PHOENIX (AP) - The Latest on police response to a protest against President Donald Trump in Phoenix last week (all times local):
3:50 p.m.
Phoenix police on Thursday showed new video detailing how a largely peaceful protest turned chaotic last week after President Donald Trump’s rally downtown.
Video that was compiled and edited by police shows what appear to be the first instances of members of the far-left militant group known as antifa throwing gas canisters at officers in downtown Phoenix. Police then throw pepper balls at the ground near those protesters but escalation continues as masked people dressed in black throw water bottles and other projectiles at police.
Dozens of protesters angry with police response denounced their actions at a city council meeting for several hours on Wednesday.
Activists say police used unnecessary force and injured peaceful protesters. Sgt. Jonathan Howard said Thursday officers only aimed to disrupt the small group of agitators who were throwing items at police.
Howard said police used pepper balls, foam projectiles and tear gas. A police review board is investigating.
___
9:56 a.m.
The Phoenix City Council will not move forward with an independent investigation into the actions of the Phoenix Police Department after a protest last week at a President Donald Trump rally.
Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher withdrew his recommendation to authorize the independent review Wednesday after about 200 people commandeered the Phoenix City Council meeting to rail against city leaders and vent frustration over the police’s crowd-control tactics.
Many of the people, who were at the rally, argued an independent review chosen by the city would be biased toward the police department.
After more than five hours of fiery public testimony, Zuercher withdrew his request for the review.
Many of those who spoke at the meeting say law enforcement excessively deployed tear gas and pepper spray without warning.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.