Charges Filed Against 2 Austin Protesters

AUSTIN, TX — State law enforcement officials on Monday announced the arrests of two people demonstrating against police brutality in Austin.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said in an advisory that officers executed arrest warrants for Darius Deshawn Berkley, 22, of Austin and Gerald Govan Brown, 18, of Pflugerville. Berkley was arrested for "rioting" on the state Capitol grounds while Brown was arrested in connection with vandalism at the state building and assault of a state trooper.

The charge against Berkley stems from an incident that occurred on June 22 at the Texas State Capitol, officials said. Special agents discovered Berkley was incarcerated in the Travis County Jail on unrelated charges as they sought to execute the arrest, officials said, and the warrant was served on Berkley at the Travis County Jail.

Texas Department of Public Safety photo.

Brown, meanwhile, was arrested on Saturday, June 27, in connection with incidents that occurred during the protests at the Texas State Capitol on May 30, officials said. Multiple arrest warrants were obtained for Brown, including felony criminal mischief-destruction of public monument, as well as misdemeanor criminal mischief, attempt to take a weapon from a peace officer, resisting arrest, interference with public duties and participating in a riot, officials added in the advisory.

Images via Texas Department of Public Safety.

"Both arrests come as the result of ongoing investigations by DPS Special Agents who reviewed hundreds of hours of videos from various media platforms, surveillance camera footage, law enforcement databases and open source information over the last several weeks, and the investigation continues," officials wrote.

Demonstrators decrying police brutality have been taking to downtown Austin streets for about a month now, galvanized around the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd died on May 25 after a police officer placed a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes as the man was detained face down on the pavement. Local activists already were united in protest a month before after the fatal shooting of an unarmed man, Michael Ramos, during a confrontation with police in South Austin.