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Glass Ceiling on Statewide Offices Remains for Black Women

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Over 30 years after Virginia’s (and the nation’s) first Black governor, L. Douglas Wilder, was elected, a Black woman has still not been elected governor anywhere in the nation. Four candidates currently campaigning for governor of Virginia are attempting to change that.

Four Black women have entered the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race. If any of them are elected, the commonwealth would become the first state with a Black female governor. 

Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, and former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, are competing for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Former Roanoke City Sheriff Octavia Johnson is seeking the Republican nomination. Independent activist and educator Princess Blanding is running for the new Liberation Party, which she helped establish last year.

Former U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, D-New York, made history in 1972 when she became the first Black woman to seek a U.S. presidential nomination for a major political party. Almost 50 years later, the road to electing a Black woman to a governorship or the presidency has yet to be traveled. 

“The next time a woman of whatever color, or a dark-skinned person of whatever sex aspires to be president, the way should be a little smoother because I helped pave it,” Chisholm said in 1973 regarding her unsuccessful presidential bid.

Jennifer Carroll Foy. Photo by Saffeya Ahmed.

Dearth of representation

Since Chisholm was elected, 50 Black women have served in Congress or federal office, according to the Center for American Women and Politics database. Ten Black women have held statewide executive offices such as lieutenant governor or attorney general, according to the same database. No Black woman has ever been elected governor, although former Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, came close in a 2018 hotly contested election.

Carroll Foy said the nation’s history limits what some citizens view as a capable candidate. 

“Unfortunately, people look to the past to try to dictate what can happen in the future,” she said. “When people see women of color running for higher office, we are seen as the exception and not the rule.”

Organizations dedicated to electing women to office, such as EMILY’S List, Higher Heights, and EMERGE, aim to make the paths to office more accessible in recent years, providing advice, contributions and peer support to women candidates. 

McClellan said when she first ran for a House seat in 2005, she had very little guidance and few mentors.

“There was no collective PAC, there was no EMERGE, you know, groups that have since formed to help Black candidates and women candidates and Black women candidates. They weren’t there,” McClellan said. “I had to really do it on my own, with help from the handful of people who had done it before me.”

Sen. Jennifer McClellan.

Media representation

The media often poorly represents women in politics, according to Political Parity, a research group that recruits and supports women candidates. Often, media coverage surrounding women running for office adds unnecessary details about a woman candidate’s clothing, weight, qualifications, motherhood situation and emotional maturity, according to the same report.

“Whether it’s questions about their parenting or their husbands, it’s just questions that we don’t see male candidates get,” said Kristen Hernandez, deputy director of campaign communications for EMILY’S List, an organization devoted to electing pro-choice Democratic women to office. “We’ve seen sexist rhetoric, misogynistic comments and racist tropes as well.” 

McClellan said perhaps the most consistent troubling narrative she sees in the media surrounding her campaign are questions about her qualifications. McClellan said she has more experience than all her Democratic opponents combined. 

“There never seems to be a question, when a white man runs for governor, but yet for us it’s, ‘Are you ready?’” McClellan said. “If I’m not ready after 16 years in state government, when would I ever be ready?”

McClellan said she also frequently sees herself and Carroll Foy lumped together in news articles, as they are both Black women who have served in the state legislature. A New York Times analyst hypothesized last month that McAuliffe might win the Democratic primary race because three of his competitors — McClellan, Carroll Foy and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — are Black, younger and generally more left-wing than McAuliffe.

Voters typically prefer candidates that most resemble themselves, according to a study published in an Oxford Academic Journal. This tendency suggests that Black women must also convince all constituents that despite being Black, they do not solely represent Black Virginians. Instead, most see themselves as the most qualified person for the job who just so happens to be a Black woman.

“I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud,” Chisholm said during a campaign event in ’72. “I am not the candidate of the woman’s [sic] movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that.”

Even now the persistent myth that Black candidates can only win in majority-minority districts continues to plague America’s political scene, according to the Brookings Institute, a public policy organization headquartered in the District of Columbia. But of the five non-incumbent Black women elected to Congress in 2018, all were Democrats and four won in majority-white districts, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. 

Princess Blanding, sister of Marcus-David Peters, speaks to protesters outside the Stuart C. Siegel Center on the first day of the 2020 General Assembly special session. Photo by Andrew Ringle

Fundraising obstacles

One of the biggest barriers to elected office is the ability to raise campaign funds. The ability to fund a campaign continues to be a major obstacle to success for many women, not just women of color, according to the Brennan Center, a nonpartisan law and policy institute. The Center also found that candidates often receive party support based on their fundraising potential, which disadvantages candidates without notoriety, wealthy support networks or self-funding abilities. Donors who fund political campaigns are often wealthy, white and typically male, according to Demos, a Liberal think tank. These donors, according to the same report, also have different views and priorities, especially on the issues that matter most to Black women.

Blanding is the sister of the late Marcus-David Peters, a Black man shot and killed by a Richmond Police officer while he experienced what his family said was a mental health crisis. Blanding said fundraising is an ongoing struggle. She recalled looking at the first financial records report from the Board of Elections and said she could not help but “crack up laughing” at the amount she raised compared to other candidates. 

“But guess what? I have volunteers who are working around the clock to get the same results that they are paying for,” Blanding said. “That means a whole lot more to me.” 

Carroll Foy raised just over $1.8 million in the first quarter, while McClellan raised roughly half a million dollars, according to a Capital News Service analysis of fundraising reports. Carroll Foy resigned from her seat to fundraise. General Assembly members cannot fundraise until the session adjourns. Blanding raised almost $12,000 in the first quarter and Johnson raised $800. Altogether, all four women have raised just over half of what Democratic frontrunner and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe raised.

Aprill Turner, vice president of communications and external affairs for Higher Heights for America, said all women must run against a “boys’ club.” Higher Heights for America is a political action committee that seeks to mobilize and elevate the voices of Black women across the country. Turner said the path to elected offices has typically been paved by white men, and usually involves network connections and exclusive organizations that people of color and women have historically been unable to access. 

“You’ll see men groomed in a different way, or almost appointed,” Turner said. “Like, ‘You’ve got next,’ and kind of that little boys’ network.”

Jennifer Carroll Foy.

Will the statewide glass ceiling remain intact?

Former Del. Winsome Sears, R-Winchester, is running for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Sears was elected to a majority-Black district in 2002, becoming the first Republican to do so in Virginia since 1865. If she won the seat she would be the first Black woman to ever serve as Virginia’s lieutenant governor. L. Douglas Wilder was the state’s first Black lieutenant governor. He then became the commonwealth’s governor and the first Black man in the nation to hold the title.

Carroll Foy and McClellan will both compete for the Democratic party’s nomination on June 8. Johnson competes in the Republican party’s unassembled convention taking place statewide on May 8. Blanding will make it to the November ballot if she collects 2,000 signatures by June 8, which she is confident she will achieve.

