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The Crisis of Eviction and Gentrification: An Interview With Allan-Charles Chipman

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For Richmond City Council candidate Allan-Charles Chipman, preserving local communitites by keeping longtime Richmonders in their homes is at the heart of the issues facing the city in 2020.

Allan-Charles Chipman is a candidate running for city council in the 6th district of Richmond against longtime incumbent Ellen Robertson, who has represented the 6th district for 16 years. The 33-year-old Chipman has a background as a community organizer and Christian faith leader, and is currently working for Initiatives of Change. If he is elected this November, it will be his first time serving in a political position. RVA Mag sat down with Chipman (over Zoom, of course) to find out some more about him, his campaign, and his opinions on the issues facing Richmond today. 

RVA: How has your faith shaped your political views and your life in general?

ACC: My parents were pastors and community organizers. They were part of an organization that helped transition people out of homelessness. My parents started a school within their church that was dedicated to helping kids in the neighborhood get up to a third-grade reading level, and then send them off to public school. 

I was about six years old when I was in these rooms, and I just saw how my faith calls me to help my community. Even today I work as a community advocate, really helping to expand past the societal biases that impact how people show up in their communities — like racism, dehumanization. Really, how my faith informs me is that we are not to leave behind our neighbors when they face injustice. Just as we want them fighting for us, we want to make sure we are fighting for justice, the humanity and dignity that each person’s life holds. We want to have the skillset to be able to expand the work of justice.

RVA: So you’re running primarily on an anti-gentrification platform. Can you tell us about that?

ACC: The city is really starting to recognize how unstable and unsustainable the level of growth in housing values has been. You can’t be both the arsonist and the firefighter. You can’t incentivize the type of development that has caused this burden to households. The point of entry — the price at which you can purchase a house — has risen 52 percent in the past couple of years. It’s not enough that we just talk about affordable housing, because we can’t have affordable housing being built on the displacement of long-term black neighborhoods. We can’t have this new doctrine of discovery, where people who have been indigenous to this place for a while are being displaced by this new vision of what things should be. 

I’ve met people on the campaign trail who are afraid they’re gentrifiers. If people want to come into our neighborhood, that’s not a problem. I believe we can have development without displacement. But it has to be intentional. There are innovative ways that we can do that. I want to make sure we’re focused on not just making sure the next person moves in, we have to make sure we have community stabilization funds. If you look at Atlanta, Georgia, they’ve actually created something called ‘community stabilization funds’ that actually help long-term residents stay in. 

We also have to realize that it’s not just seniors who are struggling. I was talking to a young woman who said she’s not sure how long she can stay in her house because of how fast housing values are escalating. We also have to make sure we’re not clearing out our low-income public housing. The RRHA’s plan is to demolish all six of the Big Six [public housing courts in the city] in 2021. 

RVA: Are they actually trying to get rid of the Big Six, or just phase them out?

ACC: If you read the plan, it’s quite blatant that they’re trying to demolish them and move to a project-based voucher. They would send residents out into the private market with a voucher that doesn’t protect against discrimination. We have to be clear that we can have plans to redevelop and give people a better opportunity to live in an environment that better reflects their dignity, but we have to make sure we have a plan for where people are going. We have 300 people on a waitlist just to get housing. It’s a very concerning time in the city, and we’re already number two in the nation for the highest number of evictions. 

RVA: Do you think gentrification and evictions are Richmond’s biggest problems right now?

ACC: Absolutely. We cannot build the affordable ‘RVA’ on the backs of Black Richmond. It’s not enough we have to be a city of the future, we have to be a city where people can exist in the future. If we know that what’s attracting some businesses to the city is our affordability, we can’t continue this gentrification. 

This is also about being able to build generational wealth. If people lose that home, they lose the ability to pass it on to a nephew, or a family member, who might be able to use it. I was talking to an entrepreneur who said the only way he was able to start a business is because his uncle let him use his home as collateral. But if that home is no longer in the family, they no longer have access to that. We’re talking about an attack on generational wealth, an attack on housing stability. We have to have a relief fund for those who are pushed out. We don’t want people to feel guilty for coming to our city, we don’t want to make people feel that their presence means the eventual absence of others who have been here. We need to have homestead exemptions, and community stabilization funds. 

RVA: How does VCU figure into the gentrification of Richmond?

ACC: There have been a lot of concerns among VCU students especially, wanting to know what the expansion of VCU has meant to the city of Richmond. We have to make sure that VCU is paying their fair share of taxes. PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) is a way our city can arrange a form of payment based on how much of their land is occupied, and it’s a way they can bring more money into the city funds. 

RVA: How do you feel about the Richmond police department, especially after the protests this summer?

