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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.  

No Real Solution In Sight for Violence in Shockoe Bottom

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Violence continues to disrupt Shockoe Bottom businesses as two shootings, an armed robbery and a street shooting, both occurred within four days of each other between the 1800 and 1700 blocks of Main Street.

Six people were injured during the armed robbery at Liquid Café in Shockoe Bottom this past Saturday morning, shortly after 5 a.m. A street shooting took place outside Plush Restaurant and Lounge the previous Wednesday, wounding three and resulting in the arrest of 25-year-old Darroll G. Allen of Chesterfield County.

The man was said to have been kicked out of the club, later returning with a firearm and injuring one of the bouncers at the club. He was charged with felony malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, but the two suspects involved in Saturday’s armed robbery remain unidentified. None of the injuries from either incident were considered life-threatening.

“I am certain that we can all agree that this increasing gun violence in Shockoe Bottom is unacceptable. This cannot be the norm,” said RPD Chief Alfred Durham in a statement after the shooting. “Someone knows the perpetrators of this crime and we need the public’s help. We need people to call us when they hear or see something. We are already working with several stakeholders in the Shockoe Bottom community and we will continue to develop public safety strategies to reduce violence and bring a sense of calm to the area.”

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According to Department Spokesman Gene Lepley, these strategies will include increased police presence on weekends and potential road closures to allow for pedestrian-only walking areas in particularly busy street sections, such as the 1800 block of Main Street.

Liquid Café is not active in the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association. Virginia ABC Spokeswoman Dawn Eischan said both Plush and Liquid Café are under investigation, and Virginia ABC is working with Richmond Police. Plush’s wine and beer license is suspended until further notice, and their liquor license has been revoked.

“Virginia ABC believes that there is a continued threat to public safety at this establishment and these actions are necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public,” said Eischan.

Local business owner William “Mac” McCormack is relieved after learning Virginia ABC’s decision, as he and several other business owners in the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association have contested the licenses of several Shockoe Bottom clubs in the past.

“We felt [these clubs’] level of promotion was not conducive to the neighborhood,” said McCormack. “No matter how much effort we made with the ABC Board, they were still granted the license. They’ve had a continuation of violence the last couple years. It drives me a little bananas as a business owner because we’ve been trying to prevent these types of nightclubs from opening because there’s this kind of violence that happens outside of them.”

McCormack is particularly frustrated with the response from the City of Richmond as well as RPD over the past eight years, as their reactions to violence have been to increase police presence and introduce road blockades rather than rezone, revoke business licenses, or decrease maximum occupancy limits in nightclubs. According to McCormack, preventing access to local business caused by the blockades have directly affected his sales. Total sales over his 21 years of businesses average $650,000 to $700,000 per year, yet after introducing blockades, sales dropped to $62,000 in one year.

He hopes that in the future, all Shockoe Bottom businesses will focus on their local community and take responsibility for the neighborhood around them.

“As a neighborhood, we are working hard on trying to make some changes but we’ve been trying to make these changes for eight years,” McCormack said. “The city’s answer is to obstruct our businesses with blockades, and I don’t know if that’s a good answer.”

However, the owner of Plush nightclub, Juan Wilson, feels he’s being unfairly targeted.

“I’m big on accountability. If something were to happen in my venue, it’s a different story, but when something happens on the city streets or sidewalk, we have no control over that,” Wilson told WTVR in a recent interview.

The Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association held a meeting earlier this week with business owners, but according to WTVR, Wilson said he was not invited to the meeting.

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.

Family of Marcus Peters Demands Police Reforms at City Council Tonight

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The demand for justice in the killing of Marcus-David Peters moved from the streets to the council meeting room Monday night.

After a march for justice and reformation for Peters on June 2, family and community members addressed city council to call for transparency and an examination into Richmond Police Department’s crisis intervention training during the citizen comment period of the meeting.

As the demonstrators sat in the back of the gallery wearing burgundy and demanding justice for the actions by the department, Richmond City Council recognized Deputy Police Chief Steven R. Drew for his service to the community. Drew has no direct connection to the investigation, but offered a stark juxtaposition to Peters’ sister, Princess Blanding, who took to the podium a short time later.

Blanding Addressing Council

Blanding, in her address, focused on the need for better crisis intervention training and response, asking the RPD to release the curriculum for the training so it could be assessed for its effectiveness. Throughout her address, she also insisted that the current communication by the department did not demonstrate transparency.

“If what you have done so far is what you call being transparent, the community and I will pass on what you have to offer because there are still so many unanswered questions,” Blanding said. After the community comment, Blanding spoke with RVA Mag and said she was hopeful that city council was receptive to her and others comments.

“I’m going to be very optimistic and hope they are being very receptive and they plan on joining with us in this movement to continue to fight for justice and reformation,” Blanding said.

Lynetta Thompson, a former president of the Richmond NAACP, also spoke, asking the police department for more transparency.

Chief Durham Listening to the Family and Supporters of Marcus Peters

“In order for the people to be heard, in order for the people to have full accountability, it is important that we not only talk about transparency, but that we actually exemplify it by not protecting those that got it wrong,” Thompson said. “When something is wrong it is important that management and administrations admit that sometimes they get it wrong.”

Rebecca Keel, a conflict resolution specialist, has been outspoken in calling for an end to the murdering and dehumanization of black and brown people. At council she claimed the family is due an official apology.

“One must admit harm when harm is done and that is truly how we as a society, and we as a city, begin our healing,” Keel said.

Family, friends, and community members had previously gathered on June 2 at the Siegel Center to remember the untimely death of Peters. The hundreds of marchers ended up at police headquarters where they continued their primary chant of, “help not death.” Signs bearing the phrase were held up by many demonstrators in burgundy during the comments at council.

Princess Blanding, Sister of Marcus Peters

“My disappointment continues at the higher levels, instead of taking responsibility and stating that you all messed up and extending you sincerest condolences to my family, the Richmond Police Department was insincere, insensitive, judgemental, and prepared to defend your officer without releasing information to the public,” Blanding said.