These Protests Have Happened Before

Police Brutality While Protesting Police Brutality

On August 20, 2018 police release smoke bombs amid demonstrators at the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill.

Response in solidarity with This Week Has Happened Before by Julia Craven

The police brutality in these protests has happened before too.

In the Fall of 2019, I stood among other UNC-Chapel Hill students, Chapel Hill community members, and journalists at a peaceful protest, watching police guide pro-Confederate white supremacist protesters to their cars. When the last car door closed, I could hear people choking and coughing around me.

The police had pepper-sprayed us.

Witnesses would later tell me what preceded it. Student organizers chanting loudly at an officer.

Protesting.

No one touched the officer. There were no weapons.

There was no physical threat.

And yet, despite that, a policeman had aimed his pepper fogger directly at the chest of a student organizer and sprayed.

In a nearby bush, I choked almost to the point of vomiting and cried from disbelief. We were students. Why would they do that to us?

From Twitter “This very aggressive cop pulled pepper spray on peaceful protesters while the neo-Confederates were being escorted away. Later, he has to be restrained by a fellow officer when he aggressively approached an anti-racist protester who was simply filming him.” Photo by Daniel Hosterman.

In the Fall of 2018, when black and brown students at UNC-Chapel Hill protested the danger of having Confederate monument “Silent Sam” on campus — we were met with riot gear and smoke bombs.

In the Spring of 2018, students participating in a peaceful student sit-in around the “Silent Sam” were met with an undercover police officer masquerading as a fellow sit-in supporter.

In the Fall of 2017, when members and leaders of the Campus Y dropped #BlackLivesMatter banners from our Campus Y building, we were met with an overt show of police force while pro-Confederate white supremacists marching on our campus were met with a police escort.

On August 30, 2018, weeks after the toppling of the “Silent Sam” figurine, police stand armed in front of Graham Memorial at UNC-Chapel Hill. Protest had been peaceful up to this point. Photo by Daniel Hosterman.

When I protested — a 21-year-old black journalism student — I was met with police militarism.

It is sickening to hear some of the experiences of demonstrators in early June; police pepper-spraying children, rubber bullets raining on a crowd of press and demonstrators, students from Spellman and Howard being tased in the street; all amid peaceful protesting.

The scale of brutality is unprecedented. But, the actions of police brutality and overreach are not.

In hearing the experiences of other demonstrators, I am also reminded of the lived experiences fueling the protests; black children thrown down at swimming pools, tackled unnecessarily in classrooms. I am reminded of the experiences of those whose names have donned our protest signs; Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, George Floyd, Sandra Bland.

I am also reminded of the experiences of demonstrators of the past decade; the rubber bullets fired at press and peaceful protesters at Standing Rock, the tear gas, and riot gear.

On August 30, 2018, police stand poised outside of Graham Memorial. After the “Silent Sam” statue was removed, police placed rounds of barricades around its remaining pedestal. Pro-Confederate supporters were allowed in the barricade. Students were kept out.

In these demonstrations and in these situations, police brutality has served the same purpose: Reinforcing and protecting an oppressive system of white dominance.

Who protects us from the police while we are protesting police brutality?

In 2020, there is no form of physical protest that guarantees the safety of those protesting in the United States; not when they are black and brown, lower-income, LGBTQA+, or disabled.

Allyship does not guarantee safety.

Being a journalist does not guarantee safety.

Being a student does not guarantee safety

Peace does not guarantee safety.

The police certainly do not guarantee safety.

Honestly, in this country, I do not know what could.

But, we can lessen the patterns of brutality exemplified this month.

Defund the police.

And, don’t stop there.

From August 22, 2017, protest before the statue was removed. After this protest, students staged a 24-hour sit-in around the “Silent Sam.” and vowed to continue this sit-in until “Silent Sam” was removed from campus. University administrators later disupted the sit-in, citing a policy disallowing standing structures. The protest consisted of mainly students.

There are building blocks to police brutality during protests.

Before students were pepper-sprayed by police on campus, university administrators dismissed the purpose of our protest.

When our former Chancellor, Carol Folt, lied in the face of student organizers pleading with her to remove Confederate monument “Silent Sam,” she reinforced the message: This university will not protect you.

When journalists oversimplified our student-led movement or reinforced false equivalencies between pro-Confederate supporters and students, they reinforced that same message: The media will not protect you.

How can police expect to be held accountable to their actions when every other institution reinforces the same message: We will not protect you.

Every institution of the United States has to reckon with its patterns of silencing activism against institutional oppression.

Defund the police. Then, defund and disrupt all of the systems that failed to hold the police accountable; universities included.

In a democracy, we should be safe enough to protest a system that is killing us; without being threatened with violence in the process.

If you would like to contribute financially to NC organizations fighting against racism or find helpful resources, visit this link.

This link takes you to “Silence Sam,” a participatory documentary detailing some of the tactics university administrators used to quell protest against UNC-Chapel Hill’s Confederate monument.

Note: Members of UNC Black Congress and UNC’s Black Student Movement are calling for UNC-Chapel Hill to defund UNC-Chapel Hill’s police. Members of Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP Youth Council are calling for the defunding of Chapel Hill’s police.