An Arrest in Richmond: "You Guys are Guinea Pigs. We Had to Send a Message."

Demonstrators gather after curfew during a protest in New York City on June 2, 2020. Brendan McDermid / Reuters

by Thomas Neuburger

All of us were basically on our way home. They took us to a large garage with at least 100 other people they arrested that night. I say arrested, but I’m not actually sure. No one was given a reason why they were stopped. ... No one in the entire garage had been caught doing anything besides being out after curfew. Almost everyone had just been on their way home.

These protests are about much more than just George Floyd, [they are] about a corrupt and broken system that devalues life and craves power.

The following, by a twitter user named @nomoniker_, tells one story of thousands that occurred in the past few days, but it deserves a wider telling, not just because of the matter it contains, but because it's typical of so many others, and because it shows the state of policing in almost all of the nation.

These events happened publicly, one small saga in a mass outpouring that provoked a lot of news coverage. Yet despite the public nature of police actions, they didn't have to think twice about doing them — they broke no new ground, in other words.

Note the arrest which is not an arrest: The writer was pulled over, cuffed and held on no probable cause, then taken to a garage for no stated reason where at least 100 others like them were being held. It took a day to sort everything out, with no charges filed. (The account is lightly edited for clarity.)

Hi everybody. I was arrested at the protests in Richmond last night (or rather after). I wanted to share my experience + shed some light on what the police are doing.

Last night around 1230/1 [12:30-1:00] I stepped onto my back porch and saw two people running and looking quite frightened. I invited them in and they stayed at our place for a little while to rest and hide out. They were both teenagers, and both black.

After they were feeling better we decided to go to their car which was a short drive from where I live. I drove them to their car, seeing some cops but not realizing how prevalent the their presence was at this point (at least in Jackson Ward).

On my way home, about a minute later, cops pulled up behind me and told me to get out of the car and put my hands on the vehicle.

There were at least 5 cops and one national guard, I think. The NG guy asked me if I was from Richmond (he thought I came from out of town I think) and then accused me of tearing up my own city.

Me and another person they arrested were cuffed and put on the curb before being taken into the police van (paddy wagon?). [In] the car I called the Richmond Bail Fund (an amazing organization!) and all 7 of us in the van gave them our info/explained that we were being held.

All of us were basically on our way home. They took us to a large garage with at least 100 other people they arrested that night. I say arrested, but I’m not actually sure. Talking to others, no one was given a reason why they were stopped, no one was read Miranda rights, etc.

This garage is where I and many others spent the next 10 hours. A lot of people had been there even earlier. Unfortunately I also saw the two guys who stayed at my house, who had been arrested around the same time as me. They had been swarmed by a group of cars and had assault rifles shoved in their faces. From what I gathered having an AR-15 pointed at your face in your drivers seat was a common experience to a lot of people last night.

Some things [that] I remember in the garage, where we were kept for 10 hours with vague explanations that we were being processed and things were going as fast as possible (cops were mostly just standing around): ZERO social distancing. We were constantly grouped together. A lot of the cops did not wear masks.

A cop brought out water bottles, [and] when we asked how we were going to drink them she laughed and said, “You can figure something out!”

One officer took a pic on his own phone of the crowd.

One said outright, “You guys are guinea pigs. We had to arrest a lot of people to send a message about yesterday.”

One woman had a seizure and fell down, not getting up. They brought an ambulance but not exactly quickly.

Several cops, especially later on, couldn’t believe that we were arrested from our cars just while driving. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

One cop said Richmond didn’t have killings like George Floyd’s. I said yes in fact we do and mentioned Marcus David-Peters. He didn’t know who I was talking about until I described it in more detail, and then he exclaimed, “Oh! The naked guy!”

People had all their phones taken away [and] were not able to contact their families. I thought I was close to being let go at around 5 because one cop let me get my things, but then he basically left and someone else took his spot. That happened a lot. 

I was able to send some messages, but it didn’t help at all. They didn’t let lawyers or anyone through, they kept people in this garage without contact from at least 9pm through the entire night.

Around 530/6 [5:30-6:00 am], I think, me and a few others were being told we were close to being processed.

Instead they put us on a bus parked in the garage, where I was until 10:30 when I was finally actually released. Some people had been in that bus since 9 the night before and were clearly distressed + had not been given much water, or food, and had not been told what was going on. Again, no one in the entire garage had been caught doing anything besides being out after curfew, almost everyone had just been on their way home.

I was let out at 10:30, not told where I was, with a dead phone. Thankfully @RVABailFund are a bunch of absolute sweethearts who help with the legal aspects, offered to cover tow truck costs, gave me a ride home, and in general offered a much needed pick me up after it all.

If you read this and have any sympathy for all the people detained last night, please donate to them or a similar organization in your area.

Last night in general felt very dreamlike and absurd, but I’m ok. Mostly, I’m just mad and determined that the police face accountability for their actions. They act like an invading force in this country and murder people with impunity.

These protests are about much more than just George Floyd, it’s about a corrupt and broken system that devalues life and craves power. But, as much as they wanted to send the message to us “we’re in control and you are not”, really the shitshow of last night sent the message that they are disorganized, often incompetent, and that they’ve created a situation that they don’t know how to handle. They are hoping to bully us into submission.

If you feel at all about what’s going on this week across America, please show up to a protest and make your voice heard. And be careful.

Peace y’all,
Jordan

To repeat: "These protests are about much more than just George Floyd, [they are] about a corrupt and broken system that devalues life and craves power."

If these protests are just about George Floyd and the uncounted African Americans killed by police — and that alone — the effort will not have been wasted.

But they could be, and should be, about so much more.