Arrests made at Capitol; police spray protesters | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com
LANSING — Michigan State Police say eight protesters have been arrested for disobeying lawful command, trying to push their way into Senate chambers.
Police sprayed chemical munitions into a crowd when it tried to rush the Senate floor, said Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk.
“When several of the individuals rushed the troopers, they used chemical munitions to disperse the crowd,” he said. “It would be a lot worse if someone gets hurt and I failed to act.”
The police blocked the entrance to the Capitol, leaving several hundred people outside waiting to get inside.
Adamczyk said later the building wasn’t at capacity, but that the protesters were so heavily concentrated in a few areas, including jam packed outside the Senate, that they didn’t want to add to that crush of people.
State police have blocked the outside doors to the Capitol, saying no more people are being let into the Capitol for fear of the building’s structural integrity.
Democrats said they have filed a lawsuit seeking to lift the lockdown.
A State Journal reporter witnessed one woman being escorted away in handcuffs.
Just before 1 p.m., union members were forming a line surrounding the state Capitol as part of demands that they be let inside. An estimated 700 to 1,000 people are inside the Capitol.
About 500 people are in front of the Capitol.
State police said two platoons of 32 state police officers are stationed at Capitol today.
Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press contributed to this report.
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