Opinion ID: 171480
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Seizures of Arrested Plaintiffs

Text: While in front of the Baskin Robbins on Central Avenue, Ms. Silva-Banuelos saw a group of protestors sit down. Officers surrounded the protestors and she saw one officer jab a protestor with a baton. Later, at the intersection of Central Avenue and Yale Boulevard, she stood on the street near the curb in front of a parked car. She joined in chanting police strike and she told officers that the crowd was being treated poorly, to which the horse-mounted officers laughed and charged forward. She stepped back and made peace signs in front of the Papa John's restaurant. The horse-mounted officers encircled her and told her not to move. An officer twisted her arms back and forced her to walk to the police car where she was handcuffed. Ms. Silva-Banuelos did not directly interact with Capt. Gonzales, although he is seen in a videotape apparently directing her arrest. (Capt. Gonzales denies authorizing her arrest, but concedes, for purposes of summary judgment, that he must assume this fact to be true. Reply Br. at 8, n. 1.) The police charged her with resisting, evading, or obstructing on officer, and public nuisance. All charges were dismissed upon the prosecutor's subsequent motion.
Mr. Doyon joined his friends playing samba music on percussion instruments with his ringing of a cowbell. He witnessed officers shoving some protestors with batons, and between the intersection of Harvard Drive and Cornell Drive, [h]e saw one officer with a rifle that appeared to shoot beanbag rounds. Aplts' App. vol. VIII, at 1969. As he watched, [t]he officer aimed the rifle at a young man who was walking east on the sidewalk, and he heard the officer say that if the man did not move faster, he would shoot him. Id. He believed [t]he drumming appeared to ease some of the tension in the crowd[,] and many people began to smile, sing, and dance. Id. at 1969-70. He did not hear any orders to leave the intersection or warnings about the use of chemical agents, nor did anyone tell him to stop drumming. Id. at 1970. Capt. Gonzales then ordered the officers to remove the drums and to arrest the drummers. Mr. Doyon watched as officers in riot gear immediately entered the crowd, passing several people in order to apprehend four of the drummers. Id. vol. VIII, at 1970. Two officers grabbed him by the shoulders, causing him to trip. Id. The officers dragged him from the crowd and pushed him face down onto the pavement, where [o]ne of the officers placed his knee on the small of [his] back, pinning him to the ground. Id. Though he did not resist, the officers pushed Mr. Doyon forward onto the hood of a police car and handcuffed him with plastic flexicuffs. Id. As he was being taken to a police van, he saw an officer walking toward the crowd at Central Ave. and Cornell Dr. with a tear gas canister launcher. Id. Upon entering the van, [he] heard a loud pop followed by the sounds of people in the crowd screaming and yelling. Id. Shortly thereafter, tear gas began wafting into the van, burning [his] eyes, throat, and nasal passages and causing him to have difficulty breathing. Id. Police officers closed the door to the van, sealing in the tear gas, and [o]ther protestors in the van began to panic because they were trapped in a van permeated with tear gas with no way to get fresh air. Id. The charges were dismissed against him after he successfully completed an alternative sentencing program, which was a one-day informational citizenship program. Id. at 1971.
Mr. Kisner attended the demonstration along with his sister, Alicia Kisner, and his mother, Lisa Kisner. He witnessed officers use pepper spray and batons to keep the crowd moving, he was subjected to pepper ball rounds, saw the launching of tear gas, and saw officers throw drummers to the ground. After witnessing a female protester collapse after an officer fired beanbag rounds at her from close range, he and other protestors went to assist her. An officer shot him with beanbag rounds in the shoulder and chest. He proceeded to the corner of Central Avenue and Cornell Avenue and joined a group of protestors chanting shame to the police. Id. at 1978. A horse-mounted officer ordered everyone to leave. Mr. Kisner and others questioned why they could not be on the sidewalk. Mr. Kisner also explained that his car was north of the demonstration, and that he needed to proceed in that direction in order to depart. The officer refused to let Mr. Kisner continue going north and, after feeling the burning of pepper spray, Mr. Kisner turned around on Cornell Avenue. Then, two horse-mounted officers approached him on each side, grabbed his backpack and thrust him to the ground. Another officer led him to a police van. Mr. Kisner was charged with Resisting, Evading, or Obstructing an Officer in violation of N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-22-1 and Public Nuisance in violation of N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-8-1. After the completion of a one-day citizenship information program, the charges against Mr. Kisner were dismissed.