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OP-ED: Help Not Death; Marcus-David Peters And The American Mental Health Crisis

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It’s been five months since Marcus-David Peters was gunned down on Interstate 95/64.

Richmond officer Michael Nyantakyi shot Peters twice, after his taser failed to subdue Peters. The entire event came to an end in only 18 seconds. In August, it was ruled that Peters’ death was justifiable homicide. The past few months have not been easy for Peters’ family, nor for those in the community who believe his death was an injustice.

I want to start my commentary by saying that I don’t know. I don’t know what I would have done if I was in Officer Nyantakyi’s shoes. We all like to imagine our own actions in the scenario, but we don’t have the answers, and I’m not a police officer. But I do know that in 18 seconds, a young man’s life was over, and he needed help — not death.

“Help not death” has been the rallying cry of Peters’ family. Peters’ sister, Princess Blanding, has been at the forefront of protests demanding justice for her brother’s death.

There are many shades of gray when we look at this situation, and it’s important to note that the case isn’t black and white — literally. Peters was black; Officer Nyantakyi is black too. But in a  system of law that perpetuates racism and white supremacy, this is still an issue of police brutality.

Mappingpoliceviolence.org shows that 852 people have been killed so far in 2018. In 2017, police killed 1,147 people. Black people made up 25 percent of those killed, despite representing only 13 percent of the population. Less than one percent of officers were charged with a crime.

Last month, Chicago officer Jason Van Dyke was finally convicted of second-degree murder, over four years after fatally shooting 17-year old Laquan McDonald. Timothy Loehmann, who gunned down 12-year-old Tamir Rice, was hired afterward by a police department in rural Ohio. The juxtaposition of these two events show the rarity of cops being held accountable for their actions.

Black people are statistically more likely to be killed by cops than any other race, and the reasons behind this epidemic have deep roots. They stem from a system of oppression that has spanned hundreds of years, and continues to disproportionately affect black citizens.

When a black person encounters the police, they’re often not given the same benefit of the doubt a white person would. Many cases have shown that under similar circumstances to those in which black citizens are killed, white suspects are spared their lives.

For example:

  • Nikolas Cruz, who murdered 19 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last February, was arrested without incident.
  • Dylann Roof was brought into police custody, without any fuss, after murdering nine innocent black churchgoers during a prayer service.
  • Lance Tamayo pointed his pistol at police officers and children in a park. It took the police over an hour to get Tamayo to put his gun down. Officers eventually shot him, but not lethally — and he was given only a three-month sentence.
  • 19-year-old Austin Harrouff killed two strangers, and was found by police biting the face of one of his victims. Police used stun guns and a dog to try and subdue him. When those methods didn’t work, they physically pulled Harrouff off the victim.

In all of these situations, and many more, white people were subdued by police while committing dangerous crimes. Instead of resorting immediately to fatal weapons, officers tried alternative methods to spare the suspects’ lives.

In body cam footage from officers on the scene, Peters is heard saying, “I’m going to fucking kill you” to Officer Nyantakyi — and while Nyantakyi rightfully felt his life was in danger, I still have to wonder why Peters was killed when confronted with similar (and greater) threats by white citizens, police have repeatedly found ways to let them walk away with their lives.

Consider the case of Joseph Houseman, an open-carry advocate, compared with Richmond’s Marcus-David Peters.

During his encounter, Houseman said to police, “I can threaten you. I can threaten your family. I didn’t threaten your family, I said I could.”

The confrontations were similar — both raising threats to law enforcement — but the outcomes for these white and black citizens were not. Houseman failed to comply with officers, and refused a breathalyzer test. Houseman was armed, and threatened officers; he was disarmed, then let go, with his gun returned. Peters was both unarmed and naked, and threatened officers; he was killed on the spot.

Then there’s mental health, cited by families of victims in many cases. In a Washington Post study, it was found that in the first half of 2015, 25 percent of people killed by police were identified as mentally ill.

While the media tends to label white killers as lone wolves with mental health problems, black and brown people’s mental health isn’t brought into the picture. More than 16 percent of the black population has a diagnosable mental illness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), black folks are 20 percent more likely to experience serious mental health problems.

