Pa. State Police release dashcam footage of protest on I-676

PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania State Police released dashcam video from a police vehicle that was on the Vine Street Expressway during protests back on June 1, which led to the use of tear gas in an effort to get crowds to disperse from the highway.

In the video, hundreds of protesters are walking down the interstate, holding signs and chanting.  At one point, one person sprayed something on the police vehicle's windshield, blocking the view of the camera

Tear gas was used as “a means to safely diffuse a volatile and dangerous situation” when protesters spilled onto an interstate highway in the heart of Philadelphia just before a curfew took effect, Philadelphia Police Commissioner said earlier this month.

Police fired nonlethal bullets into the crowd and halted traffic during the Monday evening rush hour, and more than two dozen people were arrested during ongoing protests following George Floyd's death and other recent racially-charged killings.

The crowds on Interstate 676 also led to the closure of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the main link from downtown Philadelphia to New Jersey suburbs. Some climbed a steep embankment and scaled a fence as police acted, while others moved to block the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a grand thoroughfare leading from downtown to the city’s imposing art museum.

The tear gas was used “when it became increasingly clear that other measures were ineffective" at dispersing the crowd, Outlaw said. 

The use of tear gas is now being investigated by internal affairs.

RELATED:

• Police use tear gas as protests continue for third day throughout Philadelphia
• Commissioner on I-676 clash: ‘When we deploy tear gas it’s for a purpose’.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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