After four days of protesting at Detroit Public Schools Community District bus garage on the city's west side, 11 protesters were arrested Thursday morning, according to the Detroit Police Department.
Protesters outside the bus yard in the 12600 block of Westwood near Evergreen and Interstate 96 have been blocking buses from leaving each morning, making them unable to complete their routes and pick up students for school.
DPD Commander Arnold Williams said the protesters were blocking the bus from leaving with their bodies, sometimes walking in circles and other times standing still. Williams said the protesters also had three vehicles blocking the road so the bus couldn't get out of the lot.
"We issued the protesters three warnings on separate times letting them know they were in violation and they could possibly be arrested for disorderly conduct and they could also be cited for blocking traffic," Williams said. "After the third warning, we started to take some action, we started to make some arrests on some individuals."
Williams said all arrested individuals have been processed and be charged with disorderly conduct. One protester was getting in the way of an officer, and could be charged with assaulting an officer after review of a video taken, Williams said.
Because of the location protesters were at on Thursday is owned by a private company, Williams said, there was no other action than police confirmation to get protesters to move. During the last few days, protesters were at bus garages that were owned by Detroit Public Schools, which made it so the district has other options and locations to bus students, Williams said.
"Any time that you have a protest — Detroit Police Department we encourage people to protest. We know everybody has the opportunity, the first amendment right and we enforce that," Williams said. "We want you to exercise your constitutional right but it can't cause other people any type of harm. Today they basically caused the business harm and the students who were actually trying to get to school."
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said Monday about 500 students attended classes in about 20 buildings. The classes are voluntary, Vitti said, so students and teachers aren’t compelled to attend.
"This is all difficult. There are no easy decisions and when I knew the protests were going to happen ... I did reflect and just thought deeply about what their point of view was on why we shouldn't have school," Vitti told the Free Press on Monday. "I said I'm gonna visit schools and see what it looks like and talk to teachers and see what's happening in the classroom. I believe we've made the right decision to move forward and I still believe that we're making the right decision on moving forward."
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Vitti said they had 180 slots for teachers, and 300 applied. With the coronavirus on the rise again, Vitti said they are taking safety precautions by making students and teachers wear masks, taking their temperatures, reviewing COVID-19 symptoms and social distancing.
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