Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - In light of recent protests in Buffalo, across New York State and around the country, New York Attorney General Tish James began to hear from the public on their views on police interaction during an extensive formal hearing.
And hear, she did. It was a lengthy virtual hearing all day Wednesday that will now stretch into the day Thursday. Witness after witness was sworn-in and told their stories of interactions with law enforcement during recenet protests sparked by police violence.
John Gulick of Buffalo says 90 percent of the protests here have been peaceful, but all it takes is one to turn it violent.
"You know what mob mentality is, and that's what happens when a lot of people, highly energized, they have some frustrations, and one person does something on the wrong side of the law, and then someone else escalates and next thing you know, you have burning cars and burning buildings. How do you control a mob of a thousand people out of control? That's difficult for police to do," says Gulick. "Many protests have become non-peaceful, and it's police's job to maintain law and order. Police are many times outnumbered by protesters who won't comply with a simple request." Gulick says something has to be done to maintain law and order, and he believes de-escalation is key.
But Gulick says he won't stand for police abuse. "In every profession, there are bad eggs among everyone, and you have to weed them out. We rely on police to protect us, not to hurt us," says Gulick.
Steven Donelson was among the protesters in Buffalo May 30th when a demonstration in Niagara Square turned violent. Donelson believes police have habits of lying.
"There's a history of Buffalo Police coming out with statements that are not true, especially the one about a vehicle hitting troopers," says Donelson. He says police claimed a curfew to shut down the protest he was in. "Once the protest became larger than they liked, at 10:30 they announced a 10:30 curfew, so instantly we were doing something wrong that wasn't wrong a moment earlier," adds Donelson.
Donelson says Buffalo Police have been instigating the violence. "They seem to have an issue differing between protesters and people doing something wrong. There was some chemical spray directed toward a crowd that was peaceful and not anyone who was committing violent acts or threatening police in any way," notes Donelson. Donelson also believes some were targeted. "It seems like they were targeting people taping them," says Donelson.