Transcripts For KPIX KPIX 5 News At 5pm 20240712

Freeway entrance 101 and they walked down the ramp where you can see the cars moving right now and they walked onto the freeway, it was cars going by at freeway speed. Slowly but surely, the driver saw what was happening and they slow down in the protesters took over the freeway and they stayed that way for over an hour. Traffic was backing up for miles back on highway 101. At some point, the Police Department from san jose came on scene with a show of force, they part their cars and dozens of these riot gear Police Officer started getting out, at that point, the freeway protesters started dispersing, they went up the ramp and there they stayed for another hour or so. There was some pushing and shoving going on, a lot of the protesters were in the faces of t the officers ut the officers showed tremendous restraint. They were pushing back but they werent beating down anybody which is a big difference that wouldve really incited the crowds. They were just kind of pushing them back and defending their own space but not getting too pushy against the protesters, so the protesters then moved their way back in the crowd eventually dispersed and went back toward city hall. Were not able to show you exactly from our Vantage Point what they are doing in the city hall area but we understand they have retaken the street, santa clara street in front of the city hall area and are maybe continuing their protest there. As for right here, the San Jose Police Part Department has things under control, there was no violence against any individuals, there was some vandalism of police cars, i think 45 police cars had their back windows pro to broken by protesters throwing rocks, a couple of the patrol cars were also spraypainted with graffiti and some antipolice messages, but by and large, this thing and it a lot more peacefully than it could have given the high tensions that are out here right now. Obviously youve covered many of these protest before in the past, but it seem like this actually disseminated pretty quickly, and for you covering ingewa t y round, you didnt ne antrying to get into the camera or come visibly close to you as well. Reporter fortunately, we were not targeted in any way, there were some firecrackers going off while we were on the freeway and things got a little dicey. You did mention at the top that was a little violence against a driver driving a mustang and was trying to get home from work. He tried to squeeze through and he said he thought the protesters were going to let him through but he got into a confrontation with one of them and they ended up stealing his cell phone. He got out and there was a confrontation, he got punched in the face, the driver did and the protester then broke his rear window with a skateboard, so that man pulled off on the side, he was bloodied up a little bit but nothing too serious and thats about the only violence that weve seen so far in san jose today despite the hundreds of people who are here and the fever pitch that things were at for quite a while. For some reason, the crowd that had gathered in the middle of the street, theres a line of police there, something has caused that crowd to start running in the opposite direction. Whether they are helping one of the protesters, i cant tell exactly. It looks as if they are helping someone walk to the side, maybe theres a medical emergency, there was a large group of protesters gathered right there and as you were saying, they just kind of pulled it to the other side. They took off the other way like something frightened them considerably. We dont have audio and we cant tell what the sound was there, but something happened and as you said, they were apparently helping one of the other demonstrators off to the side, but we dont know how serious that is. And you can see the Police Officers are lined an appropriate distance from the protesters and it looks like theyre coming back to the street area, i believe this is santa clara street and theyve been spilling into the roadway in the past 45 minutes or so. Because they had gone from lens position at 101 and we saw them gathering in the big courtyard, the big area out in front of city hall, regrouping, we didnt know if they had a plan to stay there, but obviously they didnt, they moved back into the street and then moved back toward the line of Police Officers, now we see them sort of regathering but yet there are still a lot of folks who are, for some reason or another they seem to be moving back up to get into the face of the Police Officers who are advancing toward the crowd. That appears to be what might be happening right now. It looks like a vehicles trying to get through, it doesnt look like Law Enforcement but it looks like a car is trying to get through and you also have police blocking the roadway there as well keeping an appropriate distance but now it looks like everyone is scattered all about. It does and they just keep running across the street to the other side and gathering and regathering and dispersing, if that is a private vehicle there, but is not where you want to be. All the way back to la in the rodney king riots. Being in a vehicle trapped in a crowd like that is an uncomfortable position because the crowd sort of takes over the street and thats what we saw them do. They werent in the street by city hall, but then they started to move away from city hall and this is where we see them now and hopefully that suv can move off to the side and get to safety. Somebody appears to be either lying in the street. It looks like it might just be a pylon or cone. I can tell you, earlier there was some violence and there were some things that did erupt but mainly look like this, protesters out in the middle of the street blocking traffic. Were seeing them running now and hopefully doesnt get unruly to some extent but it looks like the officers are staying put in one place not is to run after anything that might be going on, violent in any way. I see what youre talking about, theres the orange cones in a barricade sign, sandwich board sign out in the middle of the road and certainly traffic has been blocked in the downtown area on santa clara as well as the sidestreets for quite some time. The protest originally, the demonstration started