WASHINGTON — A year after nearly 200 people were kettled onto Swann Street, Northwest, with many being arrested, protesters that experienced the act of force by D.C. Police spoke out about what happened.
Some that spoke included those who were part of a group of 74 people that had to hold up in a man's townhouse as officers arrested people that were out after the city-mandated curfew.
A D.C. Police internal report on what happened on Swann Street has been finished but not released by District officials amid lawsuits the department faces, according to new D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee.
"I know that this is trauma, and I know that this is scary. But, I thought I was going to die that night," a woman named Kelly said about her experiences on Swann Street. "They started beating us, collectively, with their batons. They had thrown flashbangs and tear gas that night. What did we do to deserve this?"
Former police chief Peter Newsham said the protesters corralled and kettled into Swann Street on the night June 1 exhibited similar behavior as violent rioters the District experienced later in the evening around the end of May that stayed in the city streets will after peaceful protests that happened during the daylight hours amid the death and murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
While Newsham at the time pivoted blame towards the protesters on Swann Street, it is unclear what actions the protesters took that made D.C. Police treat them as rioters, other than them being out after the city-mandated curfew.
The Swann Street incident happened only hours after federal and local law enforcement used chemical munitions, like tear gas, to clear protesters in Layfayette Square before then-President Donald Trump took a photo-op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church -- which saw damage by rioters in late May amid anger of Floyd's death.
The ACLU said in March 2021 that it wants the city to tweak its law on first amendment assemblies to keep police from "kettling," or trapping protesters. The 18-page ACLU report focuses on the mass arrests of racial justice protestors on Swann Street N.W. on June 1 and June 2, 2020.
The ACLU said interviews with 50 protestors and residents found they were never given a chance to disperse or go home.
"An excessive and ill-advised action that subjected the demonstrators to unnecessary trauma, and put them at risk of exposure to COVID-19," said Scott Michelman, the ACLU DC Legal Director.
DC’s Attorney General says his office will not charge anyone arrested at the Swann Street incident.