alexander, an ordained Baptist preacher and convicted felon whose uncle died in a police-involved shooting, was arrested last month when his probation for an unrelated charge of injury to a child was revoked. He was released Thursday from a potential five-year sentence came after a judge recalculated time already served.

As protesters marched through downtown they were followed by several police vehicles. Officers inside would broadcast verbal instructions if the crowd spilled into the street and blocked traffic.

The group complied with commands for much of the march, but after the crowd returned to Belo Gardens about 100 demonstrators stopped in the intersection of Main Street and South St. Paul Street, where they knelt and raised their fists in the air in protest.

"Whose streets? Our streets," the group shouted.

Several dozen police officers responded, wearing tactical gear and some carrying riot shields. They were there to move the protesters out of the street and onto the sidewalks. Almost as quickly as the situation escalated, the demonstrators retreated back to the sidewalk and police returned to their patrol cars. The rally was back at Main Street Garden Park by about 8:30 p.m.

By 9 p.m. the crowd had dispersed.

The Next Generation Action Network announced they are holding a protest Thursday night in light of the recent police shootings.
The Next Generation Action Network announces they will holding another protest Thursday night in light of the recent police shootings.

NBC 5's Noelle Walker, Kristen Weaver, and Cory Smith contributed to this report.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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