Carroll Foy feels confident she will win the election. 

“We’re mobilizing and organizing more people of color, more people from the AAPI community, from the Latinx community, the Indigenous community, the millennials, more women than ever before,” Carroll Foy said, regarding her campaign. “We’re building the most diverse coalition of voters and supporters that Virginia has ever seen.”

Early voting is underway for the Democratic primary on June 8.

Written by Josephine Walker, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Four Black women are seeking a gubernatorial victory. If any one of them wins, they would make history as the first Black female in the U.S. to hold the governor’s seat. From left to right: independent Princess Blanding, former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, and former Roanoke City Sheriff Octavia Johnson.

The Million Dollar Question: An Exclusive Q&A With Jennifer Carroll Foy

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RVA Magazine spoke to state Senator and candidate for governor Jennifer Carroll Foy about career politicians, the relationship between police and the military, and making real progress in Virginia.

Last month, as the Virginia General Assembly debated a variety of police reform bills, RVA Magazine sat down with Jennifer Carroll Foy, a member of the House of Delegates, representing Virginia’s 2nd House of Delegates district in NoVA. A public defender and former magistrate, Carroll Foy was also one of the first women to graduate from Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Carroll Foy is a 2021 candidate for Governor of Virginia, and hopes to be the first Black woman elected governor in the United States. 

DD: Good afternoon, Delegate Carroll Foy, and thank you for sitting with us. You’ve been quoted saying, “The politics of the past are not the change we need, and the politicians of the past won’t save us.” Were you referring to your opponents in the 2021 gubernatorial race?

JCF: If we want real change, we need a new leader with a clear vision on how to move us forward. There are career politicians running in this gubernatorial race, and with this movement, people want change. [2021] will be a consequential election: trying to keep the majority, defeat this invisible enemy called COVID-19, and jump start our economy here in Virginia. It takes creative solutions, and the status quo isn’t working any longer.

DD: To voters who look at Terry McAuliffe and might imagine a potentially stabilizing force with the experience to help Virginia through a challenging time, what would you say?

JCF: Now’s the time for new leadership, because we’ve never had a governor who has governed during a racial reckoning such as the one we have now. No one has ever governed during a recession more akin to the Great Depression. No one has ever governed in addressing the global pandemic that we have currently. So experience matters — and you have to have the right type of experience. As a former foster mom, public defender, magistrate judge, community organizer, I am here for the people, and I’ve always been on the side of fighting for the people. Do you want someone who has real world experience and who’s in this for them, or someone who may be in this for themselves?

DD: Could you point to anything during McAuliffe’s governorship where you felt he was not on the right side of people’s interests?

JCF: The Mountain Valley Pipeline is something that should’ve never happened when we’re addressing climate change here in the Commonwealth. We’re talking about racial equity here in the Commonwealth, knowing that it was going to go through a historically Black community in Union Hill. There’s a number of things I can point to say, hey we can do better, right? 

Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: You mentioned “career politicians” earlier. Would you consider Senator [Jennifer] McClellan a career politician?

JCF: Yeah, she’s been in the General Assembly for almost two decades. [When I] say career politician, I mean people who are entrenched in politics. People are looking for a woman of the people, someone who understands a Virginian’s everyday struggle.

DD: Senator McClellan has supported progressive police reform bills during special session. For those on the left looking for legislative and policy contrasts between two gubernatorial candidates, how would you differentiate your record and platforms from McClellan’s?

JCF: While I’ve been in the General Assembly, I have been one of the most impactful and accomplished legislators, fighting for workers and women and families since day one. I’ve never taken a dime from Dominion, knowing they are a regulative monopoly here in Virginia. I’m for robust transformational policy, such as legalizing marijuana, reforming our criminal justice system. As the first public defender ever elected to the General Assembly, I have been championing cash bail reform and other policies to make our criminal justice system more fair and more equitable. Not because these are sexy, trending topics, but because I’ve always been in this fight, and I’ve kept all my promises made since I ran in 2017, whether it is cleaning up coal ash throughout Virginia [or] helping to expand Medicaid and give teacher salary increases.

DD: Increasingly, progressives are showing skepticism about the Virginia Democratic Party. Are you confident you can build a coalition to push through progressive policy?

JCF: Absolutely. I take it back to my training at Virginia Military Institute. Being one of the first women to ever graduate from one of the top military colleges in this country taught me how to work alongside any and everyone, because I am focused on the mission. 

If you are throwing around divisive rhetoric and are known for partisan politics, you won’t get anything done. How I’ve been able to be effective is leaning on that military training I’ve had and continuing, even in the majority, to reach across the aisle and pass a lot of my bills in a bipartisan fashion.

DD: Let’s talk a little bit about the military. 43 percent of the American military is made up of people of color. Many families of color see the military as their best hope for socioeconomic advancement. What are your thoughts on our American model, which leverages the promise of economic advancement to entice communities with fewer resources into the military and potentially into combat?

JCF: Going into the Armed Forces is an honorable task. Many people do it for many different reasons, whether it’s financial stability and security for themselves and their family. You go through a maturation process which I think is equivalent to nothing else, and it teaches life skills and politics. I think it teaches honor and integrity and public service in way that I don’t think you can get really anywhere else. I think it’s great and I would like to see more people, especially in this current climate, understand and acknowledge and respect the sacrifices that these individuals who enter the military are facing, especially with the recent attacks from Trump and some other cohorts, of questioning military leaders’ motives and calling people who are prisoners of war and died on the battlefield “losers” and things of that nature. This is a toxic climate right now, and I think we have to work vigorously to counter that with the truth. And the truth is the men and women in uniform are to be respected and honored above all else.

Carroll Foy during her time at VMI. Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: In my view, we have to differentiate between institutions and individuals. Observers have drawn direct links between US domestic policing and US international military actions, explicitly connecting regimes like Israel to US police training. Our government, via the CIA, also fought to uphold South African apartheid, by helping to criminalize and locate Nelson Mandela before his imprisonment. Given that you’ve participated in the US military establishment, do you have a critique of the US military’s connection to structures of inequality worldwide, and how it may also connect to our domestic policing issues?

JCF: I think that’s a really good question, and so to answer your question: have I really sat and thought about those connections? I haven’t. What I can say is that when you think of the military, you have to think of individuals who are taking orders. Right? We have a Commander-in-Chief you have to listen to, and so if a soldier is thinking about questioning or debating orders, you’re talking about people’s lives at risk. You’re talking about missions being compromised, and so the problem is when people who are nefarious use the military as an extension or arm or tool or weapon to strike against their enemies or people they don’t deem desirable.

DD: What about the mode of intervention of the US Military, where we essentially occupy sovereign countries and install governments via various modes of persuasion, violence, and politics — are you critical of that mode of operation?

