A CNN investigation sheds new light on how police react to anti-police brutality protests, uncovering graphic footage of officers beating protesters at Baltimore’s Patterson Park area and dragging one man by his hair down the street.
While some local leaders have recently spoken out against such tactics, CNN’s investigations uncover that the city of Baltimore, Maryland, as well as other cities, has engaged in, and profited from, “direct action” tactics that incite confrontation in public spaces. In some cases, law enforcement officers are physically pulling demonstrators into their vehicles.
While protestors have said that brutality tactics aim to protect police, a 2014 article in the Los Angeles Times revealed that the tactic was more often deployed to intimidate and silence demonstrators.
CNN investigated these tactics and developed a series of reports that include:
A report on how the violence appears to persist even after an incident has been resolved.
A summary of what the human rights groups say about the government involvement and justification for these tactics.
Who decides which demonstrators are accused of escalating the situation, and who are the aggressors.
Watch CNN’s report on these tactics in Baltimore above. The full series is available at CNN.com/Impacts.