A demonstration in Durham Thursday night honoring Jesus Huerta’s memory escalated to a violent nature, with police throwing tear gas and arresting six participants.
Durham Police Department announced their awareness of the event Wednesday afternoon in the hopes it would result in peaceful cooperation between DPD and Huerta’s friends and family. Protesters met in the CCB Plaza and marched to DPD headquarters, following the same path as the Nov. 22 protest. After participants threw rocks and assorted objects at DPD officers, DPD used smoke and teargas to quell violent action.
“Our primary concern was to protect the public as well as the protesters,” DPD Police Chief Jose Lopez said in a press release Thursday. “I couldn’t be more proud of the restraint and professionalism demonstrated by our officers tonight. This had the potential to be much worse.”
Kammie Michael, public information officer for DPD, released the names Friday morning of those arrested in the protest. Three Durham residents—18-year-old Andy Mendoza, 17-year-old Vianey Fuentes, and 16-year-old Perla Fuentes—were charged with failure to disperse on command and resisting, while 20-year-old Benjamin Markgraft was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly conduct and impeding traffic and 22-year-old Gustavo Gutierrez was charged with trespassing on DPD headquarters. A 15-year-old juvenile female was also arrested but her name was not released.
Michael noted in Friday’s press release that the organizers should have obtained a permit for the event but the DPD allowed it to proceed regardless.
In an earlier release on Dec. 18, anticipating the event, DPD deputy chief Larry Smith said DPD had been proactive in contacting event organizers but did not receive any response. Since no permit was obtained, officers were unable to close off streets for the event but lined downtown in the event of an incident.
“If in the future, the Huerta family wishes to place a memorial or hold a vigil themselves on the parking lot of Police Headquarters, the Police Department is willing to work directly with them or through their attorney to make such arrangements,” Lopez said in the same release.
Huerta died Nov. 19 from a gunshot wound after being arrested on an outstanding charge of trespassing from July. According to a Dec. 11 press release from Lopez, Officer Samuel Duncan searched, handcuffed, and detained Huerta. While transporting Huerta to the police station, Duncan heard a shot in the back of the vehicle and, jumped out of the car, which rolled into a parked van. Huerta was declared dead later that day.
Lopez has not confirmed or denied whether Duncan was the one to issue the shot. The case has been interpreted by DPD to be a suicide. Lopez addressed the concerns of the Durham community in the Dec. 11 press release.
“I know that it is hard for people not in law enforcement to understand how someone could be capable of shooting themselves while handcuffed behind the back,” Lopez said. “While incidents like this are not common, they unfortunately have happened in other jurisdictions in the past.”
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