Denver Files Emergency Motion To Modify Police Restraining Order

DENVER, CO — The City and County of Denver has filed a motion to modify a restraining order against law enforcement amid the ongoing George Floyd protests. The order, which was issued by a federal judge Friday night, requires officers to limit their use of tear gas and projectiles against peaceful protesters.

U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson says the "threat to physical safety and free speech outweighs the threat to property."

The order allows the use of non-lethal weapons against protesters in cases of self-defense or extreme property damage, but only if a higher-ranked officer witnesses a situation where the use of weapons is required.

The city said there are only four captains and one commander deployed in the downtown area, and officials have requested an amendment to include lieutenants as 'higher-ranked officers' that can grant permission for the use of non-lethal weapons.

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Under the order, police officers must also keep their body cameras on at all times during the protests, but some law enforcement agencies from other parts of Colorado have been deployed in Denver to help with the protests, and those agencies’ body cameras do not have the same capabilities as cameras that Denver officers use, the city said.

City officials are requesting a modification of the order; however, Jackson said that “cameras should be activated and filming any and all acts of confrontation between police officers and others, and if that means increasing the supply of batteries, so be it.”

Most of the judge's directions "are already in line" with the Denver Police Department's use of force policy, the department said.

Dozens of protesters have reported significant injuries during clashes with police as protests against the death of George Floyd continue in Denver. One protester said he was struck so hard by a projectile that his eye had to be surgically removed.

The ruling was issued after four protesters asked for a restraining order against officers and filed a lawsuit against the Denver Police Department. The protesters said many officers have been firing at people's faces, necks and backs.

The order also noted that enforcing the law during the protests is a "very difficult and often thankless job."