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ICYMI (a...thread): Advocates are looking back at a mass arrest (230+ ppl) on 5/31. Detainees were held on buses for hours (reportedly up to 18) and one said they were a target of anti-Muslim slurs while in custody at the city jail — you may want to sit down for this one. https://twitter.com/myVPM/status/1273358366966976514
Of the eight arrestees who shared their experiences with @myVPM, all recounted the same events: they were tear gassed by @RichmondPolice, asked officers for help getting home, and were given directions to what was seemingly a police ambush that led to their arrests.
A police van shuttled detainees to the jail...arrestee Kat McNeal said police were “taking sharp turns with the intent of jostling us around in the back,” no seatbelts, hands behind their backs, it was “Brace your feet on the floor…and try not to fall.”
Let’s take a second to remember that we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic, ok? Once at the jail, they were loaded onto charter buses (no PPE/social distancing). They all said they stayed on there for hours waiting to be processed https://bit.ly/2AELbQ1 …
Once inside, they got masks and access to handwashing etc. but while some people were placed in cells by themselves — others were doubled, tripled, quadrupled up...here are Marwa Eltaib and Dominic Vizdos recounting treatment at the jail:
Arrestee Jack Brooks, is Muslim and wears a hijab. A female deputy told them they weren’t allowed to wear it. They complied...but didn’t get to put it back on until they left...the deputy sent them off with “You can go ahead and wear your towel...”
The @city_rcso said the hijab was, “Removed for search and security reasons.” Happy to share the deputy’s information with Sheriff Irving, but didn’t feel comfortable using her name without giving her the opportunity to respond.
Back to why this all started...but also how/where this all started: policing Black communities. This is an attorney with w/ RVA Legal Collaborative (group representing protesters pro-bono):
“This wasn't the normal process.” The attorney said in past cases of curfew violations and protest arrests, people were usually taken into custody and immediately released with summonses — but this time was different...
“Folks were put onto buses, they were held for an extended period of time, they were booked into the jail just as if they were being booked on any other type of serious crime and many were not released for over 12 hours.”
Lawyers said one focus for defenses will be on the lack of notice about the curfew. “If you weren't watching TV, if you weren't on social media...how would you have this information? It's not as if they took to the sky and wrote curfew at 8:00 p.m..”
“There really isn't anything being done to police the police.” When the GA gets back together this summer, advocates will push for chokehold bans, and changes to qualified immunity, which currently protects officers from legal action except in cases w/ extreme injury/death.
Please listen, share and reach out with feedback on unanswered questions you still have. I may not have the answers but I will make the effort to get them. More details @myVPM: https://vpm.org/news/articles/14240/curfew-arrests-police-attacks-motivate-calls-for-reform