JCF: Yes, so it’s a hard question to answer, and here’s why: when we insert ourselves into foreign countries’ policies and we bomb these countries or we do things that is to their detriment, then do I think we oftentimes have an obligation to assist and help in their recovery and to build them back up? Yes I do. 

I am not critical of the US military for taking orders, and doing something they’re required to do. I would be more critical of the legislators and the Commander-in-Chief who have ordered them to do so, and so it’s about questioning their motives and their logic for jeopardizing the lives of Americans, of citizens, of soldiers. So it depends on what country you’re talking about. It depends on why we’re there, how long we’re going to be there, why we’re occupying. That’s why it’s hard for me to give a specific answer because it’s just different, country by country, situation by situation. 

But for the most part, I understand what it means to be ordered to do something, and you have to obey that order. If we have an issue with it, then we need to take it up with the people who are making decisions and not the people who are executing and doing what they’ve been charged and sworn to do.

DD: Are you critical of our relationship with Israel?

JCF: So that is something that I have to say that I’ve been thinking about. I can follow up with you on that.

Carroll Foy and her son Alex at the General Assembly on the day Virginia ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: Would you commit to completely ridding the Virginia State Police of its inventory of military equipment that was provided by the United States military?

JCF: There’s nothing that I can think of right now that I would have exception to, so I’m going to say yes.

DD: Do you support a complete banning of no-knock warrants in Virginia? 

JCF: Yes, I do support banning no-knock warrants here in Virginia.

DD: There’s a split among some of the leading activists: some believe that civilian review boards should be mandatory and legislated down in detail in the bill, and others believe they should be optional and that municipalities should each decide the way these boards look. Where do you stand? 

JCF: Yes, I initially favored mandating because I felt like that is the direction we need to go, and some communities or localities may be reluctant because this is change and change can be scary. 

However, I’ve been hearing from a lot of the same activists that you are referring to, and they’re talking to me about why they don’t want it mandatory and that they don’t want these localities feeling it’s being pushed upon them then it’s going to be a lot of hostility. I’m still debating how I’m gonna fall on that, but I can tell you initially I was definitely for mandating civilian review boards because I think that’s one of the only ways you’re definitely going to get it in the localities who, let’s be honest, need it the most.

DD: At the moment, we have a conservative Democratic establishment standing in the way of the most aggressive police reforms in Virginia. If you agree we need to move the needle as far as the priorities and agenda of the establishment, how would you do so?

JCF:  That has been the million-dollar question. Democrats aren’t monolithic; you have people who represent different areas. Sometimes we’re not able to be as bold and transformational as we want because we may be outnumbered by centrists or moderates, people who don’t believe in complete bold change. 

The way that you alter that is to continue to elect leaders who will be bold and transformational until they are the majority. Then you can push this type of legislation through. Until that happens, there will always be a wall there, or a siphoning off of bills or parts of a bill that we really need in order to make change. That’s what at the end of the day has to happen. 

DD: Do you have a message that you want to send to Ralph Northam, Terry McAuliffe, Dick Saslaw, Creigh Deeds, Scott Surovell — Democrats who have been active in diluting and stifling the more progressive versions of the bills?

JCF: I work with many of these people, and I’ve gone toe to toe with a lot of them on a lot of good bills. I just have to continue to advocate and lobby and hope they see the light. But I’m confident because I know Virginia is trending to be bluer, and there won’t be a place for people who want incremental change, or who want to teeter on the fence. I think the change we need is going to happen on its own, and I’m excited to be in the Governor’s seat to help lead that change.

Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD:  The previous Commonwealth’s Attorney declined to bring charges in Marcus-David Peters’ case. Colette McEachin, the current Commonwealth’s Attorney, has said repeatedly that she’s looking at it. Richmond City Councilman Mike Jones has openly advocated for reopening that case. Do you have a position as to whether CA McEachin should reopen that case?

JCF: I do believe that the Commonwealth’s Attorney Office should reopen the case. It should be thoroughly investigated. He was having a mental health emergency, he was nude, there was no threat of harm or danger at that time — you can clearly see he didn’t have a weapon, given the fact that he had no clothes on.

Again, it goes to the lack of experience, the lack of training I believe these officers have, [the] crisis intervention training and de-escalation skills that they needed. They could have readily identified that this man is having a mental health emergency and called community services board and dispatched them out — come calm him down, and hopefully get him emergency custody orders so he can be treated. Oftentimes people are going undiagnosed, or they’re off their medications for whatever reason, and this is what happens. I have many clients like this, and I greatly empathize. I think the case should have another look at and should be thoroughly and independently investigated.

DD: What’s your position on marijuana legalization?

JCF: I support it so much that I am carrying the legalization of marijuana bill, even though some Republicans and Democrats have asked me not to. While I think that decriminalization will have a place in helping to reduce mass incarceration, it does absolutely nothing, according to a 2017 Virginia Crime Commission study, to address the racial disparities that Black and brown people suffer from our possession of marijuana laws. 

It’s time for Virginia to lead, and one of the things we can do is legalize the simple possession of marijuana for personal use. After that, we can tax and regulate it, and use that money for projects we haven’t had the revenue stream to be able to do.

I look forward to passing that bill next session. Statistics and polling show that the overwhelming majority of Virginians want the legalization of marijuana. It’s time for us to listen to the people we represent and get this done.

DD: Are you worried at all about the possibility of a third party on the left disrupting the Democratic gubernatorial race in 2021? 

JCF: It does not concern me. I’m not running against anyone else, I am running for the people of Virginia. At the end of the day, I know that I am the right leader for this moment, and that’s exactly why I’m running for Governor of Virginia.

DD: Are you confident your leadership is best positioned within the Democratic Party structure?

JCF: I’m a tried and true Democrat. People call me progressive, and that’s fine. I’m a strong Christian and I adhere to my Christian principles of housing the homeless and feeding the hungry and helping to make sure that everyone can work one job, put food on the table, have access to healthcare, and go to safe school. If that’s progressive, that’s great, but it’s just who I was raised to be.

Top Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

Two Black LGBTQ Candidates Seek Richmond City Council Seats

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We sat down with City Council candidates Tavarris Spinks and Joseph S.H. Rogers to talk about their ties to Richmond, plans for their respective districts, and how they want to switch up Richmond’s representative voice.

Tavarris Spinks, 2nd District 

Tavarris Spinks, a noted participant and activist in Richmond politics, is a fifth-generation Richmonder and VCU alumnus with strong connections to the 2nd District community. He’s running to fill Councilwoman Kim Gray’s seat. 

Spinks’ childhood in a lower-income community in Richmond has informed his experience as an activist, and so has his journey to become a first-generation college graduate and a prominent member of Richmond’s political scene over the past 17 years.