about 3 00 at city hall, but again we pointed out that big truck that was on 101, there it is again, that does appear to be part of the group thats protesting or at least its moving with them in sympathy if you will. Some have their hands held up high. You can see some officers. Just to create some sort of distance. As len was saying earlier there was a lot of give and take with the police and the protesters. The protesters were doing what they are allowed to do to some extent in the Police Department was just trying to make sure that things didnt get out of control and thats the line they are trying to keep going throughout the evening if it goes on. It is kind of two steps up and then a few steps back, its sort of a fluid back and forth with demonstrators obviously with their hands up symbolically , and the police have not moved towards them but they are not giving up any ground either. As the chp officer was telling us earlier, all of the Law Enforcement, they were prepared for something to happen today, that there was planned protest and they knew there would be people in the streets and they were prepared to keep things peaceful as long as they could, and len even said to that as well that thats kind of what it looked like, the Police Officers really holding back until they need to do something in terms of safety. It appears they are firing off some nonlethal type of charge, type of weapon because as soon as we see that puff of smoke, the crowd backs up, whether its a projectile or percussion type of weapon or grenade, its definitely causing the crowd to backup but it doesnt last. We should mention that this is an only going to be happening in san jose, obviously this is happening throughout the country, there are peaceful protests going on and there are riots going on in certain areas, but there is a statement that everyone is universally trying to make, so san jose may not be alone in terms of the protests happening, there are some plant in Alameda County later this evening and lawenforcement and city officials there are calling for no violence or destruction and in this particular case, if people can protest and be out there peacefully then thats what may happen in other parts as well without any significant violence. At this point, i know len ramirez was down by highway 101, im sure hes repositioning or another crew is at this point, because what we seem to have here is the crowd is a moving, the police are now moving and it becomes, i dont want to say a standoff but thats essentially it. Its a test of patients to see whats going to happen next, and hopefully nothing escalates. Absolutely. Just looking from chopper 5 and in this crowd you can see theyve kind of skirted off into another one of the streets in downtown san jose. It doesnt look like theres traffic being blocked, maybe its being diverted to other areas, but this group hasnt gotten bigger and it hasnt really gotten smaller, its kind of stayed the same and they are just kind of staying put and as the officers moved closer it looks like the protesters are moving back, theyre trying to keep some visible distance between the two, and hopefully thats how it will stay. Now we are getting into confrontation, they walked right up to police and they responded, this is what people did not want to see happen, it appears its just the one demonstrator who either had enough or police had been, demonstrators have been moving toward police and they were firing off some sort of nonlethal charge and that may have been what did it. They were firing off a nonlethal charge and also as im looking at some of the video, one of the protesters had a video camera and put it right in the officers face and then i dont know if he started to take a swing at the officer and the officer had to protect or vice versa, but then you see four of the officers pounce on to him and obviously he will be taken into custody and it looked like it was just one account, one person doing that as i was rewatching the video here. Its obviously gotten very tense, much more so than we even saw down when they were blocking the traffic on 101, this line at the crosswalk, the line in the sand if you will is where its taking place, and demonstrators pushing and police pushing back. Demonstrators pushing back and now we see some trying to infiltrate the line of officers as they come forward. Basically as you pointed out, sort of one by one. Also mayor sam liccardo saying san jose following the death of george floyd, mayor liccardo has issued the statement, quote, anger and peaceful protests will always be appropriate responses to injustice, violence will never be. San jose is united in outrage over the atrocious crime committed in minneapolis, and in sadness over George Floyds horrible death. Sapd will take a measured approach at facilitating peaceful protests, but there will be no tolerance of violence to our people or damage to our city. Clearly we saw the demonstrator come up to the Police Officer and the officer responded, but no other demonstrators followed that. It looked like it was just one and as you were seeing, police were firing some sort of chemical disbursement into the crowd causing people to scatter at times and then be grouped together and at least one protester went down and had to be pulled to their feet by fellow demonstrators as well and then we saw this latest incident where one of the officers took down one of the protesters and other officers had to join in. And they keep firing off, we see the puffs of smoke, they keep firing off those weapons and protesters and demonstrators moving back but they dont stay, they dont disperse, so again, its really going to be a matter of time will tell, and overused phrase, i know, but thats what its going to have to be. As things escalate, how will they deescalate . How is oing to wind down if you will, because tensions are high. Peoples tempers are flaring right now, you can see it in that one demonstrator as we look live from chopper 5, there is angst to be said and they want to be heard, but that one demonstrator crossed the line and was taken down by Police Officers. I think thats the key thing that all officers when they are going through training is to de and thats what mayor liccardo was saying in terms of what theyve been doing in san jose and