LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) - Seven people were arrested in Topeka and two more were arrested in Wichita after protesters threw rocks and debris at officers during disturbances that came after generally peaceful gatherings had broken up.
The two confrontations were the first major violence reported during protests in several Kansas cities in recent days over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Gov. Laura Kelly noted Kansas residents had protested Floyd’s death peacefully and said she saw no reason for federal troops to be used to quell demonstrations, as President Donald Trump suggested Monday. She said bringing the military “into this contentious moment” would do more harm than good.
“We need our leaders - myself included - to listen to those who felt their only means of being heard was to take to the street in protest,” Kelly said after Trump’s announcement. “We need action to change the systemic inequalities we have ignored for far too long. We need to stop with the divisive language and instead, come together and do what’s right for our state.”
The confrontation late Monday in Topeka involved about 150 people who gathered around the Topeka Law Enforcement Center. It came hours after several hundred people had demonstrated peacefully in downtown Topeka. At one point, some protesters threw rocks and debris at officers trying to rescue a protester who needed medical attention, police said. Some officers were hit with bricks but were not seriously injured.
Police Capt. Mike Cross said when protesters began throwing objects at police, it became necessary to break up the assembly.
A Kansas Highway Patrol announcement could be heard warning people that if they did not disperse they could be arrested. Some officers wore riot gear and several people, including some members of the media, were hit with tear gas, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Several community leaders, including Mayor Michelle De La Isla, police Chief Bill Cochran and several officers had walked with participants during the earlier peaceful protest.
Brian Peters, who attended that protest, said the people at the Law Enforcement Center “defeated the purpose” that peaceful protesters were trying to achieve.
In Wichita, police used tear gas, flash grenades and foam bullets to break up the crowd of between 50 and 70 people who remained at a north Wichita intersection after an earlier gathering was broken up.
Police Chief Gordon Ramsey said police moved in when a window was broken at a business and officers began hearing gunshots in the area. Some of the shots ricocheted off police vehicles near the scene. Three officers suffered minor injuries. Ramsey said he expects more people to be arrested.
The crowd became “very hostile” and threw rocks, bottles and cinder blocks at the officers, said Ramsey, who called it a harrowing and life-threatening situation for his officers.
Thousands of people had joined peaceful protests during the weekend and Monday in several Kansas cities, including Wichita, Lawrence, Manhattan, Hutchinson, and Kansas City, Kansas.
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John Hanna in Topeka contributed to this report
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