Protesters gather right before the protest began in front of Burlington City Hall.
A protest movement drew almost two dozen people to downtown Burlington yesterday, rallying against Des Moines County Attorney Amy Beavers’ decision not to indict Burlington Police Officer Jesse Hill on any charges related to the January 6th death of 34 year old Autumn Steele.
“Amy Beavers thinks she can just clear this cop with no consequences,” said protester and activist Jeffrey Justice, “That’s not gonna happen.”
Hill has been on paid leave since the January 6th incident that killed 34 year old Autumn Steele. Hill was responding to a domestic dispute between Steele and her husband when the couples dog apparently attacked Hill. While attempting to shoot the dog with his firearm, Hill slipped on the snow, accidentally firing and hitting Steele in the chest.
Justice, who’s originally from Colorado, travels the country, protesting what he see’s as a lack of training on the part of law enforcement officers in dealing with dogs. Justice says that people have been hurt when officers have attempted to shoot dogs before.
“This is the first one where a cop, who is untrained–admittedly untrained–in dog encounters, fired a weapon in an unsafe situation because he was afraid of a dog…and a woman’s dead,” Justice told KBUR.
Some protesters waved American flags, some held up pictures of Steele, others wore masks inspired by the film “V for Vendetta” and displayed anarchist symbols.
Several of the protesters came to the City Council meeting later in the evening, to make their feelings known to the council.
