Chesterfield Observer: Protestors march peacefully to Chesterfield courthouse

Jun 03, 2020
Civil Rights & Racial Equity
In the News

CHESTERFIELD OBSERVER, RICH GRISET

Nine days after George Floyd, an African American man, was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and following more than a week of protests across the country, a rally was held to protest his death and racial injustice in Chesterfield County Wednesday night.

Starting outside the Chesterfield County Police Department at 6 p.m., more than a thousand protestors took up two lanes of Iron Bridge Road in a peaceful march to the front steps of the county courthouse more than a mile away.

Floyd died in police custody, handcuffed and lying facedown in the street while Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, including almost three minutes after Floyd became unresponsive. Chauvin has since been arrested and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, and three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

Since Floyd’s death on May 25, protests have rocked many American cities, including Richmond, which has seen storefronts smashed, Confederate statues graffitied, and cars, buildings and one GRTC bus lit on fire. In contrast, Chesterfield’s protest Wednesday night was a more staid affair. Still, at least a thousand showed up for one of the largest political protests in the county in recent memory.

“We will march in unity, we will march together, and together we will make a difference in Chesterfield County,” said Shedrick McCall, an associate professor of psychology at Virginia State University and former School Board candidate, before the march left the front of the police station.

Heading northwest along Iron Bridge Road, Midlothian resident Jennifer Brown said the demonstration was her first as a part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Brown, who is African American, said she was spurred to action by the thought of what could happen to her 16-year-old son, Jayden, in a similar situation as Floyd. She said her son experienced an incident of racial profiling in the county last year when police stopped him as he walked from Uptown Alley to the Regal Commonwealth movie theater with his friends in the middle of the afternoon.

Protestors marched down Iron Bridge Road Wednesday evening. Photo by Ash Daniel

“We need to be heard,” said the 42-year-old, holding a sign that read “My Son Matters/I Will Not Be Silenced.” “We need justice. This has to stop happening. When George Floyd said ‘momma’ [in a recorded video of his death], that really, really hurt me, because that could be my son one day if something doesn’t change.”

The Chesterfield protest drew many elected officials, including Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, state Del. Carrie Coyner, Sheriff Karl Leonard, and Commissioner of the Revenue Jenefer Hughes. Superintendent Merv Daugherty and School Board members Kathryn Haines and Dot Heffron were also in attendance.

Former county planning commission chair Michael Jackson said he organized the event with McCall and Tavorise Marks, a member of the Chesterfield NAACP leadership, after his daughter asked what they were going to do in response to Floyd’s death.

“I just didn’t feel like I could send her to a march in the evening,” Jackson said. “I wanted to do something, and this is what has come out of it.”

For Jackson, the protests taking place across the country have some personal symmetry.

“I was a junior in high school when the Rodney King riots started,” Jackson said. “My son is a junior in high school this year. These episodic cycles due to racial injustice in our country need to be addressed, and that is the hard work that has to take place after the marches end.”

Recent Posts


Oct 3, 2024
Veterans' Issues

President Signs Into Law Spanberger-Backed Bill to Cut Red Tape for Veterans Joining the Trucking Workforce

The “Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act” Would Cut Red Tape for CDL Schools & the Veterans They Serve WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Biden this week signed into law bipartisan legislation U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger helped lead to cut red tape for Veterans looking to use their GI benefits to pay for commercial driver’s license […]



Oct 2, 2024
Press

Spanberger Grateful for FEMA Disaster Assistance for Virginia to Recover from Hurricane Helene, Urges Congress to Pass Emergency Appropriations Package to “Meet Any Unmet Needs”

Congresswoman: “Virginia’s Families And Businesses Will Need Additional Support As The Full Extent Of The Devastation Becomes Clear” WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today released the following statement after President Biden granted additional federal disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Congresswoman also urged congressional […]



Oct 1, 2024
Press

Spanberger, Wittman Lead Bipartisan Effort to Increase Military Leave for Federal Employees Serving in the National Guard, Reserves

The “Supporting Federal Employees in the National Guard & Reserves Act” is Endorsed by the National Fraternal Order of Police, International Association of Fire Fighters, American Federation of Government Employees, & Reserve Organization of America WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) today introduced bipartisan legislation to increase military leave […]