Appleton Police Department patch. (PHOTO: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – Monday night started off with a peaceful demonstration in Appleton, but didn’t end in that fashion.
The local protest was in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha police.
“We want to provide a safe space for all of our citizens to be able to exercise their first amendment rights, and I think it’s been very telling in in the actions that we’ve taken over the last few months that we’re committed to that,” said Officer Meghan Cash. “Some of the actions we saw were very concerning and and quite frankly unacceptable.”
The department has been working with the organizers of local protests over the past several months.
The Appleton Police Department is following up on several complaints of crimes that occurred during Monday night’s protest. On three separate occasions, police say they had to issue “Unlawful Assembly Orders” and direct the crowd to disperse.
“Everything from a bus being surrounded by protesters and not allowing it to leave – to a male walking from the gas station being assaulted, and his property being taken by members of the protest,” Cash told WTAQ News. “That behavior, among several other reports that we are investigating of people being harassed and battered and threatened, are very concerning. It’s not behavior we want to see from members of our community.”
Another incident Cash cited as a major concern – the Republican Party of Outagamie County Headquarters becoming surrounded by protesters. A SWAT team was called in to evacuate the people inside.
Investigations are now underway into a number of those cases.
“There were people that we do know that live in Appleton area that were present last night, and that’s where some of that investigation started. We’ve been working on all day determining if people from outside the area as well,” Cash said. “If members of our community do have video that they want to share with us, we’re happy to review that. At this point, if we feel that if there is something that warrants pursuing charges, we’re going to do that…It’s our duty to keep people safe. In the same way that when there was a male that was being assaulted on Richmond Street, it’s our duty, that’s our job to make sure that people feel safe.”
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