But America isn’t talking about mental health in the black community. In cases like that of Somali-American Shukri Ali Said, reaching out for help can actually cost their lives: when Ali Said’s parents called the police seeking help for their daughter, she was shot and killed by Georgia officers.

In Virginia, police are offered crisis intervention team (CIT) training, which was designed to give officers tools and information for encountering, dealing with, and helping citizens with mental illnesses. But to be helpful, the police have to actually join the program: As recent as this July, only about 65 percent of Richmond’s officers have chosen to participate (or 490 officers, out of the city’s total 750).

While officers deal with mental health, they are not trained therapists or psychiatrists — but how can they be expected to de-escalate these situations when CIT training is only an option, not a requirement?

Marcus-David Peters was not given a means to obtain help; instead, the first solution police attempted was his death. This was not just “a tragic situation for all parties,” and it shouldn’t be buried along with Peters. It’s time to consider police interactions with people of color, and the implications when mental illness is also involved.

De-escalation and diversity training is not enough. These systems that are killing our citizens need to be confronted before they can be changed.

The Justice and Reformation For Marcus-David Peters movement is proposing the creation of a “Marcus Alert,” to call on mental health professionals as first responders when community members are in crisis. This idea could shape the future of policing, and potentially save lives — the state of things isn’t changing until measures are put in place to start. These structures go back to slave patrols in the 1700’s, and Americans should not forget that the South’s police force was born from slavery preservation. Richmond created its first full-time police force after Gabriel Prosser led a slave uprising in 1800.

Looking into the origins of policing is imperative for change to happen: From Emmett Till, to Trayvon Martin, to Michael Brown, to Eric Garner, to Sandra Bland, to Tamir Rice, to Philando Castile, to Marcus-David Peters.

It’s easy to sweep these instances under the rug. It’s easy to turn a blind eye when it doesn’t affect you personally. It’s easy to dehumanize a stranger — especially when they’re in a cemetery, and can’t defend themselves in court. It’s easy to view the black body as a symbol of threat in a society that has pushed it as such since long before racist 1915 film The Birth of a Nation was screened in the Woodrow Wilson White House.

I’m not pointing fingers or jumping to conclusions without citing facts. I’m asking for empathy towards the black experience — something non-black people will never be able to know firsthand.

I’m asking people to consider that when black people are staring down the barrel of a gun with a cop on the other end, they aren’t given the benefit of the doubt. I’m asking them to ask why we justify the deaths of black children armed with toy guns, like 12-year-old Tamir Rice, but don’t think twice when white children are taught to shoot real weapons at the same age.

I’m asking them to consider why it was that convicted rapist Brock Turner was referred to as “a former Stanford student and star swimmer,” while Trayvon Martin’s high school suspensions were used as justification for his murder.

I’m asking them to realize that black people can no longer “comply” and “follow the rules” when white people are calling the police and having us shot in our own homes. I’m asking them to understand that race-based traumatic stress is real, and that, while black people do persevere and conquer, we’re still out here dying.

This is bigger than one black life lost at the hands of police brutality.

Note: Op-Eds are contributions from guest writers and do not reflect RVA Magazine editorial policy.

Top Image by Lindsay Eastham

National March for Justice and Reformation Honors Marcus-David Peters

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Clad in maroon, hundreds of supporters gathered in Richmond today for the National March for Justice and Reformation. The march, planned on the birthday of Marcus-David Peters, was according to the event organizers a way to hold “elected officials and police departments accountable.”

Peters, a VCU graduate and a local high-school biology teacher, was killed by the Richmond Police Department (RPD) in May of this year at the intersection of highways 64 and 95. Experiencing a mental crisis and naked at the time of the shooting, Peters’ death was eventually ruled an “act of justifiable homicide” by Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring: a claim consistently refuted by his sister, Princess Blanding, who leads the Justice and Reformation For Marcus-David Peters movement.

Gathering at VCU’s Siegel Center, the march organizers (including Monica Kelly, who leads the university’s Amnesty International chapter, and Rev. Antonio Redd from Second Baptist Church West End) led the crowd in chanting “help, not death” and “justice and reformation” — both of which have become a rallying cry of the Justice and Reformation movement.

