First Anniversary of the June 1 teargassing at Marcus-David Peters Circle

(June 1, 2020, Marcus-David Peters' Circle, Richmond, Virginia)

As always, I must apologize that I have not kept up with chronicling the events at MDP Circle.

The anniversary of Breonna Taylor's murder came and went, and I had no words.

The anniversary of George Floyd's murder came and went, and I had no words.

The conviction of one of George's murderers (not the accomplices) came and went, and I had no joy.

Virginia abolished the death penalty, but I had no words, because we still have a de facto death penalty, as evidenced by Xzavier Hill's pre-trial, extrajudicial execution in the middle of the night at the hands of Virginia State Troopers on January 9, 2021. He was 18, he was joy-riding. He had his hands up when they mowed him down.

The anniversary of Marcus-David Peters' murder came and went, and I had no words. But we did re-install the memorials, if only for one day.

And I did get to meet one of the original creators of the memorials, both of whom choose to remain anonymous.

That a very special moment for me.

Because words are failing me, I have turned to painting. Supposedly, I am a writer. I have a Master's degree in "Writing," yet cannot express my profound sadness at the state of racial justice in this nation. All my words come off as understatements. We are in a nation that cannot come to a consensus that Black Lives Matter. There are still people who refuse to utter the phrase. There are teachers being fired for posting the phrase in their doors or even allowing children to utter the phrase in their classrooms.

So, I turned to painting.

***

In a few hours, Richmond will mark the first anniversary of the unprovoked teargassing by agents of local law enforcement at MDP Circle.


FIRST HAND ACCOUNT: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPlHbyrlbOw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“The protestors on the other side of this monument, who bore the direct brunt of the gas, were facing police on their knees with their hands on their heads. It was 30 minutes before curfew, and a peaceful protest with children and elderly. 

There were safe houses nearby ushering people inside. Police were gassing the alleys that protestors were trying to escape through, and one nearby resident let an enormous group of us pass through their home to the next block over. A few blocks over, another Fan resident called me onto his back deck, where I was finally able to pour some water over my burning face and call a friend to come get me. It’s actually the safe houses and compassionate neighbors that stick with me the most about that evening.

Stoney issued an apology from the steps of city hall the next morning, and continued to instruct RPD to gas, mace, flash-bang, and shoot rubber bullets at protestors for the remainder of the summer.“


VIDEO OF THE TEARGASSING: https://twitter.com/Justiceaddwater/status/1268401375622332416?s=20




This outrage would kick off a summer of brutalization, tone deaf politicial maneuvering, and a brazen campaign against free speech that continues to this day.

ACCOUNTABILITY: My understanding is that a class action lawsuit was filed by Jonathan Arthur (a lawyer with the firm Thomas H. Roberts & Associate) - I do not know the result of that. It is my belief that the ACLU has looked into many charges of police brutality and over-reach - again, I do not know the results of those investigations. The former City Council did nothing; the current City Council has done nothing. Local social justice groups have moved on to other issues.

POLITICAL STRATEGY: We have an election coming up for Commonwealth's Attorney - neither candidate has said they will investigate and/or charge the persons responsible. But it may still be possible to push the more progressive candidate, Tom Barbour, to at least consider attempting to catalogue the acts of police violence, to discern the facts and attempt to establish if any of those officers were disciplined, and to enter these action into their personnel records. At minimum.

At minimum there should be the most bare bones investigation, for posterity. For truth. For history. So that in future years no one can look back and erroneously conclude that nothing of great consquence happened, because it did not merit an investigation.

I had hopes that City Council would have thought it obvious that we need to form a commission to establish what occured here last summer, and to take concrete steps to make it impossible for the police to physically assault, chemically assault, or verbally assault the humans they are charged with protecting.

Unfortunately, in the same way that Senate Republicans have decided to bury the facts of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, we have entities in this town who want to move on and pretend none of this unpleasantness ever occurred.

But the necessity to preserve the real history of what happened remains. 

HERE IS AN ARTICLE THAT ENCODES, ENCASPULATES, INSCRIBES THE WORK OF LAST SUMMER very well. Please read it, remember, and do not forget that under the veneer of normalcy lies a roiling violence that can be unleashed at any moment.  Statues and Reclaiming Space-Time: A Focus on One Aspect of the Revolt in Richmond (itsgoingdown.org)

It saddens me to say that there are no checks on the police, at this point in our society. This is evidenced by the fact that police killings continued at about the same rate last year AFTER George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight. (His killer has already filed an appeal, by the way).

This is also evidenced by the fact that here in Richmond, at minuimum three people have been arrested for taking photos of the fenced off Lee statue. Yes - arrested. Not warned. Not scolded for crossing a street when that might not be the safest option. Arrested. Given court dates. 

Why? To intimidate people from documenting all of the occurences at MDP. 

I wish I could be more eloquent. But that is why I turned to paint. I have struggled with processing the collateral trauma from realizing that in the United States, in a so-called western-style democracy, agents of law enforcement can unleash their wrath, their fury, their brutality - at any moment - and face no consequences.  

None.

But of course, many reading this will think, and rightly, that it was entirely naive, and toxically ignorant of me to not know that there have been many post-bellum massacres down the line, an uninterrupted fusillade of terror against Black communities.

And although the police did not massacre the people at MDP, they massacred their spirits. Or tried to. They tried to massacre the fragile notion that we have the right to protest our oppression.

Change will come. But it will come TOO LATE for Donovon Lynch. 

Too late for Xzavier Hill. 

Too late for the victims of the Tulsa white supremacist massacre.

Too late for Daunte Wright. 

Too late for Aiyana Monay Stanley-Jones, a seven year old slain by police - with no convictions obtained.

Too late for 13 year old Adam Toledo, who died complying.

Too late for the victims of Rosewood.

Too late for Isiah Brown (who has survived, but with grievous wounds).

Too late for Andrew Brown - and for HUNDREDS, nay THOUSANDS of others victims of extrajudicial executions by the police.

Last year at this time, I was "sunken" [watch the move Get Out if you do not understand this reference].

Now, I understand fully the meaning of this quote from the ACLU:

Policing in this country evolved from slave patrols and still exists to uphold white supremacy. Police institutions are not broken. They are working as designed to oppress Black people.

ACLU of Virginia on Twitter: "PSA: Policing in this country evolved from slave patrols and still exists to uphold white supremacy. Police institutions are not broken. They are working as designed to oppress Black people." / Twitter

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