Two Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa guards suffered injuries during a protest at the hotel Thursday night, according to Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice.
Rice confirmed the injuries to WBRC on Friday morning.
One security guard reportedly suffered an arm injury when he attempted to keep the entry doors closed as protesters tried to take to the hotel lobby. A second security guard was reportedly knocked over trying to block protesters from entering a stairwell where they could access guest rooms. He suffered a knee injury.
One of the guards told WBRC that the protesters also set off fire alarms, despite since-recanted reporting by Alabama Media Group that police set off the alarms.
However, protest leader Carlos Chaverst accused the guards of lying.
“Nobody touched them,” Chaverst claimed to WBRC. “If they are injured, they injured themselves.”
Chaverst took to social media after reports of the incident surfaced, complaining that the media was not the protesters’ “side.”
“The media is reporting two Ross Bridge employees were injured during protest. That is completely FALSE,” the protest leader asserted.
He then called the collective group of security guards working at the private property, “Bull Connor[‘s] nephews.”
‘They are looking to make this 1960’s all over again. They brought busses, fire trucks, tow trucks, officers from other municipalities, etc. However, we will not be moved,” Chaverst added.
It should be noted that law enforcement officers did not arrest any of the protesters, as they asked them to leave once and they did so.
The incident at Ross Bridge came after Chaverst threatened to use “ANY MEANS NECESSARY” in the protest efforts.
Carol Robinson tweeted that Chaverst now plans on filing assault charges against one of the guards.
“If that’s how they want to play, we’re going to play the same game,” Chaverst said.
Robinson also reported that both guards went to the emergency room for X-rays and treatment and that reports were filed by them on the two incidents. They will reportedly be pursuing criminal charges through Hoover Municipal Court.
While city officials have preached restraint in how they deal with the protests, this could be the turning point.
“This is the type of thing we will not tolerate,” Rice explained. “We said all along as long as no one [was] injured and property not destroyed, we would manage the protests.”
“However, this is clearly no longer about pursuing the truth and it has became about breaking the law and injuring people in our city and we won’t stand for that,” Rice added.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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