March Organizer Monica Kelly

Speaking first, Kelly questioned why the city has not implemented the Marcus Alert. The alert is one of the core demands of the movement, which would allow a mental health professional to act as a first responder to a person in mental health crisis, reducing the chance for violent escalation with the police.

Redd spoke after Kelly, proclaiming, “We are gathered to march for what is right,” and also acknowledging that Peters cried out for help, but “help was not found.” Addressing the lack of response from VCU, Richmond’s mayor and city council, and the Jefferson Hotel, where Peters worked, Redd claimed that their “silence was complicit” in the circumstances which led to the biology teacher’s death.  He finished by saying it was time to put the city’s elected officials on notice, and that the message they were sending was not an “empty threat.”

Rev. Antonio Redd

Taking to the streets after the initial speeches, the marchers maneuvered down Broad Street before turning onto Belvidere, chanting “shut it down” and “help, not death,” eventually stopping in front of the Jefferson Hotel. Before he was killed, Peters stopped at the hotel and was seen on video acting erratically with other hotel employees. On a platform in front of the hotel, Rev. Lacette Cross from Restoration Fellowship RVA addressed the crowd, calling for “accountability of police and elected officials,” a theme that was consistent throughout the day’s speeches, but not before reminding the crowd that there is “no such thing as a single-issue struggle.”

Rev. Lacette Cross

Before the crowd continued their march towards the RPD Headquarters, poet Rob Gibsun took to the stage. In a powerful address, he spoke about the “undue response” from the university (VCU) where Peters was an alumni, the retreat to our individual “comfort zones,” and the role in the “killing of brown and black people.”

Eventually coming to a stop in front of RPD headquarters, Dr. Ravi Perry, a political science professor from VCU, took to the platform. Acknowledging the complexity of modern law enforcement and how that intersects with the death of Peters, Perry said, “The justice system has impacted our lives, both good and bad,” calling for a greater police accountability that is “seemingly absent.” To make his point further, he told the crowd a story about how he was victimized by police in his native Ohio, being taken out of his parents’ car and held at gunpoint for 20 minutes because he “fit the description” of a drug dealer. “Its a day that reminds me every day that I’m a black man,” he said, after reminding the crowd that police have already killed 852 people in 2018 alone.

Dr. Ravi Perry

Princess Blanding spoke last, thanking the crowd for their continued support and solidarity. Addressing the marchers, she asked why tax dollars pay for the police to have tasers, batons, and pepper spray, but are so quick to use lethal force. “I’m not anti-police,” she said, “I’m pro-black lives matter. I’m pro-brown lives matter. I’m pro-immigrant and I’m pro-LGBTQ.” Calling out the city’s leadership, Blanding said, “We voted them in, we’ll vote them out,” finally demanding that the city implement the Marcus Alert and a civilian review board to oversee the police.

Princess Blanding Addressing the Crowd in-front of RPD HQ

The march ended with Redd leading the crowd in singing happy birthday for Peters in front of the RPD — he would have been 25 years old today.

Some of the best photos from the National March for Justice and Reformation can be found below:

Marching Down Broad St
Marching Towards RPD HQ
Clad in Maroon
Marching Down Broad Street
In Front of the Jefferson Hotel
Poet Rob Gibsun
Marchers at RPD HQ
Listening to Speakers at RPD HQ

*Photos by Landon Shroder

Marcus-David Peters Shooting Declared an “Act of Justifiable Homicide” by Commonwealth Attorney

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In a report released Friday morning, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring said he will not pursue criminal charges against the officer who shot and killed Marcus-David Peters on I-95 on May 14.

Herring described the event as “an act of justifiable homicide,” and said the use of force was “reasonable and necessary” given the unusual circumstances of the event.

Richmond Police Department also announced today in a press release that the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office completed their portion of the investigation of the Peters shooting, who was shot after allegedly showing signs of mental instability. The investigation now must be completed by RPD Internal Affairs using the report submitted by the Department-generated Force Investigation Team (FIT).

“The review of this incident by Commonwealth Attorney Michael Herring and his staff is a critical phase in the criminal investigation of this incident,” said RPD Chief Durham in a press release. “I appreciate the thorough efforts of Mr. Herring and his staff and we respect the decision they have made. This incident will forever remain a tragedy for all those involved.”

