Zimmerman verdict elicits disappointment, sadness, resolve in Greensboro protest

Ashanti Sanders signs a poster in solidarity with Martin.

William Robinson speaks about the acquittal.

Tigress McDaniel gives a legal seminar.

Upwards of 150 people gathered in front at February One Place in front of the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro on Sunday to show support for slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin in the wake of a jury's acquittal of George Zimmerman.

Protesters carried signs reading "The life of a child should be respected" and "Stop or my Skittles will shoot." They chanted "No justice, no peace; no racist police" and "Brown, yellow, black or white; same struggle, same fight."

Jermaine Taylor came to the protest with his wife and three children, including a 2-year-old son.

"Just to know I'm raising a young, black male, it feels like my son is not safe," he said. "I don't feel safe with him being by himself. I feel that the justice system failed us [by] not allowing all the trial evidence to be heard. I don't know what guilty looks like. [Zimmerman] stereotyped [Martin] as looking like he was up to no good. I don't want my son to be on the bad end of looking guilty."

Early in the protest, which began at 5 p.m., a group split off to march to the Guilford County Jail, accompanied by Cakalak Thunder Drum Corps. With their return, the crowd in front of the civil rights museum swelled to about 175. Police allowed the protesters to occupy February One place because there was not adequate space on the sidewalk to accommodate them. Protest leaders cautioned against spilling into Elm Street.

Several people took turns speaking about the meaning of the verdict, in which a jury found Zimmerman not guilty of all charges in the killing of Martin on Saturday night.

William Robinson said the killing of Emmett Till, a black teenager lynched by a white mob in Mississippi in the 1950s that resulted in acquittals, set the stage for the verdict in the Zimmerman case. 

"We know better," Robinson said. "It seems wrong because it is wrong. When they killed Trayvon Martin, they killed a part of me."

Tigress McDaniel said she worries about how her 3-year-old son will be perceived by people like George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain who stalked Martin because he thought the young man looked suspicious. Martin was wearing a hoodie.

"I put my son in a Gap hoodie; I didn't even know anything about this," McDaniel recalled. "And then the case was publicized. The cutest little red hoodie. And when I heard about this, my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.

A former law student, McDaniel wound up giving an impromptu legal seminar.

"It will come to a point when thing like this will become default," she said. "'Oh, that's just 'stand your ground.' How does that make sense? He came into this space."

Alisia Pacheco was walking downtown when she stumbled on the rally. McDaniel's talk resonated with her. Why couldn't Trayvon Martin stand his ground? McDaniel asked.

"The police already said, 'Stand down,'" Pacheco said, alluding to a police dispatcher's instructions to Zimmerman to not follow Martin.

Ed Whitfield tied the events in Florida to the community's treatment of young black men in Greensboro. He said young people in Smith Homes, a public housing community, "are treated as if they have no value." Relating the racial profiling of Martin to a curfew imposed on young people in Greensboro in the wake of public disorder, Whitfield said adults have a responsibility to ensure that there are wholesome activities for young people.

"Every one of these kids we've lost is a loss to all of us," Whitfield said, "because we lose their creativity. We lose their energy."

Charges against A&T students alleging racial profiling remain unresolved

Gian Spells (left) and Carlyle Phillips last December

Two NC A&T University students who have accused the Greensboro Police Department of racial profiling and of illegal arrest and detention during a traffic stop last November were in court today on related charges of resisting a public officer. Upwards of a dozen supporters rallied on their behalf in front of the Guilford County Courthouse and sat in a large courtroom as the judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers worked through a long docket of misdemeanors.

Gian Spells and Carlyle Phillips’ cases were not heard. After most of the supporters left, defense lawyer Keith Black gestured for the two to step out of the courtroom for a conference. Soon afterward, the two defendants left court.

Black said he would have no comment about the status of the case except that it is being continued. Phillips said briefly that he and Spells expect to perform community service to settle the matter. Contacted later by phone, Spells said they are still trying to get the charges dismissed. The defendants have been counseled by their lawyer to not speak publicly about the case.

That’s in contrast to their approach to the case previously. Phillips is featured on a YouTube video posted on the Beloved Community Center’s website urging college students to show up at court today in support. Text at the beginning of the video asks, “Is it a crime to drive while black in Greensboro?”

The Greensboro Police Department has completed an internal investigation of the two students’ complaint. Capt. Wayne Scott, commander of the central division, informed them in a Feb. 4 letter that the investigation conducted by Lt. Joel Cranford found “no evidence to substantiate your complaint” against Sgt. TA Long “for racial profiling and truthfulness.” In their complaint, the two state that police forcibly removed them from the vehicle after they refused orders to step outside.

The only charges filed against Spells and Phillips were for resisting a public officer, but a magistrate ordered the two held overnight “due to intoxication.” Neither were charged for driving while intoxicated or other alcohol-related offenses, and Spells said he asked to take a test to gauge whether there was alcohol in his system and officers on the scene refused to administer one.

Notwithstanding Capt. Scott's assurance that their complaint has been thoroughly investigated, the investigator did not take statements from the two students.

"Lt. Cranford attempted multiple times to contact both subjects, but they never met face to face," Scott told YES! Weekly. "We offered to take a statement over the phone and send them a transcript, which is often how we do these, but they declined."

Scott confirmed that the two parties were unable to agree on a place to meet. The students rejected a proposal to meet with Cranford at the downtown branch library, and Cranford in turn rejected a proposal to meet at the Beloved Community Center.

"The purpose of the investigation is a fact-finding mission," Scott said. "We try to do that in an area where there's not going to be a lot of distraction. We would interview them separately. We prefer to do that in an area where we can interview them in a more isolated situation."

Spells said that he and Phillips were never interviewed by anyone from the police department, notwithstanding Capt. Scott’s assurance that their complaint has been thoroughly investigated. Scott declined to discuss the circumstances of the investigation with YES! Weekly, citing state personnel law.

Scott informed the two that if they are unsatisfied with the findings of the investigation, they may file an appeal with the complaint review committee, a citizen body of the Greensboro Human Relations Commission.

UPDATE: Speaking at "Black History Service of Justice" program tonight at Bethel AME Church in east Greensboro, Phillips said he and Spells declined to give statements over the phone to the police investigator because they lacked confidence that they would be accurately transcribed.

Phillips also indicated during his remarks that he is unhappy with an arrangement that has been proposed to dispose of the charges.

"I'm not supposed to be here speaking to you all about certain things right now because certain people don't want me to speak about certain truths," he said. "They told me and Gian that we can do 20 hours of community service and get our charges dismissed," he said. "I'm not taking no plea with nobody because I didn't do nothing."

Racial profiling investigation hits a snag

Greensboro Police Department internal investigation of claim by NC A&T University students of racial profiling and illegal stop/detention hits a snag.

Previously.

Complaint alleges racial profiling and unlawful arrest by GPD

Gian Spells (right) and Carlyle Phillips, two NC A&T University seniors, allege they were racially profiled and then unlawfully arrested and detained by the Greensboro police as a result of traffic stop in mid-November. Based on information provided by the police to a magistrate, the young men were ordered to be held in the Guilford County Jail overnight "due to intoxication," despite the fact that Spells, the driver, was not charged with driving while intoxicated or apparently given sobriety tests.

City Manager Rashad Young, in keeping with city policy, has said the students' complaint will be investigated.

The full story [retroactive link] will be published in tomorrow's print edition of YES! Weekly.