Some 50 Rochester police officers moved in Wednesday morning on demonstrators who had spent 24 hours camped in front of the entrances to City Hall, forcing them away from the building.
The demonstrators, demanding justice for Daniel Prude, had changed their tactics of the previous two weeks. Instead of marching at night to the public safety building, they rallied on Tuesday morning and marched to City Hall, where they sat down in front of the entrances and blockaded the building. They demanded the arrest of the police officers involved in Prude’s death, the firing of Mayor Lovely Warren and the removal of the acting police chief. City officials closed the building at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday.
Protesters removed the U.S. flag from the pole and replaced it with a “Black Lives Matter” flag. The U.S. flag was properly folded and turned over to police.
Demonstrators brought tents and sleeping bags and spent the night, saying they were prepared to stay around the building until their demands were met.
Wednesday morning a little before 8:30, police advanced on the protesters with batons, clearing the Fitzhugh Street entrance and allowing employees access to the building. They continued to advance, tearing down the tents and moving the demonstrators off the street. Those who didn’t leave were arrested.