"i was bodyslammed for reasons that still aren’t clear to me, cuffed so tightly i still can’t feel most of my left hand, left in a hot car, strip searched, & then left alone in an ice cold, brightly lit cell all night, after being told i was being released, without explanation." - Molly Conger

Brad Kutner with Courthouse News Service: “…. local activist and journalist Kristopher Goad was also arrested, and, joined by Conger, approached Monroe Park around 10 p.m. on Sunday only to be immediately greeted by an SUV full of police officers.

“We saw a lot of blue lights and thought we should leave, but before we had the chance to leave I was on the ground,” Goad said. “At no point were we told we couldn’t be in the park. At the time of our arrest we weren’t in the park.”

Video shot by Goad shows his attempts to communicate with police were stifled when they tackled him to the ground.

City data shows the sidewalk where both were arrested is not part of the park grounds.

In a tweet responding to Goad’s video, the ACLU of Virginia condemned his arrest.

“Taking photos and videos of things visible in public spaces is a constitutional right, including filming the police on a public sidewalk,” the civil rights group tweeted.