Four Wichita protesters arrested, including two for the second time in days

Four people were arrested Thursday night in connection to “recent protest incidents in downtown,” Wichita police Officer Kevin Wheeler said Friday.

Those arrested are:

• Charles Preston Ellis II, 45, was arrested on suspicion of aggressive or harassing contact prohibited, battery, rioting and criminal damage to property
• Bryant Edward Jacobs, 33, was arrested on suspicion of aggressive or harassing contact prohibited and defacement or damage of property by graffiti
• Gabrielle Nyette Griffie, 24, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly and aggressive or harassing contact prohibited
• Marissa Renee Gonzalez, 23, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly, aggressive or harassing contact prohibited, assault and defacement or damage of property by graffiti

All of the people are from Wichita and were arrested in “multiple locations” around town in connection to incidents that happened between July 29 and August 6, Wheeler said. Wheeler would not provide additional details about the arrests.

“(The Wichita Police Department) supports the rights of individuals to demonstrate lawfully,” Wheeler said.

Gonzalez and Griffie were arrested on Sunday as well — Gonzalez on suspicion of failure to appear and Griffie in connection to an allegedly unlawful assembly.

After the first arrest, Griffie, the executive director of Project Justice ICT, called it a “blatant scare tactic to try to keep the organizers of Project Justice ICT from marching in the streets.” She said at least three people connected with protests organized by the group were arrested over the weekend after police watched them and others at their homes for hours.

The group has called for defunding of police.

In the past week, videos posted on Facebook have shown protesters pull at least one person off of a motorcycle and another out of a car that sought to pass through a roundabout. It’s unclear from the video if the person on the motorcycle tried to drive at protesters.

Other videos have shown protesters marching in the street and nearly being hit by the driver of a truck and them protesting outside of a home that, protesters said, is where City Manager Robert Layton lives. Outside of the home, Griffie held a sign that said: “WHY’D YOU HAVE ME ARRESTED BOBBY?”

Griffie replied to a text at 2:48 a.m. Friday saying that she had just gotten out of jail. Griffie said she was pulled over and arrested while going to check on the arrest of another protester.

Griffie said she was told the arrest was on warrants in connection to municipal violations. The original jail booking log listed three counts of municipal/county violations. One of the arresting police case numbers is linked to a July 31 battery case at Douglas and Sycamore. The victim was a 28-year-old man who was battered, according to police records, which say he was not injured but had his vehicle damaged.

The arrests are “fabricated,” Griffie said. “It’s proving points ... that the police are just a bunch of fascists.”

Project Justice ICT tweeted at 10:18 p.m. Thursday that they were “okay on bail, but other people in the community may not be as lucky.” They asked for people to donate to a bail fund set up by the Wichita chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 12:27 PM.