Marcus-David Peters, 24, Richmond, VA

Marcus-David's memorial - January 2021

In some ways, I've been putting off creating this page. I literally feel chest pain (like an elephant is on my chest) as I type this:

Marcus-David Peters was a young biology teacher with his entire life ahead of him. He had a mental health crisis and was shot by a Richmond police officer, even though he was unarmed, and naked.

Pause for a moment and contemplate the fact that not only was he unarmed, there was no possible way he could have been armed because he was naked.

I have had so many thoughts about this, but it comes down to this:

...systemic racism...

I think a useful thought experiment goes like this:

If Marcus had been a 24 year old blond-haired, blue eyed woman, would he still be alive?

The obvious answer is, "Yes." 

The obvious answer is we imagine the police officer would have taken off his jacket (if he had been wearing one) and put it around the shoulders of the terrified human.

He would have used calming words and gestures.

He would have waited for back up AS INSTRUCTED.

In short, he would have viewed the human experiencing a neurological crisis not as a threat, but as someone suffering.

I have scoured the internet and can find no example of a young white unarmed, naked woman being shot to death by police.

By contrast, read THIS REPORT of a naked man who had actually killed others being treated with kid gloves by police:

https://triblive.com/news/world/video-showing-armed-police-officer-fleeing-naked-homicide-suspect-sparks-outrage/

Not only do they allow the suspect to live (as they should), they allowed him to choke a bystander. The police sat there and watched while this occured. 

18 year old Matthew Thomas Bernard murdered three people, including a toddler, yet no bullets were fired to apprehend him.

Please join us in demanding equal justice under the law. 

Please join us in defunding and re-imagining community safety.

Marcus’s memorial as it appeared on June 22