I want to start back from this afternoon though, today was supposed to have a large counter protest “back the blue” hosted by Christopher Ritchie here in #atx
A lot of us who have been out there all month popped up early & the vibe was very Austin. We were not expecting 1 for them not to show up (whooo!) and 2 for the @Austin_Police to become increasingly violent. 2/
at around 5:30 a few protesters began blocking the street allotting room for the continued but gradual flow of traffic. APD began blocking the roads to protect us but then abruptly stopped leaving us to face multiple drivers who swerved & edged towards us in their cars 3/
Around 7Pm 8th st was full of people speaking& dancing when a white car (L: MTX6409) came speeding towards us. It was super obvious the street was closed but he continued& after protesters stepped in front of his car trying to protect the others he began showing us his gun 4/
The cops on APD’s stairs did nothing as he threatened us but he was stopped (by what I assume were the police in the garage down the street moments later.) & guided into the garage. From there we became uncertain of his whereabouts. 5/
the crowd began asking APD what they planned to do& received no response.
(Rumors suggest that APD let him out the other side)
Instead of insuring civilians of their safety police advanced on protesters arresting two people and macing the closest people. 6/
(Rumors suggest that APD let him out the other side)
Instead of insuring civilians of their safety police advanced on protesters arresting two people and macing the closest people. 6/
This happened multiple times before people moved back towards APD. That’s when the bike cops began to suit up & we decided to take them on a ride through downtown. 
After the march returned to APD is when police began to get rowdy again macing people for putting a foot on the stairs & running them over with their horses.
@threadreaderapp unroll
