In Baltimore, police have arrested at least a dozen protesters who occupied City Hall overnight Wednesday in protest of the plan to appoint permanently Baltimore’s interim police commissioner. The occupation came after a City Council committee approved Interim Commissioner Kevin Davis’ permanent appointment. Activists say since Davis has taken office, there has been a “heightened aggression” toward protest. A coalition of Baltimore activists have issued a list of demands to Baltimore’s mayor and Davis calling for more respect for nonviolent protest, a ban on military-style police equipment such as armored vehicles and rubber bullets, and more investment in education. During the occupation, one of the protesters, Trey Murphy, spoke out.

Trey Murphy: “The three demands that we have is that the interim police commissioner implements the rules of engagement that grassroots folks have put out days ago in an open letter addressed to him and the mayor, in specific, as well as to fire the housing director, Graziano, who has sexual assault charges, claims being filed against him and members of the housing department. As well as the third one is to reallocate $20 million inside of next year’s budget, next year’s fiscal year budget, 2016 through 2017, to reallocate $20 million towards education.”