A Detroit, Michigan police officer was charged with three counts of felonious assault Monday after being accused of shooting multiple journalists with rubber bullets during a protest in May.
Protests have been ongoing around the country against police brutality following the death of George Floyd. Cpl. Daniel Debono, 32, now potentially faces four years in prison after an “unprovoked” shooting involving three photojournalists, the New York Times reported, citing the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
“The evidence shows that these three journalists were leaving the protest area and that there was almost no one else on the street where they were,” county prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement according to the NYT.
Worthy added that the journalists were not a threat to anyone and that “there are simply no explicable reasons why the alleged actions of this officer were taken.”
Protesters march against police brutality and in memory of George Floyd in Detroit, Michigan, on June 7, 2020. – Protesters have rallied for racial justice in cities across the United States following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police on May 25. (Photo by SETH HERALD / AFP) (Photo by SETH HERALD/AFP via Getty Images)
The rubber bullet shootings occurred early in the morning on May 31, according to prosecutors. Nicole Hester of MLive and independent journalists Seth Herland and Matthew Hatcher were all shot by rubber pellets, the prosecutor added according to the NYT.
The three were walking when they met Debono, who was with two other officers. The trio had press credentials, the NYT reported. Prosecutors have said they “had their hands up” and were “asking to cross the street.” Hester, Herland and Hatcher also identified themselves are journalists, according to the NYT. Despite this, Debono began hitting them with rubber pellets, according to prosecutors.
The three had injuries from the rubber bullets, according to prosecutors. (RELATED: Beating Up An Old Man, Assaulting Journalists, And Ramming Protesters With Cars: Police Violence During Protests Caught On Video)
Debono’s actions are not indicative of “the vast majority of the men and women who have been working the protest for the last eight weeks and doing what is right,” Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood, a spokeswoman for the police department, said according to the NYT.