‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters retrace ‘Blue Lives Matter’ steps 1 month after police teargassing

Black Lives Matter protesters took to the Fredericksburg streets on July 1 to mark one month after they were teargassed in earlier protests.

Twice the city used teargas in early June, and the Stafford sheriff’s office also deployed teargas on protesters on Falmouth Bridge.

Protesters on Wednesday called their march “Back the Burg,” playing off of the “Back the Blue” rally that took place last Sunday.

Black Lives Matter protesters retraced the steps of the Blue Lives Matter march all the way to the Fredericksburg police station. The nearly 200 protesters met at Hurkamp Park in the 90-degree heat where organizers offered masks out to people who had none. 

“We are remaining peaceful the whole time,” instructed one of the protest leaders, Eddie Banks, to the crowd. 

Halfway through the hour-long gathering at the police station, Fredericksburg Police Chief Brian Layton and Captain Betsy Mason retreated back inside the building.

The two were outside, standing in front of the protest group, listening to individuals share their stories of being teargassed. 

“I am no threat to you at all,” said one of the protesters who was tear gassed on May 31.

“You guys hurt us, you hurt our community,” another protester said.

Layton responded to the protesters saying, “I am thankful that you are out here and doing this the right way.”

“The right way” is in reference to the permit protesters obtained to hold the march.

Protest leaders, from the various organizations created in early June as a response to Minneapolis resident George Floyd’s death, met with city police prior to Wednesday’s march to discuss a course of action. 

“We talked about the event and assured them that their safety was paramount,” said Fredericksburg Police Public Information Officer Sarah Kirkpatrick. 

The meeting spanned about 90 minutes, and one of the points that were emphasized was that the chief would go inside if vulgarities were said, Kirkpatrick told PLN. 

“You want to know what we say when we say defund the police, do you want to know what it actually means? When we say defund the police, we mean to take out these racist misogynist pigs,” said the protester right before Chief Layton and Captain Mason went inside. 

After going inside, the two never made a reappearance. A few other officers remained outside as spectators.

“When things turned south tonight and vulgarities were made and police were called pigs and a lot of unnecessary language was used, they decided to retreat,” added Kirkpatrick.

No incident reports were filed for the July 1 protest.

Fredericksburg Police posted on its Twitter page a traffic warning about the July 1 “Back the Burg” protest. 

“Please be advised of potential traffic congestion in #Fredericksburg today between 4:00 and 9:00 p.m. to accommodate two permitted events,” read the tweet from @FXBGPolice.

https://twitter.com/FXBGPolice/status/1278391360538718209

The second event was a smaller protest of about 35 people, according to Kirkpatrick. Black Lives Matter FXBG organized this second protest and is not affiliated with FXBGAAC, The Melanin Cooperative, and Leaders for Peace who organized the march to the police station.

No tweet was made warning of traffic congestion for the “Back the Blue” march held on June 28 that amassed 1,000 people. 

“We felt that since [Black Lives Matter protesters] anticipated 300 people and there have been a lot of citizens who have been concerned about all of the days on our roadways, we thought it was really important to educate the community,” Kirkpatrick told Potomac Local News. 

Text traffic alerts did go out through city traffic alerts for both protests, according to Kirkpatrick.

This tweet comes after a segment of the Fox News’ Tucker Carlson show on June 25 that aired a 911 call audio recording of a driver who encountered a group of Black Lives Matter organizers protesting in the crosswalks. 

“Back the Blue” marchers have criticized the dispatcher’s response to the call who told the driver there was little the police could do since the protest was sanctioned by police. 

This won’t be the case much longer. 

Starting July 6, protesters will no longer be allowed to continue their crosswalk protests or stand in city streets, impeding traffic. 

“You don’t have the right to stand in a crosswalk, that’s a common misconception,” said Kirkpatrick.

Citations will be issued to violators of traffic safety laws. Protesting on the sidewalks is still allowed.  

The police department is currently conducting an internal review of its response to protesters over the past month. They are anticipating the report to be finished by July 31, according to the police. 

A third party will be hired to review the report, and then it will be released to the public, police say.