Trump Parade Precipitates Traffic and Disorderly Conduct Complaints In College Station, No Citations Issued

Brazos Guardian asked College Station Police Department (CSPD) the following five questions concerning the Trump Parade that occurred over the weekend.

1. Did the organizer attain a permit?
2. How many participants were cited for traffic violations?
3. Were organizers cited if no permit attained?
4. Were any patrol officers dispatched pertaining to the event?
5. Did CSPD receive any calls / complaints from citizens? If so, how many and what were the nature of the calls?

Following are CSPD Chief Billy Couch’s responses:

The following information will address your questions regarding the Trump parade held in College Station on Sunday.  As for questions 1 and 3, they are no applicable as the parade did not meet the definition of a parade by City of College Station ordinance.  In Ordinance Sec. 34-223 – Parade means any march or procession consisting of people, animals or vehicles, or a combination thereof, including athletic events, upon any public street, sidewalk or alley which does not comply with normal or usual traffic regulations or controls, and requires closing any part of the roadway to normal traffic. 

2. How many participants were cited for traffic violations?

None.

4. Were any patrol officers dispatched pertaining to the event?

We had a patrol supervisor plus six other officers who assisted with monitoring the event. We were dispatched for three incidents:

1. Callers reported motorcycles (who were leading the procession) were blocking or interfering with unrelated traffic on the highway (SH 6)

2. Callers reported vehicles in the procession were not letting other vehicles change lanes (so they could turn from NB Texas onto EB University)

3. Callers reported a DOC at Brentwood and Texas where there was screaming between people hanging out of car windows and protestors (pedestrians)

For each of these incidents, no violation was observed by officers upon their arrival on scene.

5. Did CSPD receive any calls / complaints from citizens? If so, how many and what were the nature of the calls?

We received six calls which were documented in CAD (incidents #2020066187 Traffic Complaint & #2020066195 Disorderly Conduct):

1. 2:25 p.m.: Caller reported motorcycles were driving northbound on SH 6 and were not letting people pass

2. 2:27 p.m.: Caller reported vehicles on SH 6 were going 30 mph and not letting others pass

3. 2:28 p.m.: Caller reported traffic was almost at a standstill on SH 6 and motorcycles were blocking the entrance ramps

4. 2:32 p.m.: Caller reported motorcycles were impeding traffic and not being peaceful

5. 3:07 p.m.: Caller reported vehicles in the procession were honking and not blocking traffic from changing lanes

6. 3:24 p.m.: Caller reported people were screaming at each other (people hanging out of windows of vehicles in the procession vs. protestors (pedestrians) at Brentwood and Texas)

Hopefully, this answers your questions regarding this event. 

Respectfully,

Billy Couch
Police Chief
College Station Police Department

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash