The incident gained attention when the state's Black Lives Matter Political Action Committee released a statement Wednesday night condemning officers' behavior, alleging that the four individuals taken into custody – three of whom were children – were kept in the back of a hot van for an hour without air conditioning, the pepper spray leaving them struggling to breathe.
Councilwoman Rachel Miller was the first to raise the issue during the passage of a resolution in celebration of Independence Day.
"I heard from a community that did not feel free today," she said, describing the neighborhood as having been "terrorized."
“We cannot let our city feel what they felt on Tuesday and not acknowledge it.”