Opinion ID: 171480
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denis Doyon

Text: 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.