Manassas police chief clarifies statement on city rioters: “We were not chased”

A week after Manassas City Police Chief Douglas Keen had told Manassas City Council that he was chased by 200 protestors during a riot on Sunday, May 31, he’s clarified his earlier statement.

“So I said chased, I own those words, I said ‘em. Retreated and moving back would be a better description. We were not chased down the street, being chased by a bully with rocks being thrown at us. We were pushed backwards and continued to move into Battery Heights,” Keen said during a meeting of the Manassas City Coucnil on Monday, June 8.

On June 1, Keen told the city council he and three other officers became pinned down in the Battery Heights neighborhood, an apartment complex across the street from where the peaceful protest had begun about six hours earlier. He described protestors that threw rocks and bottles at him and other officers, damaging police cruisers.

He credited the help of the additional officers from his department, from Prince William police, and Virginia State Police, who arrived on the scene and helped him and his officers to safety, as well as protected the nearby police headquarters building after rioters threatened to “takedown” the police department, he said during this initial testimony on June 1.

“As you know, I spoke with emotion and my [June 1] briefing may need some clarity,” Keen said on June 8.

During the June 8 meeting, Keen shared a Google map of a section of Liberia Avenue where he said rioters took over, between a Chick-fil-A on Liberia Avenue and Signal Hill Road. On Monday, Keen estimated the crowd to be about 150 people, about 50 fewer people than what he described on June 1.

The next slide showed where three police officers were placed to protect the Chick-fil-A restaurant on Liberia Avenue and an adjacent shopping center where glass windows on multiple businesses were shattered.

All the while, Keen said on Monday, rioters continued to chant and throw rocks and glass bottles.

Keen showed a photo taken by an officer’s body camera that depicted objects being hurled at officers. The red circle on the image below is an object, tossed by a rioter, flying toward officers, Keen said.

As more objects were tossed at police, Keen said this is when they called for backup from the civil disturbance unit — a mix of officers from Manassas, Prince William County, and state police. 

After help arrived, the rioters moved away from Keen and his officers in Battery Heights and began marching toward the police station down Richmond Avenue, toward Signal Hill Road, which would have led them to the station.

The civil disturbance unit intercepted the rioters and stopped them before they could get to the station.

Keen showed the city council images of the damage done to police cruisers that night.

Keen said that this demonstrates some heavy items were thrown at their direction and at vehicles, adding that he was thankful no equipment was taken out of the vehicles or any personal belongings of the officers. 

Keen then shared a slide of graffiti on a trashcan of circled “A” and a flag that appears to be a symbol for ANTIFA, a well-organized group of anti-government protesters that have led violent marches in cities in the Pacific Northwest for the past two years, and last summer in Washington, D.C. 

On the night before Manassas police engaged the rioters, they had assisted Prince William police with a riot that took place five miles outside the city at the intersection of Sudley Road and Sudley Manor Drive. There, five people were arrested and four police officers were injured during the melee that saw Virginia State Police deploy pepper spray on residents, including Delegate Lee Carter (D-Bristow, Manassas) who chose to confront police at the scene.

Manassas Councilwoman Michelle Davis Younger asked Chief Keen for some clarification about being chased.

“I did use the word ‘chased,’ we need to own what we say. That was less than 24 hours after the event,the picture of the group coming at us was what we saw, what we experienced from our view. As that group came toward us, we retreated backwards.” Chief Keen said.

“I tried to put my staff members to protect them between the group and my vehicle and we retreated up towards Metcalf Boulevard towards Tapok. That group continued to push us backwards until we retreated all the way into Battery Heights,” Keen said.

Keen’s testimony comes as the police department has to request public comment for the Department’s CALEA re-accreditation, a national organization that upholds struck professional standards of police departments across the U.S.

CALEA’s team of assessors will soon pay a visit to the police department to conduct a virtual on-site assessment of the department’s compliance with the accreditation standards, according to a police press release, and will review the department’s policy and procedures, administration, operations, and support services.

As part of the virtual on-site assessment, department members and members of the community are invited to provide comments on the department’s ability to comply with the standards for accreditation.

Comment can be provided to the Assessment Team through the following ways:

• In-person:
Public Information Session*
Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Time: 5 p.m.
Location: Manassas City Council Chambers
9027 Center St, Manassas, Va. 20110
*Face coverings are required to be worn inside Council Chambers

• By phone:
Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Time: 1 p.m. – 3p.m.
Number: 703-257-8098

• By mail:
Mail comments to:
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA)
13575 Heathcote Blvd, Gainesville, Va. 20155

Telephone comments, as well as appearances at the Public Information Session are limited to five minutes. Comments should address the Department’s ability to comply with CALEA standards. A copy of the standards is available through the Department’s Accreditation Manager, Lieutenant J. Martz, who can be reached by calling 703-257-8028.”