Peters, 24, was naked and unarmed during the incident, but charged the officer, who deployed his taser gun. After the taser proved ineffective and Peters threatened to kill him, Richmond Officer Michael Nyantakyi pulled his weapon. Peters died early the next morning.

“Mr. Peters’ altered mental state, his nudity and the fact that he was unarmed are all mitigating factors,” reads the Commonwealth Attorney’s report, co-written by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney LaToya H. Croxton. “However, there should be little question that the officer reasonably feared that Mr. Peters’ aggression and apparent insensitivity to pain foreclosed lesser interventions and therefore constituted an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.”

This decision comes after months of activism from citizens and community leaders, spearheaded by Peters’ sister, Princess Blanding, who had no faith Herring would “make the right decision, which is to charge the officer.” She and other activists argue that Peters needed “help, not death.” Peters was a high school biology teacher who hoped to dedicate his life to youth in need.

His autopsy report found Ritalin present in Peters’ system, a drug commonly used for ADHD and narcolepsy. Peters did not have a prescription for the drug.

Officer Nyantaki has been on administrative leave since the shooting, but will now be placed on administrative assignment in non-public contact position until the investigation is complete.  

Marcus David Peters’ Family Says Autopsy Report Showed No Drugs in System

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Princess Blanding, the sister of the late Marcus David Peters, has come out saying she has the autopsy report of her brother, which she said establishes that there was no drugs in his system at time of death. RVA Mag was unable to obtain a copy of the report, which other outlets have reported may be a preliminary report and not the official, final report.

Just yesterday, Mayor Levar Stoney held community office hours, where Peters’ death was a central point. Blanding, one of the most outspoken about her brother’s death, continued to ask: how many times was her brother shot? Accounts have been spotty, but Blanding said the report she had established three, not two, shots, which she said contradicted prior information.

Bodycam footage was released previously by the Richmond Police Department, which characterized the release as an attempt at transparency. The footage from May 14 shows Peters exiting his vehicle at the edge of Interstate 95 and rolling around on the pavement. According to police reports, Peters, who was unarmed, “lunged” at Officer Michael Nyantakyi, who then fired his weapon. Blanding has stated in past meetings with the mayor that her brother has been accused of being under the influence of drugs at the time of his death. “That’s what they wanted people to think. He had to be strung out on some drugs… None detected.” If the autopsy report she had at the meeting is accurate, it would contradict the assumptions she described at the meeting.

This past Tuesday, the Commonwealth Attorney’s office received a report from the Richmond Police Department. According to WTVR, the report contains “witness statements, security camera videos, the officer’s body-worn camera video, and forensic evidence.” However, toxicology statements have not been issued yet.

The Commonwealth Attorney’s office will be concluding its investigation into the death to confirm Blanding’s statements. Although the process could take weeks or even months, his family and the broader Richmond community seems committed to keeping pressure on the city until a resolution is reached.

Opinion: The Mayor Needs to Step up his Game on Marcus David Peters

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At his community office hours last night, Mayor Levar Stoney announced a change to the printed agenda; instead of infrastructure and education, public safety would be the first topic addressed.

Since the killing of #MarcusDavidPeters, his death has been the number one issue the community wants Stoney to address. Before opening the meeting for questions, he brought up the last office hours, where the coalition and allies for Justice and Reformation for #MarcusDavidPeters were also in attendance. Invoking the “golden rule”, to treat others that way you want to be treated, he rambled about respect and professionalism, to a community that’s seeking justice for a slain man.

Following his cue, I have my own recap of those office hours.

On July 17, the coalition questioned the mayor, asking why he skipped the June 30 meeting, which was called by the community to discuss demands they’d presented to the Richmond Police Department at the #JusticeAndReformation rally on June 2. 

Princess Blanding Speaking at the #JusticeAndReformation Rally

As much as this city would like to call Stoney the exception to politics-as-usual, he still demonstrates typical programming. How does this typical programming present? Think canned, pre-written responses from politicians that are practiced in order to engage the public during contentious political environments. The introduction to last night’s meeting was one of them. 

When pressed on the night of July 17 about the investigation into #MarcusDavidPeters, Stoney’s auto-response was “trust the process.” Last night, Stoney introduced the public safety portion of the meeting by telling the audience to be on their best behavior, then opened up the floor for questions; something I’m sure he regretted immediately. 

