Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot is asking for help identifying people who may have videos or photos of protesters who were shot with projectiles during downtown demonstrations earlier this summer.
Many major cities across the country, including Dallas, are facing lawsuits after protesters were shot with less-lethal rounds and jailed following demonstrations after the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In a news conference on Thursday, the district attorney said he needs the public’s help to track down evidence and people with information stemming from separate incidents on May 30, the second day of demonstrations in downtown Dallas, when three protesters were seriously injured.
One of them involves a case that The Dallas Morning News uncovered in August, and another stems from a 26-year-old man who lost his left eye after he was hit by a projectile.
A 25-year Dallas police veteran was captured in a photograph firing a pepper-ball gun at a woman’s chest. The News wrote an investigative report about Sgt. Roger Rudloff and what happened along an I-35 highway access road on May 30, only five days after Floyd’s death.
The sergeant, who is currently on restricted duty, told The News he was not wearing a body camera. He also previously told The News that the woman “wasn’t doing what we told her to.”
“We have come to the point where we need some assistance,” Creuzot said. “What we are specifically interested in is the video of the person — the police officer — firing that projectile.”
Creuzot stressed the importance of formally reporting excessive use of force complaints to the Dallas Police Department. He added that he and the police department did not know about the incident until the report appeared in The News.
But David Henderson, an attorney for Jantzen Verastique, who was shot with the pepper-ball gun multiple times, said police officers who witnessed acts of excessive force also had a responsibility to report complaints.
Creuzot said his office was looking for more video footage since not all of the officers who were at protests had body cameras.
Last month, Creuzot announced he was investigating whether police made wrongful arrests of peaceful protesters and used excessive force on some during the mass demonstrations this summer.
The district attorney contacted several demonstrators and their lawyers in response to the News’ reporting on Rudloff.
“Let me say this: from my standpoint, as a lawyer, and with a potential of going to court, it’s my objective to have every bit of evidence that I can get in my possession,” Creuzot said.
The police department’s public integrity unit, which investigates city employees accused of crimes, is overseeing the investigation of Rudloff’s use of the pepper-ball gun. Henderson, who is handling the civil lawsuit connected to the incident, said his clients who are connected to the Rudloff incident have been interviewed by the unit.
It is unclear if Rudloff has been interviewed by the public integrity unit. The Dallas Police Department declined to answer, citing the ongoing investigation.
“I think that the cooperation that I have received from the Public Integrity division has been driven by the fact that they realized the press is watching what they’re doing,” Henderson said.
Creuzot said he also was investigating the incident in which protester Brandon Saenz, 26, lost his eye on May 30, after civil rights attorneys filed a lawsuit. Saenz also lost seven teeth and fractured the left side of his face as a result of the blow.
Creuzot said his office has not been able to identify who may have shot Saenz near the Dallas Public Library’s downtown branch near City Hall.
The third incident that Creuzot said he was investigating occurred around 10:40 p.m. on May 30 near Fox 4 studios at the intersection of Pacific and Griffin streets.
Creuzot showed photos of bystanders who appeared to have captured the incident in which a protester, who was not named, was shot with a less-than-lethal round.
Dallas officers' handling of demonstrations May 29 through June 1 has drawn intense criticism from City Council members, crowd control experts and civil rights leaders.
The most scrutinized incident occurred June 1 when 674 protesters were corralled on the iconic Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Hundreds were arrested and released. After initially defending the arrests, Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall later said she would not charge the protesters.
The first few nights of protests were also marked by looting and rioting. Creuzot said his office has received a handful of cases connected to those crimes.
But many charges against protesters were dropped by his office, he said.
Officers swept up more than 50 protesters on charges of rioting or obstructing a highway on May 30.
The department later dropped most of the cases after an investigation by The News examined police tactics and the jailing of three women on such charges.
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How to contact the Dallas District Attorney’s office about protest incidents:
The office will arrange a way to safely secure video and photos. Email the office at protestreport@dallascounty.org or call 214-653-3714 if:
- You have video or pictures from any protests showing the discharge of a device that hit or injured someone.
- You are in the pictures.
- You think you know someone in these pictures.
