Urban Shield protesters injured after ambushing Berkeley city council meeting

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Thursday, June 22, 2017
Urban Shield protesters injured after ambushing Berkeley city council meeting
A Berkeley meeting got raucous Tuesday night as protesters interrupted a vote by the City Council.

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- A Berkeley meeting got raucous last night as protesters interrupted a vote by the City Council.

The protestors want the police department to stop participating in "urban shield" training for disasters and mass shootings. They say it militarizes the police.

Tuesday night, demonstrators put a banner around council members as they voted on the proposal. Police moved in and arrested two people.

"At some point, the Berkeley police started to push all of us very aggressively, including myself. People were falling to the ground. People were being hit by batons," said Lara Kiswani, from the Alameda County Urban Shield Task Force.

"When people surround the council members there is a physical threat and that's a concern. You cannot have democracy if you are threatening the decision makers," said Matthai Chakko, a Berkeley Spokesperson

One demonstrator was hit in the face with a police baton.

The city council voted to continue police participation in urban shield but will review its decision in a few months.