For starters, the family of #MarcusDavidPeters was under the impression that Stoney was out of town – in Williamsburg – the day of the proposed June 30 meeting initially called for by the coalition. 

Stoney officially notified the family on 11:30 am, 90 minutes prior to the community meeting, that he could not attend. 

Stoney had other plans than attending the meeting for #MarcusDavidPeters.

However, Debbie Rowe, a concerned community member, started her question portion last night by confirming she saw Stoney at Taza Café immediately after she left the June 30 meeting. Sparking the question; if he was in town, why was he not at the meeting? 

Stoney’s response was that he decided to keep his plans because he made them months in advance. He had other plans.

Ya know, rather than cancel them and attend the meeting held by the community after a black man, suffering a mental health crisis, was shot by a police officer. Remember what’s happened in cities that have failed to rise to the challenge of situations like these? Ferguson, Baltimore; this list can go on and on. 

But, hey, plans. 

Princess Blanding, sister of Peters, and the most vocal proponent for accountability spoke next and asked one question: how many times was her brother shot? The question seemed simple. If you’ve seen the body camera footage released by RPD you will have heard two shots, and two shots matched what we’ve heard from the family’s report per the RPD.

Stoney responded by saying he “would not talk about details of the investigation and that there is a process to this.” Princess Blanding responded by reading from an after-action report, released on July 24. She had to update the community since the administration clearly would not.

In this report, the police found that #MarcusDavidPeters was shot three times, not two. And that the toxicology report found that there were no substances within his system.  It appears that the city misled the public about the number of shots fired, but maintains that #MarcusDavidPeters was indeed suffering from a psychotic breakdown when he was killed by the RPD.  [Editor’s note: We could not obtain a copy of this report; other media outlets report it may be preliminary.]

#JusticeAndReformation Rally

After her update, Princess Blanding’s follow-up questions included themes that would press the city for more transparency. Now that the investigation has gone to the Commonwealth’s Attorney, why is Stoney still saying “there’s a process,” rather than answering the actual questions posed by the community? 

Why hasn’t the body camera footage been released to show what happened after they dragged #MarcusDavidPeters’ body from the bushes? Where’s the footage of the third shot?

And, finally, why hasn’t the city taken the demands of Peters’ family seriously? More so, why have they not discussed the implementation of the Marcus Alert? A city-wide alert, proposed by the coalition, which would allow both the police and the community to engage in de-escalation techniques when a person might be experiencing a mental health crisis. 

Stoney insisted that he would be open to hearing ideas if reformation and policy needs are necessary. But the other end of that statement is, when would it be necessary? After another unarmed black man experiencing a mental health crisis was shot and killed by police?

The mic drop moment happened when Kyondra Briggs, cousin of Peters, addressed the Mayor’s canned auto-response, “if reform is needed.” She scolded him for it. She said it was an internal conflict to simultaneously maintain respect for him as the mayor while listening to him repeat the dreaded phrase, “if reform is needed.” 

In the end, we all watched the same video. To reform or not to reform is not the question. Not in 2018, when black men and women are still being killed in disproportionate numbers by the police. Reform is the answer. It is the only way to honor the memory of a man who deserved help but received death. 

If there was a message tonight from the coalition and allies of #MarcusDavidPeters, it came from his cousin, Briggs. Closing the public safety portion, she said, “You owe my family something and that’s a meeting, that’s an apology, that’s justice, that’s reformation, and you can keep the bullcrap.” 

On July 31, the next community office hours with Mayor Stoney will be at Pine Camp Community Center, starting at 6:30 p.m. Richmond, your voices are clear, but will the administration hear you?

*Marcus David Peters is #MarcusDavidPeters; the hashtag is a way for us to honor our fallen community members who were shot and killed by the police. Say his name. 

Can Restorative Justice Help Fix a Damaged System?

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In the wake of the shooting of Marcus-David Peters, who was shot and killed by a Richmond Police Officer on I-95 after appearing unstable, demands from community organizers and local citizens have introduced the notion of using restorative justice within law enforcement reformation.