ACC: One of the most dangerous institutions in the world is one that doesn’t have to answer to anyone. We have seen that the police department doesn’t have to answer to anyone. Just a couple months ago the mayor made Jody Blackwell, who killed an unarmed black Air Force veteran, the police chief. We saw the police driving over protesters with no consequences. When people know that there is no accountability — this is what happens when leaders don’t stand up against the police. 

We need an independent community oversight board, independent of police, to be able to police the police. We support the Marcus Alert, fully funded and led by community care units. We want to know that ethnic and racial makeup of the people who police stop, to make sure we know about racial profiling and can stop it. We also know that in Richmond City Justice Center, there is an outbreak of COVID-19. We stand with RVA26, which has been showing the horrors going on in the jail. We have to reallocate responsibilities to our community organizations, who have been having the impact that we’d like to see. I have no problem with reallocating resources to them. If police can do what they want — bend the rules, call anything that questions them an “unlawful assembly” and be able to tear gas — and we do not have leadership that challenges them, the leadership are complicit in the expansion of the corruption of the police. 

RVA: What are your thoughts on the issues that face LGBTQ Virginians, especially those who are Black?

ACC: I think it’s important that we are applying a racial equity lens in everything, to make sure that the issues that face our Black LGBTQ siblings are coming to light. I’m glad that the Virginia Values Act was passed, and one of the ideas I want to bring is something called the Equity Assessment Index, which is a rubric that applies to policies that come out of City Council or City Hall, to make sure that our policies are not having a negative impact on historically marginalized communities. 

There is a great level of housing discrimination that happens against LGBTQ people, and our Black and brown brothers and sisters. We have to make sure we are supporting our orgs, such as Side By Side, that deal with how many of our youth who are sent out into the streets, are disowned by their families. I want to use vacant city housing stock to bring them up and really give them a future. I want to tell them that they have a champion in me, that I’m listening. That’s why I want to start ‘Everyday Solidarity Task Forces’ that meet monthly for people to talk about what’s happening in their communities. As we try to implement the Virginia Values Act, I want to hear about places where it’s not being implemented. I want to make sure that the act is a reality in their healthcare, in their workplace. 

RVA: I know that the one thing on everyone’s mind right now is the coronavirus. Is there something the city should be doing to better fight the virus?

ACC: There needs to be an eviction moratorium. We don’t have a vaccine, so the best thing we can do is shelter at home, wear a mask, and socially distance. But if you don’t have a home to shelter in, that becomes very hard to do. We need to make sure people are staying in their homes. We’re in more of a gig economy. A person may lose one job and then not qualify for a total loss of income, so they’re still drowning. We need to make sure we’re also helping people who aren’t working a 9-to-5 job.

We also need hazard pay for our public workers, and we need to make sure that they have the sick leave that they need. We have to provide safe, socially-distanced ways to help restaurants stay open — maybe having a zone for street dining. But we have to be careful, because we don’t want to go back to the more restrictive phase that crippled the economy. I think we’ve been doing well with the availability of testing. But we need to make sure we are not displacing our residents from their communities. We need to use city housing stock to make sure we’re housing as many residents as possible, really ramping up the city’s stock for emergency shelters and other ways to house people during this time. We have to do as much as we can to keep people housed, keep them safe. 

All photos via Allan-Charles Chipman/Facebook. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Chaos at GWARbar

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Fueled by a dubious flyer and a lack of information, an incident at GWARbar last month resulted in multiple arrests, as well as conflicting reports of what actually occurred. RVA Mag attempts to get to the bottom of this.

The night of Thursday, August 20, tensions in Jackson Ward were high as the neighborhood anticipated a gathering at GWARbar, the local punk rock bar affiliated with legendary Richmond band GWAR. 

Before Thursday night, a flyer had circulated in the neighborhood calling for a gathering for “autonomous action” at the GWARbar parking lot. By the end of the night, the parking lot was the scene of a violent encounter between RPD and a small group of peaceful protesters, according to a source connected to GWARbar who prefers to remain anonymous. The incident resulted in two arrests of protesters who were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot and assault on a law enforcement officer, according to reports by WTVR.

The purpose of the flier and the gathering is still unclear to the residents of Jackson Ward, said Michael Derks, the owner of GWARbar, in a statement. Derks said that despite calls of concern from the neighborhood and a request made by the district’s City Councilperson, Kim Gray, for GWARbar to put up a “no trespassing” sign, he decided to open the bar for the night. 

“I made the decision to keep the bar open partly because I did not believe that we were in danger,” Derks said in his statement. “But also because if I was wrong, an open establishment with happy patrons is a much less inviting target for vandals than a shuttered building with threatening signs.”

