'Time for change': Area residents rally against racism, police brutality, injustice

Bridget Harris said she has done “everything right” in her life.

She graduated from college, went through law school and became an accomplished lawyer. But because of the color of her skin, there are still times she feels unequal, she said.

“When will we all be equal?” Harris asked the crowd gathered at Vestavia Hills City Hall on June 5. “Why can’t we all be equal? I literally have the same heart. I have the same eyes.”

Harris said she has been screaming “black lives matter” since 2012, the year George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, after claiming he looked “suspicious.” Zimmerman served no time in prison for the death of the teenager. It has taken eight years, Harris said, for her to see her white coworkers, organizations and worldwide corporations stand in solidarity with the black community.

Those gathered at City Hall were there in memory of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody May 25 when an officer held his knee on his neck for almost nine minutes. Similar protests have been held around the area and around the world in the aftermath of Floyd’s death.

The June 5 protest saw the lawn and surrounding areas in front of City Hall packed full, an increase from a June 3 protest that had about 20 people attend. The event was peaceful, and no arrests were made.

There was an emotional conversation held later in the rally as an area resident admitted that while she was an officer in Miami in the 1980s, she pulled black people over for what is commonly referred to as “driving while black.” She said she was repenting and apologized to the crowd, and said we are all a “work in progress.” She said it has been hard for her to reckon with her mistakes and said she felt pressured as a young cop trying to make an impression to profile black people.

A woman in the crowd responded to the ex-police officer by saying that she took an oath, and said if she was truly repentant, to ask her former brothers and sisters in law enforcement, who were gathered around City Hall, to take a knee with them.

“There’s nothing hard about not killing somebody,” the woman said, with tears streaming down her face. “There is nothing hard about signing an oath and protecting black lives. So, don’t you stand there and say this is hard for you.”

The ex-police officer said she never intended to hurt anyone with her words.

Oni Williams, one of the leaders of the protest, said she appreciated the woman’s words but asked her to reflect “a little deeper.”

“It’s not hard to understand who we are and what we are,” Williams said. “We’re people. We are not superheroes. We are not aliens. We are not some subset of something that has been discovered beyond the sea. We are people who have been birthed from the womb of our mothers and the groins of our fathers.

“We love you; we love you enough to tell you, ‘You need to think a little bit deeper. You need to think a little bit further.’ You’re on your way,” Williams said.

Earlier in the protest, Williams asked the crowd to say the names of black men and women killed by law enforcement over the years. The crowd asked, “Which one?”

“If you have to ask me which one, that means there’s too many,” Williams said.

“We need our white allies to speak up in this moment,” Williams said. “Protest isn’t enough.”

DJ Curry, a Vestavia resident, said he is scared when he leaves his house. Curry, who lives with a white family, said he has experienced being pulled over for “driving while black.” He recalled a time when he was pulled over in Walker County and the officer told him he wasn’t doing anything wrong; he just wanted to know where he was going because he looked “suspicious.” Curry asked if it was because he was black, and the officer said, “Well, there aren’t really any black people this side of town.”

One speaker from Moody emphasized that being for black lives does not mean being against the lives of police officers. In Moody, Lt. Stephen Williams with Moody police was killed June 2, and the speaker called his death “heartbreaking.”

Another Vestavia resident, Sarah Kate Roberts, also spoke, urging people in the crowd to donate money to organizations like Alabama Arise, which is working on policy change in Montgomery to improve policing and community relations. Roberts said Vestavia is an affluent community and needs to “open our wallets.”

Keith Mims, a Hoover resident, said he has been profiled many times by the Hoover police. Mims said he has three sons, all of whom played sports at Spain Park High School and are now grown men, who have also been profiled.

“You get tired of it,” Mims said. “We’re tired of it! We’re tired of it! We’re tired of it, and it’s time for change! It’s time for change!”

At the June 3 rally, the group began to march northbound on U.S. 31 toward City Hall before turning around to come back to Vestavia Bowl. There, they made a circle with Vestavia police officers before someone prayed for the families of black men and women killed by police in recent years and for an end to racial injustice in America.

The group eventually drove to City Hall, where they had speeches about the injustices committed against Floyd and others.

“We are here to protest any future innocent lives being lost,” one person said. “Police need to be accountable for the murders they have committed.”

Demonstrators laid on the ground with their hands behind their back for eight minutes to honor Floyd.

POLICE RESPONSE

Lt. Steve Gurley with the Vestavia Hills Police Department said the department does not support any of the actions by the officers in Minneapolis and said Vestavia police do not use tactics like that when making arrests.

Gurley said the department worked with the city to help provide water and a public address system for the June 5 protest, and said the department appreciated that the protests were nonviolent.

While he is not aware of any complaints made about any Vestavia officers, Gurley said any complaints would go to patrol supervision and then internal affairs, which he helps oversee.