Santa Clara County as a whole is deescalate, and when it comes to situations like this, Police Officers can hold their stance and hold their ground and let protesters do what they need to do but when one person crosses the line, they have to do something. To prevent any further violence. It is hard, on both sides its human emotion. How do you bring that down . I once asked an officer how do you gear up for this sort of thing and he said its not gearing up, you have to give yourself down. Because its adrenaline and human nature but they are hopefully trained to do this. I know they are trained, but hopefully they can hold it here in the demonstrators as well that theres a point to be made and a message to be heard and they can get that point across, they have the First Amendment right to do that and theyre doing it. The clear statement is that they are not tolerating this that we are going to be seeing beyond today, and how police react to this, and obviously they are doing what they can to deescalate and make sure that things dont get out of hand, because they know things are tense right now, that the public eye is watching and there are cameras and video and protesters who are going to try to taunt them, and their training, as you say, you go into an event not hyped up, but you go in calm and know that you got a job to do and unfortunately the example we saw in minneapolis just sets the tone in such a bad example for the rest of Law Enforcement thats trying to visibly do their job. They appear to be building up with more officers on motorcycles behind the line of Police Officers standing across the street just in front of the intersection. It was just a handful of demonstrators, now more and more are coming in, whether they are the demonstrators or witnesses, everybody has their cell phone out, they are all recording this. Hands are up, people are standing their ground. Now it will be up to the officers i suppose to decide, do we move forward . Do they stand there. You see the motorcycle officers at the bottom of the screen, they have assembled and im sure there are more behind them as well. And its not that they are outnumbered, this is not a huge gathering that weve seen in the past for protests and they are scattered a little bit here and there, so maybe they plan to stay well into the night but if it stays like this, they have every right to do that and the officers just stand guard like they are trying to do as well and you just hope it doesnt escalate inin any ways violence. Other than the incident that land described with one of the drivers and one of the demonstrators on highway 101 and witnessed here at this intersection, one of the demonstrators approaching the Police Officers and seem to be very animated, a verbal thing first and then he stepped in and i would have to review it, but i dont know if he attacked or said the wrong thing or got too close or took a swing, but there was something there that escalated into an altercation. I think when you said earlier crossed the line when i was rewatching it, it just lookedhicame t anhe stped wato likhe ose, a couple hainchesd away from the officers face whether they were taunting or he was taunting the officer, not sure what happened at that point but it was like you cross the line and weve got to do something here. Law enforcement throughout the bay area and throughout the country have been preparing for what could happen and what is to happen so its not like anyone was caught off guard that there were going to be protest today. It was supposed to start peacefully at city hall and it did, it continued on into a march and went on to highway 101, shutting off the highway for some time and then spilling onto the side roads as you can see and heres where we have it now. Other counties are preparing for obviously other things as well. It looks like theres a shopping cart in the middle of the intersection. Youre going to get some that are going to take it a little bit too far, but does not entitle police to step in . I dont know. You and i have each covered our share of protest in the bay area, the home of free speech in berkeley and it carried on, the tradition continues, and what im hearing from at least the elected officials is, you have a right to do this and you have a right to do this peacefully and say what you want to say and be heard, but when it comes to it escalating into violence, you dont have a right to do it that way. Just from doing some interviews and out in the public and i know you experience this, too, even when you look at social media, i find the comments, theres anger and rage, but theres also this raw emotion of utter sadness of how could this happen . How could Law Enforcement standby and watch a fellow officer take someone down in such a way that caused his life, took his life, and all age groups are reacting, i see that on social media, so its a universal emotion right now so i think when you look at protests, what group started this, who is out there . I think its just a mix of a lot of people and youre going to see that throughout. I think maria medina, our kpix 5 reporter is on the line, can you hear me . Reporter i can. See you are downtown, where exactly are you . Reporter we were dispatched to this protest, we were approaching downtown toward city hall and we could see the crowd down santa clara street but we wanted to find a safe place to park and on our way there, we saw various places that were spraypainted, a live truck, the building, and one set of city hall, almost completely covered by graffiti and we are waiting to get through the light, through an intersection, and somebody actually came up behind our truck and started spray painting our own live truck, so that is the feeling and the environment right now, the climate that we are in right now. We dont see feel safe to leave our truck. My photographer has suggested going outside with his cell phone, but just the feeling of being separated and not knowing because we are in a live truck and because it looks like people are targeting our live trucks here, theres an unsettling feeling of what could happen if we go into these crowds, so i just wanted to give you guys an idea and a feel of what the climate is right now. Things were pretty peaceful in the beginning, i was watching the coverage