Police chief to host rights forum

Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick is inviting protesters from the July 4 Riverfront Park demonstration to a chat Wednesday to discuss human rights.

“Come prepared to voice your opinions on tolerance, diversity, respect and dignity in interactions between police officers and the public,” Kirkpatrick wrote in a letter sent to many of the protesters arrested by police that day or who had contacted the department afterward.

“We ask that you follow only one rule: To act within the bounds of civility and respect,” Kirkpatrick wrote. “We’ll do the same and the meeting will be valuable and rewarding.”

The forum, which is open to the public, will have a moderator from the Spokane Human Rights Commission and is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers in City Hall.

Kirkpatrick received praise from City Council members, but some criticism from protesters and their supporters, when she offered a detailed explanation of police actions in the park on Independence Day the week after the incident. She was speaking at the council’s Public Safety Committee meeting, which regularly accepts testimony from city staff but does not allow public comment.

Police arrested a total of 21 young adults and teens who were part of a much larger group that had held an afternoon rally in Peaceful Valley and then marched through downtown to Riverfront Park, where July 4 festivities were under way. Protesters said they had finished the demonstration and were starting a picnic in the Clocktower Meadow; a radio broadcasting company that had reserved part of the area for a series of performances complained the group was disruptive, and some other people in the park complained some protesters were sitting on a large American flag they had spread on the ground.

Police first arrested Zach St. John, whom they claim assaulted an officer by grabbing him around the throat until the officer nearly passed out. St. John said that he was pushed from his seat by an officer, got up to ask why, and when he asked for the officer’s badge number was taken to the ground.

A police video doesn’t show St. John grabbing the officer or being pushed off his seat. It does show several officers taking him to the ground.

When people around St. John objected and began chanting, police issued an order for them to clear the park, then began making arrests of those who remained. St. John, an 18-year-old musician and restaurant worker, was charged with assault, a felony; he’s scheduled for trial on Oct. 15. The others were charged with trespassing and failure to disperse – both misdemeanors – and don’t yet have a trial date.

After the Public Safety Committee meeting, St. John questioned why Kirkpatrick had been allowed to present the police department’s version of events but protesters hadn’t been allowed to describe what they saw or did.

On Friday, St. John said he was glad that Kirkpatrick has scheduled the forum where everyone will have a chance to be heard, and sent invitations to the protesters.

“I think she’s trying,” he said.