Protester with backpack full of ‘mortars’ prompts police to end demonstration Tuesday night.
After hours of peaceful protests through downtown St. Petersburg, police became aware that some demonstrators were setting off large incendiary devices as they were walking. This was a major concern because there was no way to know what kind of devices they had and how they planned to use them.
For this reason, when the demonstrators returned to the Police Department, SPPD officers made a public announcement that this was an unlawful assembly and the crowd needed to leave the area for everyone’s safety.
Omar Scott aka Omar Yaphet Scott, age 26, was arrested. He had a backpack full of “mortars”, or large fireworks. He faces the following charges:
-3 counts Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer
-Inciting a Riot
-Resisting an Officer without Violence.
Officers also arrested approximately 20 people for unlawful assembly, for not leaving the area after police warned them.
