Dozens of Juneau residents gathered at the police station on Saturday to protest a violent arrest last week.
A video of the arrest generated public concern on social media. It showed a Juneau police officer handcuffing an Alaska Native man, then throwing him to the ground where he appears to lie unconscious for the remainder of the video.
Since, the man’s family has identified him publicly as Christopher Williams Jr. The police department has not released the name of the officer.
Protesters offered condolences to the man’s family and expressed their outrage, including X’ash Kugé ka Yaanasax Barbara Cadiente-Nelson.
“We’re here to hold this system accountable to the words they took an oath to to protect, to serve,” she said.
Williams’ cousin, Pamela James, said his family didn’t know where Williams was for a full day after they heard he was medivaced for care. She confirmed that Williams was in Anchorage Thursday evening after calling multiple Seattle and Anchorage hospitals. She said he is conscious and speaking.
James said Williams plans to sue JPD. She said her family will continue to speak up.
“We’re not doing it just for Chris, but we’re doing it for everybody that’s been hurt by our cops here in town,” James said.
Assembly Member Paul Kelly was at the protest and said it’s important that the City and Borough of Juneau work to restore trust in the community after a violent arrest.
“Whenever we have an emergency, whenever we need somebody to intervene, we need it to be somebody that we can trust,” he said. “We need to be able to trust our police force.”
Protestor Ḵáaḵ’utx̱éich Kai Monture said that Lingít people have to support and protect each other, and abide by traditional values of perseverance and community support.
“Even though asking for police reform is important and something we need to fight for every day, it’s not guaranteed,” he said. “It’s not guaranteed that it’ll happen, but what is guaranteed is that we can protect each other.”
JPD says the officer has since been placed on administrative leave. Officials from the City and Borough of Juneau and JPD say there will be an external investigation of the violent arrest.
