Protests end with arrest at the PSB; another protest planned 

Organizers with the activist group Free The People Roc are planning another protest at the Public Safety Building in Rochester on Wednesday morning.

This is after protesters showed up at that building Tuesday night demanding information about a protester who was arrested in Webster earlier in the day during a protest.

Rochester Police put out a statement Tuesday night saying 50-year-old Nicholas Wilt was arrested by Monroe County deputies in Webster and, at that time, Wilt had outstanding warrant for failing to appear before the court for a previous arrest, one that happened during a demonstration on Child Street Sept. 12. It later was learned that the original arrest, on charges of unlawful assembly and resisting arrest, should have had a court appearance date of Oct. 22. RPD says the bench warrant was issued by mistake when Wilt did not appear in court on Sept. 22.

Wilt was taken to the Monroe County jail and protesters showed up and went inside the PSB. Police say while inside the building, at least one protester assaulted an RPD sergeant and another officer with a weapon. Police charged 26-year-old Jordan Hughes with two counts of second degree assault.

Police say the injured sergeant and officer were taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries, along with a third RPD officer who suffered injuries; there was no immediate word on the extent of injuries.

RPD says that it will work with city court to determine how the error on the bench warrant happened, and to “find ways to prevent future occurrences.”

In a post on its Facebook page, Free The People Roc said that on Tuesday night it “experienced the brutality of Rochester Police Department full force, yet again. Many of us were physically and forcefully pushed out of the Public Safety Building after demanding information and the release of a protester kidnapped from Webster being held in the county jail.”

The activists are calling for the release of Hughes, after their comment in that post saying “he was physically assaulted and arrested by RPD.”

Free The People Roc says plans to gather at 9:00 a.m. at the PSB to “demand justice for Jordan and hold RPD accountable.”

Randy Gorbman is the news director at WXXI News, a media partner of CITY.