WASHINGTON 鈥� Among those arrested in connection with Friday鈥檚 inaugural protests was a Florida man who allegedly threw a rock at an arresting officer.
How authorities arrested him is an example of how bystanders can help with a police investigation.
Dane Powell of Largo, Florida, was arrested Saturday and charged with assault on a police officer. Authorities said he had escaped arrest Friday afternoon after throwing rocks at officers around the intersection of 12th and K Streets.
Police later learned the protester鈥檚 identity, D.C. interim Police Chief Peter 草莓传媒ham said, using 鈥渧ideo footage from all different sources.鈥�
鈥淪ometimes folks will even text us videos showing images of people breaking the law,鈥� 草莓传媒ham said.
Six officers were hurt in Friday鈥檚 protests. Three were hit in the head with flying objects; one was knocked unconscious with a brick.
鈥淧olice officers shouldn鈥檛 have to face that anytime,鈥� 草莓传媒ham said. 鈥淭o have people come into our city and do that, it鈥檚 unfortunate.鈥�
When District residents 鈥渟ee that kind of thing and they happen to catch it on video, they share it with us,” he said,聽“and when we do get those things, we are going to make every effort to identify those folks and hold them responsible.鈥�
Police, he added, will continue to review available video footage.
鈥淚f we have clear images of people and we can identify them, we鈥檙e going to proceed with charging them in the event that they broke the law,鈥� he said.
D.C. police, 草莓传媒ham said, also plan to make rioting photos public 鈥渢o see if we can get some assistance from the public in identifying鈥� protesters who were violent.
草莓传媒ham had nothing but praise for the department as D.C.鈥檚 historic weekend wrapped up. Police dealt with hundreds of thousands of people 鈥� both on Friday for President Donald Trump鈥檚 inauguration and on Saturday for the Women鈥檚 March on Washington.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be more proud of how this department responded,鈥� he said.
Anyone with video can share it with police by texting 50411 or calling 202-727-9099.
