Protest Against Posse Gets Heated, Then Violent
Updated: Friday, 17 Sep 2010, 6:29 PM MDT
Published : Friday, 17 Sep 2010, 6:22 PM MDT

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By LAURA SAMBOL
FOX 10 News

PHOENIX - Protesters and police clashed following an appearance by Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The protestors were upset about the Sheriff's plan to arm volunteer posse members and police say they were just keeping order.

One person was arrested during the protest, while another was pushed down to the ground by officers.

Now both sides are talking about what happened Thursday night.

Sheriff Joe was inside, the protesters were outside and the police got caught in the middle.

Protesters say a screaming match happened after police arrested Abraham Hernandez while he was throwing trash away.

"I was pleading for them to please please let him go because he had not done anything and I was telling them that he was just throwing away the trash..what was his wrong?"

Antonio Bustamante, an attorney, says "..because a young man is young does not justify that he be brutalized by a police officer."

Phoenix police have a different story, saying Hernandez threatened to harm officers and told the crowd not to listen to them.

"Obviously, we don't arrest people for putting stuff in garbage..there was a lot more that occured last night prior to his arrest..a decision was made that if we could separate him from the crowd, he would be arrested and that's what happened," said Phoenix Police Sgt. Steve Martos.

A young woman also claims police attacked her.

"One of the police officers pushed me up against the vehicle and thats when I hit the vehicle and I came back up and I asked why are you pushing me that was uncalled for..why are you attacking me and another police officer proceeded to push me so hard that I flew.."

Martos says "..when we are in the middle of affecting arrest in a crowd of people and some of them come towards us, you may get pushed back..I think the vast majority understands that or expects that and that's what happened in this case."

Hernandez was arrested for disorderly conduct.


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