The anonymous flyer that started the whole thing. Image via Jimmie Lee Jarvis/Twitter

If protesters did gather in the bar’s parking lot, Derks said he had planned to mediate between protestors and RPD and explain that they were there with his permission. In his statement, Derks said that he hoped “to be the voice of reason between the police and protesters.” He didn’t want the situation to escalate like other incidents where protesters were arrested for no reason, he said. 

The expectation of violence, trespassing and vandalism led to a tension-filled start to Thursday night, according to the anonymous source. They walked around GWARbar’s block at around 9:30 pm to see if people were gathering in the parking lot, where the flier had specified participants were to meet. They said at that time there was no one in the lot. 

The anonymous source said they, like others in the community who are regulars at GWARbar, decided to be at the bar to keep an eye on the event in case it got out of hand. When they arrived at GWARbar a little before 10 pm, they said there were less than 15 people gathered in the parking lot.

“We were just like, ‘We’re not going to let anyone mess up an actual neighborhood, community bar,’” they said. “A lot of us showed up to make sure we had the business’ back.”

The police arrived and blocked the parking lot with cars between 10:15 and 10:20 pm, the anonymous source said. Immediately, they said, the officers acted against the protesters. A video taken by our source, timestamped at 10:21 pm, shows officers calling for IDs and forcefully arresting two protesters when the crowd refused to comply. Multiple protesters were physically shoved to the pavement of the parking lot by the police, the video showed. (The incident was captured in several videos later shared on RVA Mag’s Instagram account, linked here: 1, 2, 3, 4)

The video shared with us by the anonymous source showed that Derks stepped out of the bar at 10:22 pm and alerted RPD that the parking lot was his private property and the protesters weren’t trespassing. Despite this action, the police continued to detain the two arrested protesters and remained in front of GWARbar until 11:53 pm, the anonymous source said. Unmarked vans and armored cars continued to make laps around the block after the officers left the scene.

Derks said that he understood the concerns of the people who called to warn the bar and of Gray, who he said believed that the protest may have been planned to target her home in Jackson Ward. The anonymous source said they believed that allegations of protesters targeting Gray’s house were falsely reported by the police and the media, and that targeting had never happened. 

“I understand how Ms. Gray feels betrayed by my decision not to close my restaurant but I can not know what people do when they are not at my establishment,” Derks said in the statement. “I can only influence what they do when they are there, and I will not allow people to be discriminated against while they are here, whether it be for the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, or even the way they dress.”

Police vehicles in front of GWARbar. Photo by Jimmie Lee Jarvis, via Twitter

The anonymous source also contradicted reports by ABC 8 News of the number of protesters that gathered in GWARbar’s parking lot. 

Jimmie Lee Jarvis, a Richmond-based independent reporter, decided to attend after seeing the flyer on social media. 

“What was 15 people hanging out became over 100 people heavily armed escalating things until multiple people were arrested,” Jarvis told ABC 8 News. 

The anonymous source who spoke to RVA Magazine said there were no more than 20 protesters in the parking lot of GWARbar throughout the night. 

Jarvis told ABC 8 News he was shoved to the ground by an officer when he began recording the interaction on his phone. 

The anonymous source said that they didn’t understand why GWARbar was targeted, because it is well regarded by the Jackson Ward community as a true example of a neighborhood dive bar. They said it has always been a safe space for its workers and patrons. 

Derks said he was conflicted about his place as a business owner in the ongoing conflict between protesters and police brutality. 

“As a business owner I have struggled to stay neutral as the world goes insane around me,” Derks said in his statement. “It is not GWARbar’s place to choose a side in the heated discourse that is ripping at the very fabric of our society, but last night I was reluctantly thrust onto the frontline of these struggles.”

Top Photo by Jimmie Lee Jarvis, via Twitter

Opinion: What Is the RPD Trying to Hide?

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“Instead of spending countless millions on a police force that treats their citizens like enemy combatants, the city should be funding social, economic, and mental health programs that actually prevent crime,” writes Landon Shroder.

Once again the Richmond Police Department (RPD) has attempted to mislead the people of Richmond. This time by reporting an incomplete picture on their monthly “use of force” statistics — conveniently omitting the bulk of police violence which took place against citizen protesters in June. Reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD) over the weekend, the Times-Dispatch analysis not only found the omissions, but also that use of force by the RPD against Black people was five times higher than against white people.

The RTD noted, “Officers reported using force against Black people in five times as many cases as they did against white people, according to a review of the reports that include 2018, 2019 and the first half of 2020.”