These demands have forced RPD (Richmond Police Department) and Richmonders alike to ask what type of reformation do we need, and how would restorative justice help ease complicated situations between law enforcement, victims, and even criminals. Princess Blanding, Peters’ sister, said she is calling for reformation within the Richmond Police Department after the death of her brother.

“The Richmond Police Department needs to take accountability and ownership in regards to what happens and acknowledge that things went wrong, so we can move forward in preventing this from happening again,” Blanding said.

Protest for Justice for Marcus-David Peters

Blanding and other activists hosted a community meeting at Second Baptist Church on June 30 to discuss these reformations. They had publicly and personally invited Chief Alfred Durham and Mayor Levar Stoney to the meeting, but neither appeared.

Blanding said Stoney contacted the family on the day of the meeting to say he would not be able to attend, but is keeping the Peters family in his thoughts and prayers. Stoney’s press office said in an email that the mayor would consider engaging with the family at the appropriate time, but he is not able to talk about the investigation until it is completed.

Blanding said she received no response from Durham; however, Durham said he would hold a community meeting about the investigation, once the case is handed over to the Commonwealth Attorney. Blanding said the invitation requested both Durham and Stoney to attend the meeting in order to listen to community concerns, but were never asked to speak.

Daniel Foxvog, executive director of The Virginia Center for Restorative Justice (VCRJ), said it is critical that the victims’ needs are recognized in any instance of harm.

Restorative justice is a term that has appeared more often in Richmond, but is a relatively unknown practice within the criminal justice system. Since its creation in the 1970’s, the field has been an alternative approach to the court system, but has only recently been pushed into the widespread narrative of criminal reform. VCRJ has worked to provide this alternative approach for juveniles, especially.

Judy Clarke, founder and immediate past executive director of the Virginia Center for Restorative Justice, said the center focuses on training volunteers to become restorative justice facilitators. The volunteers work to receive statewide security clearance through the Virginia Department of Corrections and Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice.

The center also organizes ‘circle processes’ and restorative justice conferences. The ‘circles’ and conferences are where the major rehabilitation happens–they are conversations between offenders, victims and their communities about the impact the offender’s crime had on all parties involved.

Foxvog said there are two key principles to understanding the most effective form of restorative justice: addressing harm and the need and obligations following that harm. Foxvog said that crime, and other types of violence, creates harm that victims and offenders should be discussing to address the harm’s impact.  

“When someone is burglarized or hurt there are needs that result in that, needs of the victim, the direct victim, the person who has lost property or suffered physical damage,” Foxvog said. “There’s also the needs for the community, for safety, for well-being, for trust, for being able to have senses of wholeness.”

Chief Durham

The offender has needs as well, Foxvog said, that could have contributed to the crime committed. Restorative justice works with each party to reconcile conflict and built a new sense of healing, trust, and penitence. The ideal outcome of restorative justice is that the offender never commits crime again.

Clarke said the center is in four Virginia State Prisons: three female adult prisons and one male prison. The center also has a diversion program for juvenile offenders, which helps juvenile offenders create solutions for their actions rather than go to jail by offering counseling resources.

VCRJ connects with cases on a referral basis. Referrals usually come from an intake or probation officer, either before or after a decision has been made in court. The center first sends a letter to the victim and the offender, then meets with victims who respond to the letter and listen to their needs and priorities. Next, they meet with the offender to gather their version of events, what led them to commit the crime, and the impact the crime had on them. Oftentimes, the offender has already admitted guilt.  One of the last steps is to join both parties.

While the center has been recognized in juvenile courts, they are not recognized in civil or district courts, meaning alternatives to jail provided for juveniles through the center are not currently available to adults. Clarke has requested that Foxvog, who became executive director on July 1, pursue getting recognized in those courts with Mike Herring, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney. They hope that in future, methods like restorative justice can be used to remedy some of the pain and confusion both for offenders and victims, like those in the Marcus-David Peters case.

“I would also say that for police departments and law enforcement agencies being able to have a relationship of trust with the communities is very critical,” Foxvog said. “It’s critical for them to be able to function and it’s critical for the communities themselves to be able to trust the police departments, and officers, and for everyone to be able to be treated with respect.”

Foxvog and Clarke rely on volunteers to make the center work. The center offers training and opportunities for volunteers to participate in conferences and jail programs in individual areas.