Two people are facing federal charges following protests in Rochester over the death of Daniel Prude.
Adam Green of Dansville and Dallas Williams-Smothers of Rochester have been charged with obstructing and impeding law enforcement during a civil disorder.
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of NY, James Kennedy says the arrests were made following protests that escalated this past weekend.
Federal prosecutors say Green is accused of hitting an officer in the head with a wooden shield he was carrying, and Williams-Smothers is accused of lighting a mortar-style, commercial grade firework and throwing it at a line of uniformed RPD officers.
Kennedy says these arrests are not about deterring free speech, they are about deterring violent and dangerous criminal activity.