from home a couple hours ago, things were pretty peaceful in the beginning it looks like its starting to ramp up here as far as the motion and the intensity so we are on the side of the road now staying far away in our live truck because we feel as if thats the safe thing to do right now. Just from where we are at, somethinjust happened here, we are seeing crowds running back and forth, so we dont know whats happening, some of our coworkers are telling us who have Vantage Points from up above they are saying theres some scrimmages in the streets so were not seeing exactly whats going on but we are seeing people running back and forth as if they are running from something or someone and things are escalating. I will send it back over to you guys if you have any questions, i just wanted to give you a sense of just how unsettling it is right now as the media. Very unsettling to hear you describe it and i know youre not right up on it, your back and a safer distance, but from where you are in that truck, do you see the Police Presence there . Reporter there is a Police Presence, but not a heavy Police Presence. We are just a block away from city hall and also a block from san jose state and their own Police Officers are over there just watching the area and watching closely and just watching the protesters from afar, we are not seeing a lot of Police Officers closing in on this group, they are just watching and making sure that nothing gets too out of hand, but from our Vantage Point we are not seeing why people keep running back and forth. It looks like there might be some scrimmages, but it feels too unsafe to even go into the crowd. From chopper 5 it looks like you can see certain crowds in certain areas and actually we are seeing right now from our Vantage Point, a woman being arrested by police. The police started to move and march toward the intersection across the crosswalk. I believe this young woman has been at the forefront for much of the timeto jump to conclusions but i did see her once they stepped forward, she pressed through their line and as you say, they are arrested her in the police are now gradually stepping forward and the crowd is backing up. This is what were looking at from chopper 5, we did see one of the protesters being arrested and we had visibly seen her earlier getting closer and closer to the police that i was curious in your area, are you surrounded by a lot of people or was it just crowds here and there in clusters all over the place . Reporter we are seeing that line of Police Moving forward through the street there, again, we are staying about a block away so we dont have a great Vantage Point but we are seeing police starting to close in on the crowd. The crowd is pretty big but we are also seeing some of them disperse and some of them actually go home, so the crowd it seems like its dwindling as far as the strength in numbers, but it also seems like people are arriving, too, so we are inching just a little bit closer to the crowd right now and we are definitely seeing the Police Presence that you guys were talking about. Things seem pretty intense right here and ive got to tell you, theres a lot of onlookers as well. A lot of people from homes and businesses coming out to see whats going on, so again, were going to try to inch our way here a little bit more and maybe bring you more details as we get them. Yes, please. Take your time and be safe. Dont leave your vehicle if you dont feel safe, but it seems like now the police line has stopped and are they moving them back toward city hall . Reporter it looks like they were inching their way a little closer to city hall, but closer to a building here on santa clara. I dont think they were heading toward city hall, thats where a lot of the vandalism that we saw was happening, so we are not exactly sure but it almost looks like theyre being backed into a building over there on santa clara. And he said the crowd is dispersing somewhat, a lot of onlookers. From what we are seeing in chopper 5, its hard to tell because they are spread out, its hard to tell how many there are. Reporter thats an interesting point, because when we were driving into downtown san jose, we could see where the center of the crowd was but these protesters are really spread out, and we saw some going home but we also saw some spread out kind of in a four block radius and i think thats where a lot of the people were vandalizing and breaking away and being able to get away with some of the vandalism they were doing here. We saw our live truck spray painted as well as city hall and some of the buildings, some of the businesses down here as well. You give a good perspective of the move down there because what from what we see of chopper 5 it looks like the crowd dispersing but then you get the onlookers and maybe as you get into the evening a mob mentality and some that are out to destruct and do some vandalism, so its touch and go and its unsettling as well so you just have to stay on guard throughout the evening. Reporter and thats what were worried about, where worried as the sun sets here, there will be that mob mentality because like we saw a few hours ago, it was pretty peaceful, but now were starting to see some of the damage and some of the vandalism and some of that even being directed toward us. We will obviously wish for the best and hope that it remains peaceful and no injuries and no more arrests happen. Thank you for calling in, we will stay with you throughout the evening, stay safe and we appreciate you giving us the mood and temperament of what its like out there. Is interesting because journalist being put in harms way, we saw the cnn crew that was actually arrested in minneapolis last night and released this morning, so we are doing our best, this camera shot right here bringing you a live picture, and incredible Vantage Point, the officer obviously telling them to back up. You could see that happening without any audio. Howard jordan i believe is with us on the phone, the former police chief in oakland. Howard, thank you for joining us, our curiosity is around the police mentality at this point. What is a tactic here, we saw a line form of officers, motorcycle officers behind them and they marched forward moving the crowd back and then they stopped. Without knowing