by: Linda Poulson Special to the
AFRO
Virginia residents recently
confronted local leaders over the ruling that the death of a mentally ill Black
woman in northern Virginia was an accident.
Protestors on Sept. 14 questioned
the accountability of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office at an Ad Hoc Police
Practices Review Commission panel held at Walt Whitman Middle School in
Alexandria, Va.
The residents were inflamed by
the ruling that the death while in police custody of 37-year-old Natasha
McKenna, who suffered from schizophrenia, was an accident. A video of the
incident was released months after her death, showing apparent rough treatment
and multiple uses of a tazer device as McKenna was transferred from one cell at
the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center to another.
“Her death was murder but ruled
an accident, as if it never happened,” said one protester. “That is a problem
for me, as a Black woman, in this country because Natasha McKenna is me; and to
say that her death is an accident is a move that you just learn from, I have a
problem with that. When you have a problem with something especially that stems
from systems of oppression, I dismantle that s**t.”
The packed audience included
protesters from the Black Lives Matter campaign and other residents who
believed immediate changes in police procedures were needed.
“I’ve never seen a level of
distrust and disrespect for the police, it’s just really troubling,” said a
resident. “We’ve come up with a list of recommendations that really make sense
and why in the hell didn’t we implement these years ago?” The speaker referred
to a list of proposals for improvements in police action, given to the panel in
2004.
“More people of color, you need
to include the homeless and their organizations, and all other marginalized
people to be included in these commissions and committees,” said another
resident. “Otherwise, you’re wasting our time and the taxpayer’s money.”
Another resident raised questions
on the procedures police used while handling McKenna. At the time of her death,
she was awaiting transportation to Alexandria, Va. where she was wanted for
assaulting an officer.
“Why was she tazed four times?
Why were her hands and feet bound?” the resident said. “People all over the
world, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Africa; have seen this
horrific video showing a mentally ill young Black woman treated in such a
brutal manner. These same people ask me is the United States really that
violent?”
The Washington Post reported that
McKenna only weighed 130 pounds at the time of her death. According to
McKenna’s family attorney, Harvey J. Volzer, she was diagnosed with
schizophrenia at age 12 and struggled with the disease throughout her life. The
AFRO attempted to contact Mr. Volzer several times with no response.
One protester stated the video
“looked liked a rape and an electrocution at the same time,” as McKenna was
naked when guards threw her to the ground. “Where were the women guards?” the
protester asked.
Heard on the video, Natasha
McKenna’s last words as she was taken from her jail cell were “You promised you
wouldn’t kill me.” Several protestors at the rally said the promise was never
intended to be kept.
Demonstrators
Appear at Hearing After Inmate Death
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Demonstrators
appeared at a hearing on police practices to call for reforms, days after
Fairfax County prosecutors announced the decision not to charge deputies in an
inmate’s death.
Before the Ad Hoc Police
Practices Review Commission met Monday night in Alexandria, dozens of people
stood outside. Some held signs reading “Justice for Natasha McKenna” and “Film
the Police.” The commission is focused on county police, not the sheriff’s
department, which manages the jail. Still, several people spoke out at the
hearing about the death of McKenna several days after a struggle with deputies.
The commission heard a report
from a subcommittee focused on use of force, which is making about 40
recommendations, including asking patrol officers to wear body cameras. The
commission is set to meet again Oct. 8.
Demonstrators
call for change at public hearing on Fairfax police practices
By Michelle Basch |
Many demonstrators brought their
signs into the hearing, held by the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission.
WASHINGTON — Mentally ill Fairfax
County Jail inmateNatasha McKenna died a few days after jail deputies shocked
her repeatedly with a Taser in February.
Last week’s decision to not file
criminal charges in connection with her death, as well as to release disturbing
video of what led up to it, prompted protesters to show up at a public hearing
on Monday night.
Before the meeting started at
Walt Whitman Middle School in Alexandria, a few dozen people stood outside
holding signs that read “Justice for Natasha McKenna,” “Film the Police” and
“Instead of help + treatment, they gave her abuse + death.”
Although the commission is focused
on the Fairfax County Police Department and not the Fairfax County Sheriff’s
Department, which manages the county jail, numerous people signed up to speak
out about McKenna’s death.
“We demand justice for Natasha
and for those like her in the detention facility today,” Cayce Utley said.
“This woman was having a
psychotic episode. She didn’t know what was happening to her. She had men in
white suits groping at her naked body,” said Erika Totten, with Black Lives
Matter.
“It was a cruel reminder of how
African slaves were treated once upon a time,” said Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture.
Other speakers called for the
prosecutor and the deputies involved in the case to be fired.
Well into the hearing, one of the
members of the commission, Sal Culosi, stood to speak to the audience.
“You need to know that my son …
was killed by (the) Fairfax County Police Department in 2006. They said it was
an accident. We’re not going to go into that, but I’m here trying to make the
policies better. By and large I agree with everything that’s been said here by
all of you with regard to Natasha except for one thing. One thing. This is not
a racial issue.”
That led to “boos” from several
in the crowd.
Culosi continued, “The officer
who killed my son was black. And that has nothing to do with the issue of
policy.”
At the same meeting, the
commission heard a report from its Use of Force Subcommittee, which is making
about 40 recommendations for change. They include asking police patrol officers
to wear body cameras and carry Electronic Controlled weapons, such as Tasers,
while on duty. The subcommittee also supports a ban on chokeholds as a way of
controlling suspects.
The commission is scheduled to
meet again on Oct. 8 to vote on recommendations submitted by all five of its
subcommittees.
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