IOWA CITY, Iowa — One of the leaders of Des Moines BLM is in the Johnson County Jail Tuesday morning after being arrested by University of Iowa police, accused of assaulting police officers during protests on campus.
According to the Johnson County Jail, 24-year-old Matthew Bruce faces nine charges of assault of a peace officer with intent of injury and one charge of interference with official acts.
Jail officials say the charges come from two separate incidents.
They include one that happened at 8:28 p.m. at the University of Iowa President’s residence as well as one at 11:36 p.m. at the University of Iowa Pentacrest.
According to criminal complaints, Bruce pointed a laser beam light into the eyes of multiple officers during the protest, causing injuries that required medical treatment.
Officers asked him to stop, but he ran away, according to police.
He was arrested at 11:40 p.m.
KCRG-TV reports those times coincide with protests happening with the Iowa Freedom Riders. That group called for four nights of protests in Iowa City, starting each night at 7 p.m. at the Pentacrest, following the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake on Aug. 23 in Kenosha, Wisconsin after police say they were responding to a domestic dispute. Three of the younger Blake's sons — aged 3, 5 and 8 — were in the car at the time of the shooting, according to Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the family.
In cell phone footage of the incident, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of his SUV to his driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns drawn and shout at him. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire while Blake has his back turned.
Seven shots can be heard, though it isn’t clear how many struck Blake or how many officers fired.