Phoenix PD declares peaceful protest outside Trump event unlawful assembly
![Phoenix police officers in riot gear on Tuesday.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Dcb877AdySLyTptpdhKxVe-415-80.jpg)
Hundreds of protesters gathered in a free-speech zone outside of the Dream City Church in Phoenix on Tuesday afternoon, demonstrating against President Trump as he spoke to supporters inside.
At about 4:30 p.m., the Phoenix Police Department declared that the peaceful protest was considered an unlawful assembly "due to criminal activity and a current danger to our community," and demonstrators had to leave the area. Police arrived in riot gear and shot projectiles into the crowd, leaving demonstrators confused over the escalation, The Arizona Republic reports.
Khiry Wilson, a leader with the local protest group W.E. Rising Project, told The Arizona Republic organizers had no idea why officers were dispatched in riot gear. Wilson said demonstrators listened when officers told them to back up, but "they kept coming to us closer. The next thing they did was back up so close to us that they pushed a riot shield into one of our nonviolent protesters' face and it was assault from the Phoenix PD. It was assault plain and simple. They shot shotguns in people's ears."
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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