‘Let her go!’ Video captures arrest of protester after Amber Guyger sentencing
The emotions of anger that filled a Dallas courthouse after Amber Guyger received a 10-year prison sentence spilled out into the streets Wednesday night.
Following a rally for Botham Jean, the 26-year-old killed by Guyger in his own apartment more than a year ago, crowds of protesters marched along streets lined with police and chanted, “No justice, no peace!” Prosecutors inside the courtroom had asked that the former Dallas officer get a sentence no shorter than 28 years, representing how old Jean would be today had he not been killed. But, instead, she was given a decade.
In videos of the protests taken by the Star-Telegram, there are rising tensions in the streets between civilians and police officers, who were announcing through speakers, “Please exit the roadway.”
A woman in a red shirt was walking toward the middle of the street, slowly and with a raised fist, the video shows. Suddenly, officers grabbed at her and tried to pull her to the ground as she tried to run away.
More officers swarmed her, and then civilians, amid the screams and chaos. Officers eventually threw her to the ground in the middle of the street and handcuffed her.
“This is why we hate you!” one person could be heard screaming.
“Let her go!” another shouted.
Police said protesters had been warned several times to stay out of the roadway due to safety concerns.
The incident encapsulated the clash between protesters and police that was fueled by the contentious trial. Guyger, a white police officer, said she thought she had entered her own apartment when she shot and killed Jean, a black man, who she mistook as an intruder.
The Dallas Police Department on Thursday identified the woman in the video as Safiya Paul, 31. She was arrested on charged with the penal code violation of obstruction of highway or passageway, a misdemeanor, police said.
She was released from jail on a $500 bond.
Guyger’s hearing included multiple viral moments, including a tearful hug between Jean’s younger brother, Brandt Jean, and Guyger, and a hug between State District Judge Tammy Kemp and Guyger. But many people expressed their dissatisfaction outside of the courthouse on Wednesday.
There was a rally outside of the courthouse, followed by the march through downtown Dallas. Many speakers at the rally, which had been planned earlier in the week, said the sentence was too light. Some said Guyger was granted leniency because she’s a white former police officer.
Dominique Alexander, the leader of the Next Generation Action Network, said the black community is outraged.
“Why give a murder conviction and then 10 years?” he said.
This story was originally published October 3, 2019 at 1:53 PM.
