Over the weekend at the Movement Of Black Lives conference, stylized at #M4BL on social media, police in Cleveland resorted to what protesters have depicted as violent acts of aggression towards the crowd. According to several up-close accounts, police body-slammed a 14-year-old boy for not having a bus ticket and used pepper spray to break apart the group of protesters. The inaugural #M4BL Conference began last Friday (July 24) and ended this past Sunday, with several organizers and community leaders coming together in Ohio to discuss new pathways to support the growing #BlackLivesMatter movement and other similar groups. The event was largely peaceful until the ending moments where police arrested and slammed the unnamed teen, which sparked some unrest from gatherers. Much of what took place on the ground in Cleveland was captured in a series of tweets from attendees and media, highlighting the aggressive nature of the Cleveland Police Department. In response, the conference attendees gathered peacefully in the street and inquired about the nature of the boy’s arrest. After a standoff that involved the police macing and pepper spraying the crowd, the boy was eventually released. But in all, much of what can be read on the #M4BL hashtag are attendees sharing heartfelt accounts from the conference and appeared to be galvanized even more to fight injustice. See the following pages for some more tweets from attendees at the Movement For Black Lives Conference and what they faced from Cleveland police on the ground. [h/t/ Crooks and Liars] — Photo: Twitter