“You know, I grew up in subsidized housing, like Section 8 subsidized housing,” Spinks said. “For the first several years of my life, I remember having a relatively happy childhood. My parents worked very hard to make sure that I didn’t want for anything, but they also had help from family because so much of my family lives here.”

His grandmother still lives in his old neighborhood, Spinks said, and is able to stay in her home despite rising housing costs due to subsidies for people over 65. But that experience isn’t universal, Spinks said.

“The 2nd District, in Jackson Ward, historic Jackson Ward, used to be a thriving African American enclave. But now, folks are being pushed out by political and economic forces,” he said. “Keeping those neighborhoods together, allowing people, especially black folks, to stay in their homes, is super important.”

His worldview shifted, Spinks said, when he first exited the world of his childhood during a field trip in eighth grade and saw the parts of Richmond that had wealth and well-maintained infrastructure. 

“Once you get older, you start to see the wider world. You know, it took me a while to realize, ‘Oh, we are actually quite poor compared to [other families],’” Spinks said. “We went to the VMFA and that was my first time going. And, you know, riding through Monument Avenue, and then seeing that this is still the same city.”

Attending VCU and living in the Fan gave Spinks a chance to observe the disparities in neighborhoods of Richmond in his everyday life. 

“Running in the 2nd district — this is my home. You know, it’s a great part of town,” he said. “I want to see it get better, and I want to see all of Richmond get better. City Council doesn’t just vote on issues that affect one district.”

Spinks is passionate about developing and maintaining the infrastructure of the city, specifically the accessibility of sidewalks and walkways around construction sites. He lived in the Fan for 12 years, and said he now knows “what it’s like to live in a part of town that has more access to transit services, better roads.” He sees how these issues specifically affect people in the 2nd District. But he said that even more wealthy parts of the city like the Fan and Scott’s Addition still need help with sidewalks. 

Spinks’ advocacy for accessible sidewalks stems from his familiarity with activists in the disability community, he said. He’s observed “folks who are using mobility devices, like wheelchairs, or walkers in the street, facing vehicle traffic.” His sensitivity to this issue comes from his experience thinking about the groups most impacted by the city’s decisions. 

“When I think about a policy I meet, the first thing I think about is, ‘Who tends to be vulnerable? And who can lose in this type of policy?’” Spinks said. “And going from there, I then think, ‘Okay, what are the solutions to the problem that we’re trying to solve?’” 

Photo via Tavarris Spinks/Facebook

This sensitivity extends to the issues he’s observed and lived as a Black and gay man, he said. “Just to be clear, I’m not saying that you need to be gay to understand gay issues or represent gay constituents,” Spinks said. “But, it helps.” 

Living with those two identities is “a lot, frankly, and it’s a lot to navigate,” he said.

Spinks said that while he loves his district’s open-mindedness, he’s also aware that “just 30 minutes” from where he now lives and is running for office, just “trying to exist … I’d have a very different story to tell” about living as a Black man and a member of the LGBTQ community.

“[That’s] one of the reasons why I am politically active, because of knowing how much of my liberty and freedom immediately has an effect in legislation at all levels,” Spinks said. “It made me certainly aware of ‘Who’s in power, how that power is being used, and who is it being used for? And who is it being used against?’”

That issue of which groups have power over minorities has even followed Spinks into his political work, he said. While out canvassing, he was stopped by police officers and asked what he was doing, with the suspicion that he was “up to something.”

“And I was ‘up to’ trying to get people to vote,” Spinks said. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had encounters with police, or interactions with police, that I think were unnecessary.”

Spinks is advocating for a “reimagining” of public safety and law enforcement, he said, and supports reforms that focus on the scope and budget of law enforcement. He said he believes  in returning to “core policing functions” and confronting “systemic dysfunction and racial bias within the department.” Spinks is also calling for the implementation of a citizen review board with subpoena power to oversee the Richmond Police Department. 

Often, Spinks said, law enforcement training doesn’t give officers the tools they need to handle many of the situations they’re asked to. 

“Let’s say we already lived in a place without police,” Spinks said. “And let’s imagine what it would look like for police to exist, and what their roles and functions would be, and their relationship with the people that they’re policing.”

Spinks is also reimagining what the City government’s transparency should look like, he said. He wants to “keep the government accountable and responsive to people.” Citizens shouldn’t have to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to learn about the inner workings of Richmond, Spinks said. Instead, he wants every file to be freely accessible on websites. 

“People need to know why something’s not working, where the money’s going,” he said. “You need to do that, because it’s trust. So much of the City government has lost the trust of the people.”

Spinks has seen much change during his lifetime in Richmond — but he calls it growth, for the most part.

“I want to be a part of helping to guide that growth, and making sure that folks don’t get left behind,” Spinks said. “We should build a better city for everyone.”

Photo via Joseph S.H. Rogers/Facebook

Joseph S.H. Rogers, 7th District

Running for the city council seat in a district against a 12-year incumbent inherently involves “running on a platform of change,” said Joseph S. H. Rogers. While he’s a new candidate for the 7th district, which has been represented for the past 12 years by Cynthia Newbille, Rogers has old ties to Richmond.

As a historian and museum educator, Rogers tends to frame most things with historical context. One example is his family’s connection to Richmond — which is brief, but significant — through Rogers’ ancestor, James Apostle Fields, in the 19th century. “The routes that my family take through the city of Richmond is very interesting,” Rogers said.

Fields was an enslaved man that made his way to freedom from Hanover to Richmond in 1863, where he stayed with his brother John. After almost being captured into slavery again, Fields made his way to Roanoke, Virginia. That’s where Rogers was born, and where his family has been based since the 1860s. 

“I think that we have a tendency in the modern age to believe that everything is new,” Rogers said. “And that we are coming up with radical solutions, innovative and radical solutions to problems, when a lot of those solutions have already been applied. They’ve happened in the past, they have examples that we can refer to from the past. But also in some of those places where those solutions have not yet existed, it’s good to have a historical lens.”

Rogers moved to Richmond in 2014, and he’s been politically active in the city since he became a resident. He said he’s been an advocate for a Marcus Alert and a civilian review board, and part of a lobbying effort on City Hall with the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality since 2017 to “make those changes be taken seriously, as well,” he said. “And I realized that we’ve been, more or less, right. We’ve been right this entire time.”

His decision to run for city council in the 7th district stems from Rogers’ observations of “rallying calls” being made for political action after George Floyd’s death, he said. But his decision wasn’t “just about George Floyd.”

“Here in the City of Richmond, it was about statues, monuments, and Marcus-David Peters,” Rogers said. “And as I listened to everything that was happening, I realized that there was a lot of anger there. But there was a lot of love that was underlying these messages. There’s also just that need for people to feel heard, and for action to be taken. And I recognize that in myself — I had been at the forefront of those issues.”

Rogers’ desire to be part of that movement came from his struggle to bring issues of reform up to the City Council. He said the lack of response led him to think “maybe we need a different City Council.”

