DALLAS — A group of protesters lashed out at city council members during their meeting Wednesday afternoon at Dallas City Hall following the shooting death of a 26-year-old black male at the hands of a white police officer.
Mayor Mike Rawlings placed a temporary hold on the meeting as protesters chanted "no justice, no peace" as they criticized the city for their handling of the Botham Jean shooting.
Prior to the meeting, the Next Generation Action Network (NGAN) announced they would attend to demand police "oversight" and "transparency" and for the creation of the the first ever Citizens Police Review Board.
Dominique Alexander heads up NGAN and said the plan for a review board has been underway for more than a year.
"It's time for this council to do something," Alexander said. "Stop coming to our communities or town halls and say 'we're talking about it'."
Alexander says his hope is for a review board that has independence to conduct reviews of cases where officers use deadly force or where citizen complaints against Dallas Police officers have been filed.
The group held a short press briefing outside city hall chambers before entering the afternoon portion of the meeting.
Rawlings put the meeting into recess 18 minutes after it resumed for the 1pm session, once the chants of "no justice, no peace" began echoing in the chamber.
Some council members left council chambers as well, so those gathered to speak addressed the remaining council members.
Among them, pastor Michael Waters of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church told the council he supports the creation of a citizens review board and also said now is the time to take down the remaining Confederate statue currently in Pioneer Park just across the street from city hall.
Waters said inaction on either issue will mean Dallas can not call itself a diverse, vibrant and progressive city.
“Not when poor our dying across our city. Not when I have to tell my son I’ve got to speak and the first thing he asks me as I’m on my way out the door is 'who died now?', Waters said.
Criticism of the city's police department was sparked after Amber Guyger, 30, shot and killed Jean, 26, in his apartment Thursday night.
Guyger wasn't arrested or identified until three days after the shooting, which spurred concerns she was receiving differential treatment as a white officer.
Guyger was charged with manslaughter, and according to her arrest warrant, claimed she shot Jean after she attempted to enter his apartment believing it was hers and mistook the 26-year-old accountant as an intruder.