This should come as no surprise to anyone in Richmond, and certainly not to those who have been advocating for greater police accountability, oversight, and reform. The racist legacies of Richmond and Virginia’s law enforcement history are well known and well documented. Yet the intentional misreporting of statistics highlighting their own misconduct is a deliberate attempt at deception, and cuts to the core of the national reckoning we are having over law-enforcement. As City Councilman Dr. Michael Jones told RVA Mag in an interview last week, “I’ve always believed the police cannot police the police.”

Jones is correct. This is the job of the Mayor and Richmond City Council. 

The RPD eventually updated their statistics three days later, but only after the RTD inquired about the omissions. Naturally the RPD attempted to counter this narrative, with their spokesman, Gene Lepley, saying, “We don’t wait until it’s all complete to post [the statistics]. What’s posted on the first of the month, it’s a snapshot of where we are.” He added, “We’re way behind… It’s been an extraordinary time.”

Indeed, it has been an extraordinary time for two reasons: Firstly, our citizens were brutalized by a police force which clearly made confrontations with protestors personal. And secondly, the city’s elected leadership — with the exception of Councilpersons Jones and Stephanie Lynch — abdicated all responsibility in demanding accountability from local and state law enforcement agencies, which acted without any decent restraint. 

Protesters in June. Photo by Landon Shroder

Councilwoman Kim Gray was even quoted last week in an NBC 12 interview spinning blatant falsehoods about the community project at Marcus-David Peters (MDP) Circle. Reaching a new low, she demanded the police have a plan for “restoring peace” and to keep people from apparently “defecating on the sidewalk” and “having sex on cars.” Anyone who has spent any amount of time at MDP knows this narrative is absolute rubbish.

The only thing not extraordinary about this situation is just how obviously mediocre the RPD and the city’s elected leadership has been. Especially when stacked against the responsibility of providing for the safety and well-being of the city’s citizenry, which includes space to demonstrate without fear of state-sponsored violence. According to the crowd-sourced 2020 Police Brutality Monitor (a GitHub repository), Richmond ranks eighth nationally in the most reported incidents of police violence since May 26th — hardly a marker of the progressive city Richmond likes to position itself as.  

As a result, Mayor Levar Stoney has just announced a 24-member task force to “reimagine public safety.” But this feels like another political stall tactic, much like the ten-member Monument Ave Commission, which met for a year before presenting a list of recommendations that the city failed to action. It is equally naive to believe that a 24-person task force will be able to reach a consensus on a progressive road map that will be able to restore community trust and legitimacy to the RPD. Furthermore, a commission that is allowing police officers and the Commonwealth’s Attorney to sit as task force members undermines the very foundation of what Stoney wants to reimagine.

What should be obvious is that this task force is a politician’s strategy to run down the clock in the direction of the mayoral election in November. A veritable death by committee, and a cynical attempt for Stoney to have it both ways. On one hand, he allowed his police force to commit egregious acts of violence with no accountability, while on the other hand positioning himself as the champion of police reform. This should fool no one. 

Photo by Landon Shroder

The RPD is a police force that is woefully out of touch with the citizens they are sworn to protect. Going through three chiefs in one month proves that the culture of law enforcement in Richmond is no longer compatible with the needs of this city. Look no further than the over-policing and use of force against Black communities at a rate of five times that of their white counterparts. When this is juxtaposed against the RPD’s assault on civil society, protected freedoms, and a default setting of violence, not de-escalation, we remain a city in crisis, not repair. This is unacceptable.

It is time for Stoney to demand accountability from the RPD. City Council should lead an independent and transparent investigation which can hold the RPD accountable for the police violence committed in June. Waiting on a 24-member task force working against a 45-to-90-day mandate accomplishes none of the things needed to repair trust in this city’s law enforcement. Simultaneously, the mayor needs to take the proposals of Council members Jones and Lynch seriously and explore ideas for defunding the RPD’s 100 million budget for 2021.

Instead of spending countless millions on a police force that treats their citizens like enemy combatants, the city should be funding social, economic, and mental health programs that actually prevent crime. Defunding a militarized police force who believes they need an abundance of crowd suppression weaponry — like tear gas, rubber bullets, 40mm sponge grenades, and armored personnel carriers — is not only good politics, but what “reimagining” public safety actually looks like.  

Top photo by Nils Westergard

Exclusive: Q & A with City Councilman Dr. Michael Jones on Police Violence

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Dr. Michael Jones has submitted a bill to ban chokeholds, tear gas, and rubber bullets in Richmond. In this exclusive interview, he talks to RVA Mag about what needs to be done to reform the city’s police force.

Given the ongoing police violence over the past month, RVA Mag wanted to better understand who was calling the shots on the ground. We turned to Richmond City Councilman Dr. Michael Jones, who has been demanding an end to police violence. Jones and Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch have been seen at protests, giving them a ground-level perspective on recent events.

