Council hears complaints about pepper-ball deployments after Easter gathering; police say pepper balls, not tear gas, were used

Several downtown business owners and residents told the Lake City City Council on April 6 they were sprayed and displaced by law enforcement following an Easter gathering, and they asked the council to investigate whether officers used disproportionate force.

"Last night I was pepper-sprayed or gassed by y'all officers," said Michael Warren, describing how customers were forced to leave his food stall and he lost sales. Kendria Jones, owner of Tracks Venue on Railroad Street, said officers ‘‘demanded that I close my business without providing proper legal justification or documentation authorizing such action’’ and that the response caused lost revenue.

Multiple commenters also complained about an apparent display of force, including images of a sheriff standing atop an armored vehicle; several witnesses said the sight was intimidating. "It made it feel like it was going backwards," one speaker said, describing the visual of a uniformed official on top of a vehicle looking down on the crowd.

The police chief told the council the department met with event organizers in advance, and that after the park event "the crowd kept growing. It got unwieldy. They got into the roadway. Traffic was blocked... Emergency vehicles could not get through." He said officers repeatedly announced an unlawful assembly and made attempts to clear the road before deploying crowd-control measures. "They declared it as an unlawful assembly... The decision was made to deploy pepper balls. Uh and tear gas was never used," the chief said.

Council members pressed for specifics: which streets were blocked (Marion and Railroad and surrounding corridors), how many vehicles were towed (two), who fired the pepper balls (both the sheriff's department and the city police), and whether those on private property or business premises were unlawfully affected. The chief said both agencies deployed pepper balls (described as projectiles similar to paintball-style munitions that usually are aimed at the ground) and said body and dash cameras were on and will be reviewed by his office of professional standards as part of a use-of-force review.

Council members and the city manager signaled willingness to work with event organizers to better coordinate future activities downtown so businesses and public safety needs are balanced. One council member suggested the city help businesses recover lost revenue by allowing organized replacement events if merchants choose to recoup losses.

No formal policy change was made at the meeting; the chief said the department will complete after-action reviews and the Office of Professional Standards will review footage and any use-of-force questions.