AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department has released the names of the officers involved in the first weekend of anti police brutality protests — which resulted in several complaints about APD’s use of less-lethal force during the incidents.
BACKGROUND: 227 complaints against Austin police actions during protests released to the public
The officers involved in the protests on the weekend of May 30-31 have been named as:
- Nicholas Gebhart, with APD for 7.5 years
- Kyu An, 3.5 years
- Kyle Felton, 1 year
- Derrick Lehman, 10 years
- John Siegel, 3.5 years
All the officers have been placed on paid administrative duty.
The protests included the injuries of several Austinites who said their time at the rallies ended with injuries due to “less-lethal” ammunition deployed by Austin police.
These included a 20-year-old man, who is in critical condition after being shot in the head and a pregnant woman who was shot. Many Austin protesters were arrested.
MORE: Austin protesters explain the moment they were hit with APD bean bag rounds
The APD Special Investigations Unit and the Internal Affairs Division are currently attempting to identify the officer(s) involved in other protest-related incidents.
Official complaint documents against Austin Police Department officers can be viewed here.
On June 4, APD Chief Brian Manley announced during an emergency Austin City Council meeting that APD would no longer use bean bag rounds during crowd situations.
APD’s handling of the protests, in addition to the shooting death of Mike Ramos, has resulted in at least 30 community groups calling for Manley to resign.
MORE: City Manager has ‘no plans’ to fire or demote Austin Police Chief Brian Manley
That incident happened on April 24, when APD officer Christopher Taylor fired an unspecified amount of shots at Ramos during an incident in southeast Austin.
APD says the cases involving the identified officers remain under investigation.