Since his election in 2016, the councilman has written policy and led council efforts to remove monuments and effect stronger gun control within Richmond. However, firm public positions regarding police accountability and defunding represent new priorities for Jones, especially in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, and our local unrest. During our conversation, we talked about his pending legislation to ban chokeholds, tear gas, and rubber bullets, and the need for an independent investigation into Richmond Police Department violence toward protesters, as well as the shooting of Marcus-David Peters, an unarmed Black man killed by RPD in 2018.

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

RVA Mag: Hello, Dr. Jones, thanks for making time to chat with us. We’re assuming you’re burning at full steam with everything happening on the street?

Jones: How many times are you really a part of history? This is some dope shit, it just is. Regardless of where you sit with the monuments — 130 years. That’s ridiculous, right? 

RVA Mag: During this historical moment, we’ve witnessed numerous incidents during which the RPD has used force against protesters. Many citizens have described Richmond as a city in crisis. Are we a city in crisis? 

Jones: I would say we are a city that’s always been in crisis. You find out what you’re made of when pressure is applied. That’s the essence of a crisis. Other cities are handling the same things we’re going through differently. Richmond has its own demons. 

RVA Mag: The reason “crisis” feels apt is both parties have no intersection of understanding. The crisis is that the demands of the protesters are being met by endless police violence. 

Jones: You are expecting a dog to do something other than bite or bark. Our policing in America is based on a warrior mentality. We have to have some forward thinking with regards to law enforcement. You can’t beat us and protect us simultaneously. I think people are wrestling with this understanding and finally seeing what the African American community has been saying for fucking decades. We didn’t create this public perception of how the police is viewed — they have to own it. You have just enough white Americans now saying “this is bull.” Because I’ll say this, if it was just brothers getting tear gassed, white America wouldn’t care. They just now started caring about Blacks being killed by the police. 

RVA Mag: Let’s drill into some specifics. Do you know why Chief Blackwell stepped down so quickly?

Jones: I don’t know the timeline. Do I think he was the best hire? All you had to do was listen to what came out of his mouth… “We’re going to take back the city.” Really? That’s not what we need. 

RVA Mag: The timeline for hiring Chief [Gerald] Smith was peculiar given the job ad for a new chief in the Times Dispatch — two days after they had already appointed someone. Was city council consulted on the search? 

Jones: We’re not consulted with most searches. Honestly, I don’t believe in trying to micromanage the administration. I think council is shirking its responsibility in exercising their oversight. 

RVA Mag: Do you have the type of relationship with the mayor in which he seeks your counsel? 

Jones: I am a friend of Levar Stoney…But I am a politician. My people didn’t put me in here to fight the mayor. I pride myself on building good relationships — it is what I do. 

RVA Mag: Do you feel a more robust month-long national search could have revealed a more suitable hire and more diverse applicant pool? 

Jones: With what I know about how chiefs are handled, they go to “chief-makers.” They will go and talk to other chiefs and get recommendations on who they think is ready to be a chief.

RVA Mag: We’ve posted numerous shocking videos this month of police violence — do you think it is fair to say the RPD has gone rogue? 

Jones: This is what police do. You are expecting something different from the police… America is seeing what African Americans have experienced forever. There is a warrior, militaristic mentality within law enforcement all throughout the country. 

Stephanie Lynch and I were leaving [one of the protests]. The crowd dispersed. We were a block and a half away from Grace — literally — going towards our cars, roughly right next to the Jefferson. Tear gas canisters launched our way. A block and a half. What the hell? The crowd is dispersed. Why a canister a block and a half away? That is the wrong policy. 

RVA Mag: Some cities throughout America have now taken a progressive approach to police reforms. Even last night in Norfolk, they held a sleep-in at city hall, which did not end in egregious police violence. How did we get it so wrong? 

Jones: Richmond is the former capital of the Confederacy and we have lived that out. [Richmond] will uphold the Virginia way, and power is in the business of staying in power. That law enforcement entity is there to ensure this. They didn’t get twisted until protesters went out on Monument Ave…Next thing we know folks got tear gassed at 7:30pm, a half-hour before curfew. 

RVA Mag: You’ve now submitted your bill to city council to get rid of chokeholds, flash bangs, tear gas, rubber bullets — what’s your level of confidence in getting this passed?

Jones: I’m worried, and it is problematic. This should be a 9-0 vote, but I am getting “what-about-isms” on council and elsewhere. I think it is anti-American and wrong… I know Steph and I are there. But I also know we have people who are pro-police on council. It should come out of committee with a recommendation to approve. I don’t trust that it will.

