'You were lucky they didn't shoot you'

The conclusion of The Trials of Darryl Hunt — a documentary film that tells the story of how the efforts of a small group of dogged supporters finally brought about the freedom of Darryl Hunt despite the collusion over the course of two decades of the police, media justice system and much of the public in thwarting justice — set the stage for Marilyn Baird's remarks tonight at the Hive.

Baird said her grandson, Jacques Baird, a second-year student at GTCC, was sitting outside at JT Hairston Memorial Apartments with six friends "when the police came up and told them they wanted them to get down on the ground. They ran. He said, 'We were lucky. We got away.' I said, 'No, you were lucky they didn't shoot you.' I said, 'Next time, do not run. Do what they tell you to. And then call Grandma.' They were looking for a guy named Mike, and they got him. My grandson has never been in trouble before.

"We cannot sit back and let these things happen in our city," Marilyn Baird continued. "If we do, that makes us just as guilty as those people in that film."

Baird, who is an executive staff member of NC Occupational Safety and Health Project, works out of an office at the Hive in Glenwood, which is a couple blocks away from Hairston apartments and Smith Homes. She said she believes the police have been acting aggressively in the two public housing communities lately as a result of their anger about a flier that was publicly posted and handed out condemning Officer Jermeir Jackson-Stroud.