“[Or a] councilperson who will listen to the people, before the city is actually on fire,” Rogers said. 

Rogers said he wants to try to be “that voice that works with the people in the city who are voicing these concerns, before they get to a boiling point.”

In addition to calling for the removal of Confederate statues, one reform that Rogers’ is calling for is the defunding of the Richmond Police Department. His campaign is advocating for a citizen review board, and for the City to invest in building up services that will address the tasks that police are asked to do outside of solving crime “that’s stretched them thin,” like wellness checks or responding to mental health crises. Rogers wants to “divest from the policing model, invest in the community first model.”

“Defunding the police is not even talking about a decrease of civil servants,” Rogers said. “Just different civil servants involved in these areas.”

Rogers’ perspective as a historian is once again informing his ideas for policy. His understanding of the history of crime in the 1980s and ’90s, and the police response to that, has shaped his understanding of the current issues with police departments in the U.S.

“We were told that the way to address crime was to punish criminals,” Rogers said. “Ultimately, that led to increases in funding in police departments across the country. And it led to the demonizing of the ‘criminal,’ ultimately seeing them as other. The problem is that primarily the people who they were claiming are criminals were Black people. And so disproportionately Black people were affected by these policies.”

Being a Black man and a member of the Black community, Rogers said he recognises “that these are things that we need to uplift. These are people that we need to uplift.”

Being a member of Richmond’s LGBTQ community has also led him to recognize issues he plans to pursue while on City Council. 

“I identify as bisexual. That is part of my identity. So in the same way that I bring my being a Black man, also being a bisexual Black man is a part of that conversation as well,” Rogers said. “I also want to acknowledge [that] how I plan on helping the LGBTQ community isn’t just by being bi on the council.”

He said he has plans of “putting forward policy that addresses a wide state of things” that affect the LGBTQ community, such as the high rate of homelessness for the trans community. Richmond’s high rate of homelessness in the trans community and in the larger population is “no different” than other cities, Rogers said. 

Looking at Richmond’s past, Rogers said that the problem he’s seen isn’t that the city has changed, but that “we’ve seen the ways in which it hasn’t changed, and hasn’t done better.”

“It doesn’t look like change from the outside, perhaps because we live in this big world where everything else in the nation is changing so rapidly,” Rogers said. “But then, Richmond is still struggling in those same ways that we thought we were gonna be able to move away from.”

Top Photo via Tavarris Spinks/Facebook & Joseph S.H. Rogers/Facebook

The Aftershocks Of the Earthquake

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At the end of three months of protest activity, the situation at Marcus-David Peters Circle has been unstable at times. However, despite police violence and racist threats, activists and community members continue to gather there.

Since the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers sparked ongoing protests throughout the streets of Richmond, the reclaimed Robert E. Lee Monument, now known as Marcus-David Peters Circle or MDPC, has become a congregating ground for both demonstrators and regular citizens alike. Recently, activists have begun warning that MDPC is no longer safe, but many Richmonders are not willing to stay away.

Over the past couple of months, the city and protesters have taken down other statues that memorialized Confederate leaders, but the Lee Monument has remained on its pedestal. Despite the ongoing court cases conflicting with activists’ demands for its removal, citizens have created a people-oriented space in the circle, featuring amenities such as a basketball hoop, a free library, and tents featuring food, voter registration forms, and other services. What was once a symbol of oppression has now become a colorful homage to Richmond’s rejuvenated community.

Late the night of July 30, someone fired on a vehicle that entered the circle. The police recovered an assault rifle and a significant amount of ammunition in the wake of the shooting. 

The next day, in the early morning hours, demonstrators were woken from their sleep with violence and directed brutality by the Richmond Police Department, cocking guns in their faces, tear gassing and pepper-spraying them. One demonstrator was handcuffed on the ground and tased. It was after this incident, though not exclusively because of it, that the warning posts began to spread on social media. 

Photo by Landon Shroder

Though protesters acknowledged that the concern should be taken seriously, and that different people approach safety concerns differently, one thing is clear and unanimous among all who frequent the soon-to-be-removed monument: the constant threat is not new. 

“I understand that people protest differently. But emotions running wild are going to get us killed. We can’t have that,” said Frank Hunt, who has been involved in the protest movement throughout. “It’s intelligence over emotions. The moment you become angry your opponent has won.”

The RPD has used tear gas, pepper balls, mace, and flash-bangs on protesters on many occasions over the course of the protest movement. On June 26, Hunt was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.

Frank Hunt. Photo by Kegham Hovsepian

Protest participants have experienced not only physical threats and violence (by the hands of RPD and otherwise), but online harassment and the aftershocks of what few will understand if they have not experienced it themselves. 

“They’ve been watching my house. They say my name when I’m walking around. There’s a couple [officers] that target me specifically,” said Mikhail Smith. “The racist comments. The racist messages. Phone calls. I’ve had people tell me that they’re going to lynch me. No one should ever have to live like that. I had to run through the streets and be holed up in a house with 40 people coughing and sneezing. Snot running down our faces while crying. People screaming.”

Smith has gained notoriety for filming and posting videos of interactions between protesters and the police. Specifically, he’s attracted attention for a video he posted on Instagram, in which he filmed police first pepper-spraying a group of women walking down Broad St, then turning their pepper spray on him as he filmed out of his upstairs window. 

By taking visible action to stand with the movement and highlight violent police behavior, Smith, along with other organizers, protesters and even any one in the vicinity of what the RPD rule an “unlawful assembly,” have become targets of those who oppose the movement and the police. 

“The cops still haven’t detained that individual, who was subsequently doxed because I took a video,” Smith said. “My life is in danger because of that. He could be looking for me.”

Smith also posted a now-viral video of a woman screaming racist slurs at the monument. According to him, this is sadly typical of any day spent at the monument.

“White supremacists yell stuff out their windows daily. There are altercations daily,” Smith said. “I just happened to get that lady on video, but that happens every day.”

Photo by SassafrassBluff.Life, via Facebook

Nonetheless, within the movement, people are continuing to organize, demonstrate, and bring a voice to the pain the community has endured and the progress it will experience as they continue forward. 

Protesters continue to articulate a list of demands from local police and the Richmond city government, including reopening the case of Marcus-David Peters (who was killed by police in 2018 while unarmed, naked, and having a mental health crisis), defunding the police, dropping charges against every protester, removal of all Confederate monuments within the city, establishment of an independent civilian review board, implementation of the Marcus Alert system to improve responses for mental health-related emergencies, and the release of names of all RPD officers currently under investigation for use of force.

For many of these protesters, regardless of the danger it may present, abandoning the movement and the city is not an option. They love their city, and they want to make it better, regardless of the cost.

“My heart got attached to it,” Hunt said of Richmond. “When this happened, it made me realize my purpose.”

