13 Arrested In Manchester After Peaceful Black Lives Matter Vigil

MANCHESTER, NH — Manchester police arrested 13 people on various charges after a small amount of mourners of George Floyd, the Minnesota man killed last week by a police officer, broke off from the vigil and turned "unruly," according to police.

About 700 people, according to Heather Hamel, the public information officer for the Manchester Police Department, attended the vigil Tuesday in Stark Park and the event was "peaceful" for the first hour and throughout. But later, a small group — around 50 people — broke off from the event and marched down Elm Street and became "disruptive," she said.

"The group eventually met up with others gathering on South Willow Street," Hamel said. "At one point a juvenile on a bicycle kicked a police cruiser, spit on it, and started shouting profanities. He was arrested."

Hamel said police used "a multitude of measures" to keep the peace including "a uniformed presence, a loud speaker, and high frequency sounds" but despite the efforts, some people would not comply with officers requests — fireworks were set off in the middle of streets and "shot in the direction of the police officers," traffic was blocked, and "bottles and other items" were thrown at officers.

"Police in civil disobedience gear had to disperse the unruly crowd down South Willow Street and multiple arrests were made," Hamel said.

The following people were arrested: Jameson Brisendine, pictured upper left, 24, of Weare on an arson charge. Hamel accused him of setting a dumpster on fire. Carmelo Rodriguez, upper middle left, 45, of Manchester who was charged with riot, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. Trenton Edmond Liggins, upper lower left, 19, of Manchester was also arrested on riot, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest charges. Kayla Sharp, lower left, 24, of Nottingham faces a disorderly conduct charge. Keagan Hall, lower center, 20, of Manchester on disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges; Shania Nabors, lower right, 19, of Manchester on riot and disorderly charges; Ryan Yianakopolos, center, 25, of Manchester on a disorderly conduct charge; Michael Krasny, middle left, 25, of Manchester on a disorderly conduct charge; Milton Nabors III, upper center, 28, of Manchester on a riot charge; and Andrew Magoon, upper right, 32, of Manchester on a disorderly conduct charge.

Not all booking photos of those charges were available at post time.

Carlo Capano, the chief of the Manchester Police Department, commended the "professionalism and restraint" officers considering the extreme circumstances.

"The acts of violence and destruction of property will not be tolerated," he said. "It's important for the public to understand the difference between both of last night's events. The Stark Park event was very well organized and remained a peaceful candle light vigil in memory of George Floyd. These are the type of peaceful protests the Manchester Police Department will always support. The acts of violence, rioting and disrupting our community in any way will not be tolerated and the two different events should not be confused."

All were released on personal recognizance bail and court dates will be scheduled in the future.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Manchester Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

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