RVA Mag: Are you aware of any disciplinary proceedings against the RPD? The mayor put it out there and the police are spinning a narrative which has been contradicted by the videos we’ve all seen. Who runs the police department if there is no accountability or oversight? 

Jones: No — I wish. If they are telling me they’re not using rubber-bullets — that’s why I went out there. I called the mayor while I was out there and told him “they’re popping shit back here.” The mayor called [the RPD] and said they’re not… I think [RPD] are giving some bad information, and some people are spinning some things, which shouldn’t be spun. And if the mayor’s not getting accurate information then someone should be fired…Unfortunately it is their MO to do whatever they want and spin the narrative. 

RVA Mag: Are you confident that RPD is working within legal boundaries when they declare unlawful assembly? 

Jones: You’re expecting blood out of a turnip. You’re expecting an apple to be anything other than crunchy. I’ve heard an amendment [to anti-tear gas legislation] saying: “Let’s ban it except for a riot…” They’ll deem it a riot if they want to!

RVA Mag: Do you support the disengagement of law enforcement from Marcus-David Peters circle?

Jones: When I’m working through back channels, I’ve said, “If you guys stand down it will be different.” And so, there was a night that it was. Some calls were made… [But] if you come in riot gear, they’re going to walk up to you. Because it’s an act of intimidation.

RVA Mag: Do you have a sense of how much the city has spent fighting protesters? 

Jones: That’s one of my asks. When we get it, I’m going to make it public. Tell the people how much it is. I want to know about asset forfeiture. I want to know what y’all are doing with that money. Where’s it going when you get the money from these dope boys?

RVA Mag: What’s the general atmosphere at City Council? We’ve seen a month of strife, and outside of you and Councilwoman Lynch, the bench has been pretty quiet. 

Jones: [Councilpersons] are saying they want it to end. “Stop tearing up our city.” You’ve got that side saying that. It’s still Virginia. We’re still moderate and conservative.

RVA Mag: Do you have the sense that the majority of City Council feels that it’s the protesters who need to stand down more than the cops?

Jones: I would say we have a lot of pro-police persons on city council. They’re terrified by the word ‘defund.’

RVA Mag: You tweeted about it a month ago, but what’s your stance on defunding?

Jones: I’m putting in the paper… I’ve seen firsthand how they go in and beef up their budget. The mayor did a good job of stopping this practice because a budget would be introduced, the department heads wouldn’t like the amount that was budgeted, so they would come back to Council and get five votes for this [extra] thing. You have the chief of police coming around saying, “Look, we’ve got this model, predictive policing, it’s going to make our streets safer, we can do these things…” And I didn’t know any better, so I thought, “OK, this is how it’s done.”  But it’s like, “You guys are inflating things. Do you actually need it?”

RVA Mag: Do you have a sense of what the chain of command is when things are happening in real-time at protests? Is the mayor involved in real time? The police chief?

Jones: I know [they] have [their] frontline guys. I know there are some sergeants on-hand behind them, and I know they’re on the phone with someone in some other place. That place could be five blocks away, it could be at the top of a tower. I don’t know. But I know this: if I were the chief of police, I’m going to try and make some calls. It’s going to be all hands on deck. We’re going to treat tear gas like it’s deadly force. 

RVA Mag: The RPD press release on the morning of June 27 stated there were no chemical agents used on demonstrators on June 26, except for one demonstrator who was pepper sprayed. However, several people were suffering from chemical exposure. Do you support an independent investigation into instances when it seems like the police have not been transparent?

Jones: With you putting me on the record for it, I think we’re going to get to that. We have been talking about the need for an independent investigation into what’s going on. There have been so many conflicting stories… you tear-gassed innocent civilians! We need to have an in-depth conversation. We need to investigate. I need someone coming from outside. I’ve always believed the police cannot police the police.

RVA Mag: I know it is not your domain as a Councilman, but do you support the re-opening of the Marcus-David Peters case?

Jones: Here’s what I think — the police do a shitty job of ministering and serving the families of the deceased. You can go back to 2002. I talked to the family.

RVA Mag: The family of the deceased victim of former Chief Blackwell’s shooting?

Jones: Yes. How they were treated is abhorrent.

RVA Mag: Can you speak to that in detail?

Jones: Nope. This is out of respect to the family. This is real talk. They don’t want any press from this.

RVA Mag: We’ve seen the family’s memo. They did release a public memo stating that they’ve been lied to.

Jones: What’s in that memo does not get to the heart-wrenching detail. So, if [Peters’ sister] Princess Blanding and the family of Marcus-David Peters is going through anything like what this other family went through, even though it’s already been investigated, it should be done.

RVA Mag: Do you have any plan to encourage the Commonwealth’s Attorney to re-open the case?