Written by Alexandra Zernik and Marilyn Drew Necci. Top Photo by SassafrassBluff.Life, via Facebook

Sending A Highly Visible Message

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A variety of advocacy groups around Richmond are calling for Commonwealth Attorney Colette McEachin to drop all charges filed against participants in recent Black Lives Matter protests. One group has even posted a billboard.

Driving to the Richmond City Jail, you can hardly miss Commonwealth Attorney Colette McEachin’s face. It’s plastered on a billboard overlooking Oliver Hill Way, and it is not in favor of McEachin’s work as an attorney. Instead, it serves as a demand that she drop all charges against the hundreds of individuals who’ve been arrested and charged with crimes during the recent protests in Richmond. It also asks that she reopen the Marcus-Davis Peters case. 

The billboard was paid for by Drop The Charges RVA, a small group of individuals with experience in advertising and communications; it was funded through anonymous donations. DTCRVA leadership said the billboard was made possible by the groundwork done by Nolef Turns, SONG (Southerners On New Ground), the Richmond Community Bail Fund, and other activist groups in the area.

“We are just using our skills to amplify the voices of those doing the groundwork,” a DTCRVA leadership member said in a text message. 

Charges facing individuals arrested during the wave of Black Lives Matter protests over the past few months range from misdemeanors that include violating the 8 PM curfew set in the first few days of the protests, to more serious charges such as disturbing the peace and assault of an officer. 

Nolef Turns, a local organization dedicated to helping individuals who’ve been charged with a crime get back on their feet, has been working to get charges expunged for those arrested for protest-related offenses since the protests started in late May. 

Photo by Nils Westergard

Though Nolef Turns is committed to helping those who have been convicted, the goal where protest-related crimes are concerned is to hopefully avoid a conviction altogether. In Virginia, the state background check includes one’s arrest record, not just their conviction record. This is why getting the charges dropped altogether is vital, according to Nolef Turns Executive Director Sheba Williams, because the process of getting arrest records expunged is a long, drawn-out procedure that someone standing up for social justice shouldn’t have to go through. 

“The only people who are eligible for an expungement today are non-convictions. So you go through the process of the court, you pay your bond, you pay for an attorney, you take time off of work to go to court. Then you’re not convicted, but you still have this thing on your background check,” Williams said. “You have to go before the court where you got this charge to request that they expunge it from your record, and that’s the part that we do.”

SONG, a local organization calling for LGBTQ liberation among all races, ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds, has also been fighting to get the charges against protestors dropped, organizing protests of their own and calling on McEachin to drop the charges. 

A frustrating part about this particular mission, according to Rebecca Keel, a statewide organizer for SONG, is that McEachin has said numerous times that she will not listen to demands of her constituents. In Keel’s opinion, it’s the responsibility of elected officials to listen to the people they represent. 

“I personally voted for Colette McEachin, so I’d like to be listened to by her, but she is refusing to do so,” they said. “I think that that’s a big indicator that a politician is not ready to serve a community, but rather ready to continue to serve laws that do not work. Colette McEachin is serving systems of oppression, rather than her constituents.”

Photo by Nils Westergard

Among those who were arrested and are also calling on McEachin to drop the charges is the group RVA26. RVA26 is a group of individuals of varying races and backgrounds who were part of the 233 people arrested on one of the first nights of protesting, according to group member Marwa Eltaib. 

The group name actually originated from the first 26 individuals who were arrested and held on a jail bus that night for “eight or nine hours.” Those 26 people, joined by many others as the night went on, all experienced different outcomes, as some were able to go home after they were released from the bus. while others were kept overnight and into the next day. Eltaib was one of the latter: arrested, crammed into a bus with others in defiance of social distancing guidelines, strip-searched, and left in a jail cell. While there, she says she witnessed what she called “traumatizing” events, including people screaming for medical help or having mental breakdowns. 

Eltaib said despite being handcuffed, watching people’s hands turn black and blue from the restraints of handcuffs and zip ties, and not getting a phone call during her booking, she still has gratitude for part of the experience — that the white people who were present were using their privilege for good, and standing by the protesters of color.

“The people that were arrested were more disproportionately Black and brown people, but we still had a good amount of white allies with us that were vocal,” Eltaib said. “It was very traumatizing and horrible, but even still, we were in so much privilege knowing that our community was surrounding us and that we had legal representatives on the outside. And I knew that we had people looking for us and waiting.”

Using their experience to help those who are now getting arrested and facing the same treatment and battles as they once did, members of RVA26 are attempting to build relationships with those currently incarcerated. 

“It gets very lonely, and overall mentally,and spiritually draining, being stuck in those jails,” Eltaib said. “So being able to be a level of support for people that are still incarcerated, and then raise funds for that, is what we’re trying to do.”

Photo by Nils Westergard

Richmond Community Bail Fund (RCBF), an organization which supports those who are incarcerated by helping to raise funds for those who can’t afford bail, has focused on protest-related charges in recent months. They too are calling on McEachin to drop the charges against protesters. 

RCBF has been around since the spring of 2017, said Luca Connolly, co-director of the organization. Since the protest began, members of the group have passed out flyers at the protests with the organization’s emergency number on them, so individuals who get arrested can call RCBF for help when they get their one phone call.

“There’s usually a hotline volunteer who’s [asking protesters], ‘Do you have the support hotline?’’’ Connolly said. “It’s great now because everybody’s like, ‘Yeah, I have it.’ That feels good. I have met people who have it tattooed on their body, and somebody projected it onto the monument in Marcus-David Peters Circle. You need to be prepared for the worst.”

The organization also builds relationships with those incarcerated, providing support with legal fees, legal advice, child support assistance, clean clothes, and rides home. Connolly said there’s also a hotline number that people can call if they’re calling from outside a jail, which helps provide support for those whose loved ones have been arrested.

RCBF is financed through 100% grassroots fundraising said Connolly, meaning they take no money from foundations or big corporations. She also said they primarily ask for money from white people and people of wealth.

“We kind of understand our work as a reparations-based framework, moving white wealth to liberate black people who are experiencing mass incarceration or police violence,” Connolly said.

Discussing protest-related charges in an interview with RVA Magazine last month, McEachin said she would look at the cases on a case-by-case basis instead of dropping the charges of all protesters as a group, which is what these various organizations are pleading her to do.

“There’s not going to be a general review. It’s a very individualized review, which is what I would think people would want if they were charged,” McEachin said. “Given what I know now, I think there will be some charges left at the end of my review.”

Protesters are facing an array of charges, some of which may sound worse than others. However, Connolly feels that it’s important not to separate the fate of individuals based on what they’re being charged with. 

“We are asking Colette McEachin to drop all charges against all protesters,” she said. “No one should experience prosecution for exercising their first amendment right to protest.”

