‘You have some very bad eggs.’ NAACP says Lexington police retaliated against protesters
The Lexington branch of the NAACP has accused the Lexington Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police of “unprofessionally and illegally retaliating against” protest leaders.
In a letter sent to Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton and released Tuesday, the NAACP said officers overreached by arresting protest leaders “for violations of the law that do not merit arrest.” Five protesters, including the main organizers of a series of downtown demonstrations, were arrested on July 11, the Saturday before the letter was written. Police said at the time that the protesters were asked not to block or stand in traffic, but they did anyway.
Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said Tuesday he was surprised by the letter.
“We don’t retaliate against anybody,” he said.
The NAACP said the protesters were exercising their First Amendment rights and just walking in the crosswalk. In police-released video, officers were overheard communicating strategically to prepare to make the arrests, the NAACP’s letter said.
Toward the beginning of the body camera footage released after the arrests, officers can be heard talking to each other about what the protesters were doing and preparing to make arrests. If anyone went into the street against the light, they said they would arrest them and a group of specific protesters they accused of inciting them.
In the footage, the officers can be heard saying they would arrest organizers Sarah Williams, April Taylor and Jesus Gonzales if anyone went into the road.
“Your glee in going after two women who have clearly irritated your officers exposes how much the personal has invaded and sullied the duties of the professional in our police force,” representatives from the NAACP said in the letter.
Williams, Taylor and Gonzales were charged with disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. Williams also was charged with disregarding a traffic device.
“They’d been blocking traffic and there had been calls to block traffic; that was my understanding,” Weathers said. He said he hadn’t seen all the videos, but that’s what was reported to him.
Williams has now been arrested in protest-related incidents twice this year. Weathers said she’s not being treated differently by officers.
“Typically what we do is we give out warnings prior to all these, you know, we give people the guidelines and the rules,” Weathers said. “This is what you can do, this is what you can’t do. And if you violate those rules, under the contract of the law, we’re going to take action.”
The NAACP joined Williams and Taylor in some criticism of former Lexington police chaplain Donovan Stewart. Stewart is suing Williams and Taylor for defamation. Stewart announced his retirement on July 9 after the chaplain position was eliminated and he was reassigned to patrol.
By retiring, Stewart avoided accountability for an altercation he was involved in at the Fayette Mall in February 2019, the NAACP said. Stewart was accused of punching an autistic Black teenager in the head while working an off-duty assignment, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the teenage boy’s mother.
Stewart’s lawyer later said people making accusations didn’t understand the full circumstances of the incident.
The NAACP letter, which was also sent to Jonathan Bastion, president of the FOP’s Lexington lodge, said police and the FOP were “weaponizing” body-worn cameras by misusing footage.
As protests over police discipline and other issues have occurred, Lexington police released several rounds of videos from its officers’ body-worn cameras in recent months. Police officials said they released the videos, in lengthy clips, to show the professionalism of Lexington officers under extreme pressure and verbal assaults.
Weathers said there’s nothing the police department could do to edit those videos for content.
The FOP has posted shorter versions of those videos on social media.
The FOP refuted the NAACP’s accusation.
“It is neither immoral nor improper to counter false narratives with publicly available videos showing the truth, even when the truth may be uncomfortable for those affected,” the FOP’s Tuesday statement read.
The NAACP letter also accused an officer of using a chokehold on a protester during the Saturday arrests, alleging that protester James-David Woodhead was the victim. The letter said body camera footage didn’t accurately portray the event. Lexington police said after the arrests that the claims of a chokehold being used were inaccurate. Woodhead was charged with disorderly conduct, inciting a riot and resisting arrest.
The protesters and police released photos and/or videos of the arrests.
“These images expose the blatant impropriety in your officer’s abusive use of force and in the illegal actions of fellow officers who stood guard and overshadows any petty misdemeanor offense manufactured against Mr. Woodhead,” representatives from the NAACP said in the letter.
In a statement, FOP Bluegrass Lodge 4 representatives said Woodhead later claimed he was arrested for “no reason.” But the FOP contends that unedited video from a body camera posted to its Facebook page shows why Woodhead was arrested.
“It is clear that Mr. Woodhead aggressively charges and shoves an officer while the officer is making a lawful arrest,” the FOP statement said.
“Bluegrass Lodge 4 has an obligation to defend its members from unfounded claims of false arrest, and we are supportive of LPD in its decision to release video demonstrating the claim was patently false.”
Representatives from the mayor’s office said they had no further comment after Weathers’ response.
“You have some very bad eggs under your supervision and control,” NAACP representatives said in the letter. “If you fail to address their behavior and curtail their wrongdoing, you will permit them to drag our entire police force into the gutter with them.”
NAACP condemns officers not wearing masks during COVID-19 pandemic
In addition to accusations of retaliation and body-worn camera concerns, the NAACP said police officers were disregarding health concerns by not wearing masks.
Video showed officers not wearing masks at the time of the arrests, which was prior to Gov. Andy Beshear’s mask mandate.
“Regardless of the motive of your officers who chose not to wear masks, you should take disciplinary action against those officers,” the letter read.
Weathers said he can’t force officers to wear masks all the time, especially outside.
“Nobody is required to wear a mask outside,” Weathers said. “Our officers have to use their best judgment. Sometimes they wear them, sometimes they don’t. We encourage them to wear them, not just for their own safety but for their family’s safety too. And when we see them not wearing them, we address it.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 12:23 PM with the headline "‘You have some very bad eggs.’ NAACP says Lexington police retaliated against protesters."