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From 1995: Police brutality claims lead to race riots in Indy

Posted at 1:34 PM, Jul 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-08 14:12:49-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- Recent police protests and subsequent attacks on officers could bring back memories of the (much less violent) riots in 1995 in Indianapolis. 

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In July 1995, Danny Sales was arrested, and he said he was dragged from a restaurant and beaten by white narcotics officers, according to the Associated Press.

He filed a complaint about the arrest, but police said Sales was not beaten, but instead was running from officers and tripped, suffering a minor injury. The arrest took place during a crackdown on drug trafficking.

Sales' arrest led to protests on College Avenue in Indianapolis. Looters broke into a drug store and a pawn shop, and more than 70 police officers responded with armored vehicles and tear gas to break up the crowd of 100-150 people. 

Mike Byfield, 16, said he was tired of police harassment. 

"They come over and jump out of their cars and we're not doing anything," he said. "We're just sitting there; we're just hangin'."

Some protestors attacked the police station with bricks in their hands during a riot.

At least 24 people were arrested during the riots.

In a quote that could've easily been said in 2016, not 1995, one Indianapolis resident expressed his frustration with the relationship between black citizens and the police.

"It is directly a result of how our people are treated as less than human..subhuman and we cannot continue to let that type of relationship exist," one resident said, via AP. "If people want to see a re-establishment in the relationship between the police department and the black citizens in this city, that must change."

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