Top Photo via Drop The Charges RVA

Charges And Reviews: An Exclusive Q&A With Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin

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RVA Mag spoke with Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin about the ongoing protests in the city, and the legal ramifications of what’s happened so far, for both protesters and for the Richmond Police.

Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin has been a focal point of local activists’ demands over the past month. McEachin, Richmond’s lead prosecutor, is ultimately responsible for deciding whether to proceed with criminal investigations and charges against protesters. Her  purview includes the power to investigate charges of police brutality, as well as allegations that the Richmond Police Department’s (RPD) declarations of unlawful assembly in May and June have themselves been unlawful. In an active lawsuit, the ACLU of Virginia has raised doubts and concerns about the legality of various RPD activities, including these declarations and subsequent uses of chemical weapons, rubber bullets, and flash grenades. 

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with McEachin to discuss all of these things. We also asked about her ongoing consideration of whether to re-open the case of Marcus-David Peters, an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed in 2018 by a Richmond Police officer while suffering a mental health breakdown.

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

RVA Mag: Good afternoon, Madame Commonwealth’s Attorney, and thank you for sitting down with us. As you know, at Mayor Stoney’s request, Governor Northam extended Richmond’s state of emergency through the end of July. Do you agree that Richmond is in a state of emergency?

Colette McEachin: Yes.

RVA Mag: How would you define the emergency, and who do you think is responsible for the emergency?

CM: We are all on some level responsible for the emergency. It’s one city, and we are all dependent on each other, right? If you go back to that first pretty horrible weekend or two at the end of May and beginning of June, I think that shocked and devastated everyone in Richmond. Anyone can look at what happened to George Floyd or any of the martyrs to police violence over the past decades and understand the anger and frustration that had built. But I don’t think anyone, including the police department, or any of the systems in the city, were ready for what happened from about May 30 through the past few weeks. 

RVA Mag: I’d like to come back to the concept of “martyrs to police violence,” but returning to this “state of emergency,” I want to discuss accountability, and as a case study, the night when demonstrators in Richmond attempted to occupy City Hall. New Yorkers were able to occupy New York’s City Hall without police intervention. Norfolk demonstrators were allowed to occupy Norfolk City Hall recently. Have you submitted guidelines to City Hall and the police regarding acceptable protest actions that you will not prosecute?

CM: No I haven’t. It is pretty clear under the laws and statutes of Virginia what is acceptable peaceful protest and what is not. I don’t have authority over the mayor. I don’t have authority over the RPD — they respond to their chief, who is selected by the mayor. We certainly talk with other agencies, including the police department, about charging decisions, what the impact of their actions will be on whether or not a charge is able to go forward. But I don’t think it is appropriate for my agency to say to another agency: “You need to do your job this way.” 

RVA Mag: Given that you are toward the end of the law enforcement process, have you had conversations with Chief Gerald Smith about how he is going to treat protests moving forward?

CM: No. I have been in conversation with him, but I have not specifically asked him that question. [We have discussed] my perspective about what happened the previous four weeks, and where my office is going regarding the multiple complaints made about police behavior and protester behavior. I will say he was very receptive and it was a lot of listening on his part.

Photo by Domico Phillips

RVA Mag: What’s the timeline for review of charges against protesters?

CM: Other than the horrible circumstance that happened from May 31 to June 1, when the first 233 curfew violators were arrested and brought down to the Richmond Justice Center…

RVA Mag: I’m sorry to interrupt but that happened at 7:30 pm, 30 minutes before curfew.

CM: Yes, it had nothing to do with the curfew. Let me clarify. For those who think the police tear-gassed people at the Lee Monument solely because there was a curfew violation (when it couldn’t have been, because it was only 7:30 pm), that was not the reason. The investigation is still ongoing, but I will say that the police were not jumping ahead 30 minutes. 

RVA Mag: How far along are you in reviewing charges against protesters?

CM: There’s not going to be a general review. It’s a very individualized review, which is what I would think people would want if they were charged. You wouldn’t want assumptions made about your case, like, “Well, this happened on this date. I’m going to dismiss all the charges that happened on this date,” or “I personally believe in why this person was doing something, so because they conform to my personal belief I’m going to dismiss the charge.”

RVA Mag: Do you think you are likely to drop all charges against protesters?

CM: Given what I know now, I think there will be some charges left at the end of my review. 

RVA Mag: America is in a tense moment. We’re in a nationwide conversation about race and police brutality. Here in Richmond, no one has died (at a protest).

CM: Thank God.

[Update: An earlier version of this article stated there were no critical injuries during protests. In fact, there are several reports of serious injuries suffered at the hands of police, including a man with a pre-existing condition who has stated that he was denied his heart medication while in detention (he subsequently lost consciousness, and was hospitalized at MCV), as well a man who was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet at close range. RVA Mag has received confirmation of both of these injuries].

RVA Mag: Thank God. Many of these protesters are in college or just graduated. They’re some of the city’s bright young minds and have been studying how to effect social progress and racial justice. They are not “out-of-towners,” as politicians were quick to claim early on. Given the context, are you prepared to enable the court to do long-term legal damage to a group of young local protesters, to permanently taint someone’s record over, for example, a thrown water bottle or a rock thrown at riot police in the heat of an escalating moment?

CM: I know people don’t want to hear this, because people want a quick yes or no, right or wrong, black or white, but honestly, it really depends on each situation.

RVA Mag: Let me ask more specifically: I know there was a young Black female protester who was detained and charged with inciting a riot and assaulting an officer. My understanding is she is alleged to have thrown a water bottle. Do you feel that prosecuting her, and her subsequently serving a prison sentence, and having felonies for assault and incitement — given all the societal context — would be an appropriate use of the judicial system?

CM: I don’t know that she will be convicted of a felony. I don’t know this person. Here’s the deal: You are assuming that if your heart is in the right place, and you feel you are doing it for a good reason, you should be able to throw things at people.

RVA Mag: I wouldn’t say I’m assuming that. What I’m asking is, given this nationwide moment of upheaval and potential structural change, and given that the entire nation’s nerves are inflamed, do you think allegedly throwing a water bottle toward a riot officer should result in a permanent felony record and potential prison time?

CM: It depends on the facts of the case. 

RVA Mag: You indicated in a tweet that you would investigate all complaints against cops. Are you?

CM: I’m investigating all the ones I’m aware of.

RVA Mag: Councilman Mike Jones has asserted that he feels the RPD is going out of its way to distort the truth. The ACLU asserted the only legal use of an unlawful assembly declaration is the imminent threat of violence.  Is there evidence that situations have been dangerous enough to justify declarations of unlawful assemblies, use of chemical weapons, mass arrests, and felony charges for demonstrators? 

CM: Yes.

RVA Mag: Can you give me a specific example?

CM: No, because it’s a pending investigation.

RVA Mag: Do you assume what the police have told you is true?

CM: I am a lawyer and mother of three daughters. So I don’t assume that anybody is telling me the truth all the time. 