Jones: I would be willing to have a conversation with her and say, “What is it going to take?” This family has a hole in their heart that may never be filled. And I’ll say this: I don’t think I handled it as well as I could have as a Black male on City Council.

RVA Mag: What do you wish you had done better?

Jones: I wish I would have been more vocal. I wish I had persisted more. I wish I had conversations with the family sooner… I learned a lot. I sent out a tweet [about the killing of Marcus-David Peters]: “Naked. Unarmed. Waiting…” Can I tell you that Chief [Durham] called me? It wasn’t a pleasant conversation.

RVA Mag: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Good luck with everything. 

*Landon Shroder contributed to this interview. Top Photo: Dr. Michael Jones, via Twitter

There For Those In Need

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Captain Michael Bender, who became Richmond Police Department’s new LGBTQ Liaison in August, wants to ensure that Richmond’s LGBTQ community feels welcomed and included throughout the city.

In June 1969, police raided Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, sparking two nights of rioting that have gone down in history as a catalyst of the gay rights movement. Today, half a century later, it’s not uncommon to encounter anti-police sentiments among members of the LGBTQ community. “No cops at Pride” becomes a mantra each June for those aware of the long history of injustices committed against the LGBTQ community by police.

In hopes of building a stronger, healthier relationship with the community, the Richmond Police Department established an LGBTQ liaison officer position in 2013. This past August, Captain Michael Bender took over as RPD’s LGBTQ liaison officer, replacing Captain Dan Minton, who had held the position since 2016.

Bender, who has been with RPD for almost 25 years, said that a big part of his responsibilities as LGBTQ Liaison is being available to the community. “A liaison role is about accessibility,” he said. “Who do you go to talk to if you have an issue?”

This falls in line with precedents that past liaisons have set. In 2017, Richmond police investigated an incident in which an individual spray-painted the words “Gay Move Die” on the side of a car as a hate crime. Capt. Minton, LGBTQ liaison at the time, was actively involved in communicating updates about the investigation to members of the LGBTQ community.

Bender says that it is important for him to help out the LGBTQ community in Richmond, because everyone should feel welcome in the community as a whole.

“One of the big things I always tell officers is ‘how would you want your family treated … if they encountered the police?’” Bender said. “If you can make somebody feel welcome and feel accepted, then they’re part of the community. And that’s what we want for everybody in the city. It’s not just certain groups or certain people that we want to be in the community, we want everybody to feel a fabric of Richmond because it’s a great city.”

Richmond Police Chief William Smith, Capt. Bender, and other members of local law enforcement agencies at VA PrideFest 2019. Photo by Christopher Brown

While Bender had never attended a Pride festival prior to becoming LGBTQ liaison, this year’s VA PrideFest, which occurred on September 28, was his first. Bender hoped to use the event as an opportunity to make his face known to the community and as a way to build trust.

“It’s just about changing people’s perceptions and talking to people like they’re people,” Bender said. “I mean, we’re all people. So there’s no difference, as far as I’m concerned, just because I’m wearing a uniform.”

It’s probably comes as no surprise that Bender disagrees with the notion of “no cops at Pride.”

“In this day and age, having an event where you have over 20 to 30,000 people, it’s a public safety issue if you don’t have some law enforcement presence,” he said. “Speaking to the president of [VA Pride, James Millner], he is very adamant that having uniformed officers there is imperative for everybody’s safety.”

Bender has only served as LGBTQ liaison officer for around two months now. He says that he has had conversations with his predecessor about how to best handle the responsibilities of the position, and seeks to continue the improvements he has seen the Richmond Police Department has made since he joined their ranks in 1995.

“It’s a new position and it’s an unknown,” he said. “I’m just hoping I can do a good job and be there when somebody needs me.”

Top Photo courtesy Richmond Police

Hate Crimes in Virginia Jump Almost by Half

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Hate crimes in Virginia rose nearly 50 percent from 2016 to 2017. This year, Attorney General Mark Herring proposed legislation to deal with the problem… but all of the bills died in the General Assembly.

Virginia recorded more than 200 hate crimes in 2017 — up nearly 50% from the previous year, according to the latest data from the Virginia State Police.

That surge, along with the neo-Nazi rally that left a counterprotester dead in Charlottesville two years ago, prompted state Attorney General Mark Herring to propose legislation to address the problem. However, all of the bills died in this year’s General Assembly.

The FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”

According to data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, 7,175 hate crimes were reported across the U.S. in 2017. About 60% of those crimes were related to race, 21% to religion and 16% to sexual orientation.

In Virginia, hate crimes jumped from 137 in 2016 to 202 the following year, according to the Virginia State Police. Virginia had more hate crimes in 2017 than during any year since 2008.

