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The protest began at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, May 9, when a crowd assembled at the Walgreens location on the corner of Park Avenue and Fairfield Avenue to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the Jason Negron incident, said Terron Jones, spokesman for the Bridgeport Police Department.
Negron was shot by Bridgeport Police Officer James Boulay on May 9, 2017, following a pursuit in a stolen vehicle. The officer was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Since the shooting, there has been numerous protest of the verdict.
Jones said as the protest grew on Thursday, additional units were required as the assembly of gatherers began to march throughout the area roads during rush hour.
"Patrol units were required to prevent motor vehicle accidents or injuries to protesters by blocking traffic during rush hour throughout the neighboring area from Park Avenue, State Street, and West Avenue around the Walgreens site, and closing a portion of Fairfield Avenue," he said.
At approximately 8:10 p.m., the remaining protesters at Walgreens became increasingly agitated and threw a bottle at officers on the scene, Jones said.
Officers stayed in position and looked for recognizable Bridgeport community members who could assist in a dialogue. No one was visible. Another glass object was thrown at an officer, and the crowd remained agitated and yelling obscenities at the police officers, he added.
"For public safety purposes, BPD informed the unruly protesters that they had five minutes to disperse due to the unruly assembly," Jones said.
The crowd did not comply and continued to be unruly and grew louder, police said.
"Officers moved in fairly quickly to maintain safety and detained 12 individuals, Jones said. "All of the individuals detained we arrested because they did not comply or disperse.:"
While at headquarters, an arresting officer was advised that one of the detainees was a member of the press. The reporter wearing plain street clothes and no clearly visible identifying markers other than an ID name badge was released without a summons, as she was not part of the organizers, Jones added.
Police arrested five people from New Haven, two from Fairfield, two from Bridgeport, one from Milford and one from Hartford, all were processed as fast as possible, he said.
The charges ranged from inciting a riot, interfering or resisting, disorderly conduct and breach of peace, police said. Each was released on $5,000 bond.
As each of the detainees was released, the crowd that remained assembled at Bridgeport Police Headquarters at 300 Congress Street slowly dissipated throughout the overnight until all departed at approximately 5:45 a.m., Jone said.
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