Photo by Alexandra Zernik

RVA Mag: Is your office specifically investigating the legality of the declarations of unlawful assembly?

CM: Yes, in the sense that, if it turns out that the elements necessary to prove that there was an unlawful assembly don’t exist, then we can’t go forward on a charge. 

RVA Mag: Councilman Jones has called for an independent investigation into police brutality during protests. We’ve seen a situation where nine officers OC-sprayed a woman walking by them. We’ve seen a police office spitting twice on a flex-cuffed protester who was arrested. Have you seen those videos?

CM: I have.

RVA Mag: If either an external investigator retained by the city or the current ACLU lawsuit concludes that beginning in late May, there were several instances where police prematurely declared unlawful assembly and used excessive force, would you hold the police accountable in the same way you are holding protesters accountable?

CM: Yes.

RVA Mag: Who do you consider most legally responsible for holding RPD accountable?

CM: The mayor.

RVA Mag: Are you confident that the RPD is effective in holding its officers accountable for disciplinary excesses?

CM: I don’t know.

RVA Mag: Is the mayor in discussions with your office about holding RPD accountable? You said he is legally responsible, but he is not a prosecutor. 

CM: We have spoken about a civilian review board as an entity to hold police responsible. That’s about as far as it has gone.

RVA Mag: Would you like the civilian review board to have subpoena power?

CM: I don’t know, because I don’t know what the CRB would look like and what it would do. Are they volunteers? Are they paid staff on someone’s payroll? I would want to see how it is constructed, and whether it’s an entity that should have subpoena power. There are investigative agencies that don’t have subpoena power and get things done.

[Editor’s note: after our conversation the Mayor announced a “Task Force to Reimagine Public Safety” and Ms. McEachin was named as a member]

RVA Mag: Currently, are police investigations and prosecutions equal in priority to protester investigations and prosecutions? 

CM: They are equally important.

RVA Mag: The Washington Post published an article last week saying that journalists are reviewing their policies in using information from police press releases because they have found these releases inaccurate. How are you going to confirm that police accounts are true and accurate?

CM: My office pays no attention at all to police press releases.

RVA Mag: Do you give the same credibility to protester accounts of incidents as you do to police accounts?

CM: Yes. As long as they’re backed up with evidence.

Marcus-David Peters. Photo via Legacy.com

RVA Mag: Earlier in this interview you called George Floyd a martyr of police violence. Do you consider Marcus-David Peters a martyr?

CM: He certainly died violently at the hands of a police officer.

RVA Mag: But you called George Floyd a martyr. Is Marcus-David Peters a martyr?

CM: I will review all the evidence that led my predecessor to release his report about what happened, and see what determination I can come to. That’s what I’ve told [Marcus-David Peters’] sister personally, and that’s what I will do.

RVA Mag: We’ve seen Elijah McClain’s case reopened. We’ve seen Breonna Taylor’s case reopened. Richmond City Councilman Mike Jones told RVA Mag recently that he made mistakes in 2018 with Marcus-David’s killing. He said “As a Black man on council, I should have been more vocal.” He believes the case should be reopened, as do a large number of people in the city. Are you considering reopening Marcus-David Peters’ case?

CM: I am going to review his case. 

RVA Mag: How far along are you in that review? 

CM: I just started [within the past week]. We have all the investigations, of course, that we’re reviewing regarding the protests.

RVA Mag: Is that your main priority right now? 

CM: No, my main priority is finishing the investigations relating to [the protests]. 

RVA Mag: To a non-prosecutor such as myself, it seems there are many ways to handle a situation like the one that led to Marcus-David’s death without killing a man in crisis. Where’s the gap between what I’m seeing in the video and what a prosecutor sees?

CM: I would love to talk with you about this again after my review. You wouldn’t want me to talk about your case in public. If you were charged with rape, you wouldn’t want me to say “You know, I haven’t done my background, looked at the research, I haven’t done my legal analysis… but you know, just given what I’ve seen on social media about David, I feel like this…”

RVA Mag: What are the steps for you at this point?

CM: I will get the case file and start reading through every piece of paper. If I feel as though there is someone or something that could have provided more helpful information that was not in that file, I will try to get that. I’m going to approach this the way I would approach any serious felony case. I gather as much actual information as possible, apply those facts to the law, and decide whether or not a criminal offense [occurred], meaning there was a mens rea and there was a bad act. And then I’ll make a decision. So it’s not so easy.

RVA Mag: From where I’m sitting, this is why people talk about defunding the police. It feels like, other than an obvious case like George Floyd, there are no cases where a prosecutor and jury are comfortable determining mens rea. How can we ever get to a point where we’re holding police accountable if the legal threshold is we have to know that they have “bad thoughts” in their minds? It feels like this type of framing is effectively a license to kill with a gun, because a gun killing is fairly instant, and it’s impossible to say what’s in most people’s minds.

CM: There are degrees of homicide. Capital murder, first degree murder, second, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter. All of those require different elements to be proven by the Commonwealth. Since we can’t read the person’s mind, the charge is based on their statements, the surrounding facts, and their actions. All of that goes into the decision about whether that person intended, maliciously or criminally, to kill the other person without reason or justification. 

RVA Mag: Is it reckless for a cop, with a weapon in each hand, to confront someone who is naked, unarmed, and making snow angels on the side of the highway?

CM: I’m going to say I don’t know because at this point, I have not reviewed the entire case file, what the officer’s training was, and what the police protocols were regarding what his intervention should be with someone in crisis.

RVA Mag: Do you think if his training suggested that this was an appropriate handling, that he would be absolved of recklessness?

CM: I think that’s something you have to take into account, if your training is “do this in this situation.” 

RVA Mag: Then who is held to account? Would you hold the training guidelines to account, and would you prosecute the person who formulated those guidelines? The buck has to stop somewhere.

CM: Exactly. Honestly, I don’t know at this point. 

RVA Mag: Your husband, US Congressman Donald McEachin (D-VA) has co-sponsored a police reform bill that would revoke qualified immunity for police. Do you support that revocation?

CM: I don’t know that I’ve made up my mind about that.

Photo by Alexandra Zernik

RVA Mag: Do you support the full legalization of marijuana in Virginia?

CM: Yes. That’s going to happen in the next five years, depending on the General Assembly. 

RVA Mag: Do you support the decriminalization of drugs other than marijuana? 

CM: What other drugs?

RVA Mag: All of them. Decriminalization meaning handling these issues as mental health issues, similar to any other type of illness. Given that so much incarceration of Black people in America is based on drug law enforcement, do you support decriminalizing drugs?

CM: No. Not for controlled substances, no.

RVA Mag: Madame Commonwealth’s Attorney, we know it is an extraordinarily busy week for you. Thank you for taking the time to sit with us.

CM: Thank you.

Top Photo via Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin/Facebook