Of the 202 hate crimes committed in 2017:

  • 89 (44%) were racially motivated
  • 44 (22%) were religiously motivated
  • 38 (19%) were related to sexual orientation,
  • 20 (10%) were related to ethnicity
  • 11 (5%) were motivated by bias against disability

Herring has been concerned about the issue for several years. In 2016, he launched his “No Hate VA” initiative, which included creating a website and holding discussion groups across the state to address the rise in hate crimes.

“I’m putting these ideas forward and convening these roundtables because it’s time for action,” Herring stated in a press release.

“I will do everything I can and work with anyone who wants to ensure that all Virginians are protected from hate and violence, no matter what they look like, how they worship, where they come from, or who they love.”

In August 2017, a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville turned deadly after James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into a crowd of counterdemonstrators, injuring dozens of people and killing Heather Heyer. Herring then amped up his fight against hate crimes and white supremacist groups.

In 2018 and again this year, Herring called on the General Assembly to pass laws dealing with hate crimes. His 2019 legislative agenda included:

  • Updating Virginia’s definition of “hate crime” by adding gender and sexual orientation.
  • Allowing the attorney general to prosecute hate crimes across multiple jurisdictions.
  • Prohibiting paramilitary activity such as “drilling, parading, or marching with any firearm or explosive or incendiary device.”
  • Banning firearms from public events.
  • Banning firearms from individuals who have been convicted of a hate crime.

Virginia defines a hate crime as “any legal act directed against any persons or property because of those persons’ race, religion or national origin.”

Unlike the federal definition, Virginia’s definition of a hate crime does not include gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. (In its annual statistics, the Virginia State Police categorize offenses according to the federal definition.)

Legislation to expand Virginia’s definition of a hate crime was carried by Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington. SB 1375 was killed in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on an 8-6 party-line vote, with Republicans voting against the bill.

Democratic Sens. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth and Creigh Deeds of Bath County sponsored the legislation to prohibit paramilitary activity. SB 1210 sought to charge individuals with a Class 5 felony if “a person is guilty of unlawful paramilitary activity if such person assembles with another person with the intent of intimidating any person or group of persons by drilling, parading, or marching with any firearm or explosive or incendiary device or any components or combination thereof.”

The bill cleared the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on a 7-6 vote but died in the Senate Finance Committee.

In all, 10 bills before the General Assembly this year attempted to address hate crimes. Seven of the bills were defeated in the House of Delegates and three in the Senate.

For example, two identical bills were introduced to let local governments prohibit firearms at public events: HB 1956 by Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, and SB 1473 by Deeds. Both measures aimed to authorize “any locality by ordinance to prohibit the possession or carrying of firearms, ammunition, or components or any combination thereof in a public space during a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit.”

Both bills died in their chamber of origin.

Attorney General Mark Herring.

Despite the lack of legislative action, advocacy groups across Virginia are working to help victims of hate crimes. Assistance ranges from counseling to lawyer referrals.

Herring’s “No Hate VA” includes resources for victims of hate crimes as well as advice on how to report a crime.

The website encourages victims to immediately report hate crimes to the police and to their local FBI office. The FBI has an online form at https://tips.fbi.gov

A Run-in with Hate: One Man’s Story

What started as a normal evening hanging out with friends took a quick turn for Richmond resident Phillip Sampson. As Sampson was walking down the street with a friend, a stranger approached. Sampson, who describes himself as having an outgoing personality, went to greet the passerby with a friendly “Hello!”

Before the words came out, Sampson was struck across the chest with a fist to his shoulder, knocking him back, while slurs were shouted at him.

“Expletives start flying out, and he starts cursing at me and yelling, and I’m like ‘what is going on?’” Sampson said.

The individual, who Sampson later found out is his friend’s brother, continued to yell at him and his friend before trying to break into the friend’s car. Still in shock over the situation, Sampson went to sit in his car and wait for the police to arrive.

Sampson identifies as gay and believes that was the motive behind the incidents. Having never been in this type of situation before, he was relieved when police arrived within minutes.

He said the two officers who arrived handled the situation professionally and took time to make sure he was OK. After telling the police what happened, Sampson said he was surprised by the compassion and genuine concern expressed by the officers.

“They walked me through what my options were and provided contact information so that I could reach out if I needed anything,” Sampson said.

He considers himself lucky that he was not seriously hurt but feels others in similar situations might not be as fortunate.

Sampson said that he did not need to utilize any victim resources, but he is glad to know that they are available to others.

“I was happy to see what was available to me had I needed them,” he said. “It’s comforting to know that there is help out there for those who really need it.”

Written by Jayla Marie McNeill and Ben Burstein, Capital News Service. Top photo: RVA Mag archives