Protestors used a blow horn on to take their message to the homes of Fredericksburg’s mayor and city manager.
The incidents come after Black Lives Matter protestors took to city streets in June following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of a former police officer.
A city press release states:
On Wednesday evening, a group of approximately 15 people picketed outside the home of City Manager Timothy Baroody. The group leader used a bullhorn to lead chants aimed or directed at the home. The City Manager and his children were not home at the time, but his wife was inside the house during this event. Members of City Council responded to the incident to try to calm the situation, but the protests continued. Fredericksburg police officers also responded to this incident.
The next afternoon, a group gathered outside the home of Fredericksburg Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, again in a residential neighborhood, and targeted her home with its protest, again led by a person chanting slogans through a bullhorn. The Mayor was home on this occasion, and had been at home on two previous occasions when picketers targeted her residence for protest activities.
The separate incidents come after Black Lives Matter protestors spent much of June demonstrating in the city. Twice in June, city police used tear gas on protestors, and deputies from Stafford County also deployed gas on protestors who linked arms to block drivers leaving the city via the Falmouth Bridge.
Following the protests, the city vowed to complete a review of how it handled the protests. During the civil unrest that rocked the nation in June, Fredericksburg was the smallest city in the U.S. to deploy tear gas on Black Lives Matter protestors.
On June 23, City Mayor Katherine Greenlaw apologized to the Black Lives Matter protesters on which police used teargas. On June 27, following a massive rally in the city to support law enforcement, she praised police.
“Our police department is one of the few nationally certified police departments in the state. WE have an excellent record and a good history and relationships with minorities, and we will build on that,” said Greenlaw.
The city press release continued:
The City has acted consistently throughout the period of protest that began on May 31 to support lawful expressive activities, with police protection for these activities. The City Council has adopted resolutions in support of calls for racial equality, and a response plan that directs specific actions to be taken in support of the nationwide call to address racial inequality. But targeting individual residences for protest activities crosses a well-established line as to the “place and manner” for lawful expressive activities.
It’s unclear who the protestors were that gathered outside the city officials’ homes. They chanted the same messages as Black Lives Matter protesters who descended upon the city in June, a city spokeswoman told Potomac Local News, which included defund the police department.
The city tells us “Back Lives Matter Fredericksburg” was not involved in these incidents — the group that, on June 7, posted to Facebook its founding principals:
A special meeting of the City Council that was set to discuss the protests outside city officials’ homes was canceled. City leaders tell us that picketing outside a public officials’ home is a crime:
Code of Virginia section 18.2-418 declares the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia: “that the protection and preservation of the home is the keystone of democratic government, that the public health and welfare and the good order of the community require that members of the community enjoy in their homes a feeling of well-being, tranquility, and privacy . . . that the practice of picketing before or about residences and dwelling places causes emotional disturbance and distress to the occupants; that such practice has as its object the harassing of such occupants; and without resort to such practice, full opportunity exists, and . . . will continue to exist, for the exercise of freedom of speech and other constitutional rights . . .
Code of Virginia section 18.2-419 states: “any person who shall engage in picketing before or about the residence or dwelling place of any individual, or who shall assemble with another person or persons in a manner which disrupts or threatens to disrupt any individual’s right to tranquility in his home, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. Each day on which a violation of this section occurs shall constitute a separate offense.”
The information above was presented to the City Council, and it has accepted this report in lieu of a report at the planned special session and determined that the special session was not necessary.
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