Protesters gather, march in Fayette Mall to call for police accountability
A group of protesters gathered at Fayette Mall to have a “die-in” in the location where a filmed altercation involving a Lexington police chaplain and a Black teenager occurred in 2019.
The protesters were calling for police accountability, and specifically wanted to bring attention to a 2019 incident in which Lexington police chaplain Donavan Stewart was recorded arresting a Black teenager in Fayette Mall. The teen’s family filed a civil rights lawsuit against Stewart, accusing the chaplain of punching the teen repeatedly after he was restrained. The family also said in the lawsuit that the boy who was punched is autistic.
Protesters chanted about the incident involving the police chaplain, calling for him to be fired. They also chanted about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, whose deaths have sparked nationwide protests against police brutality.
At one point the protesters addressed people eating at the food court in the mall, telling them their reasons before protesting and chanting before moving on.
Several mall patrons and employees stopped to watch the protesters, some raised their fists or chanted in support and others took pamphlets that lined out what the group was calling for.
Protest organizer April Taylor said that while the protests have continued for 23 nights downtown, police have been less present and the group wanted to address those who might not see the protesters downtown.
“We decided to go ahead and bring our message to the people and raise awareness,” Taylor said.
Protesters are aware of the new post-discipline review board for police policies announced by Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton on Friday, but do not find it sufficient, Taylor said. However, protesters also have been told that changes in city government move slowly, she said.
“We do know that they’re at least trying to scramble to appear to do something,” Taylor said.
Taylor said she and other protesters are also not satisfied by the moratorium on no-knock warrants in the police department, but said that they are hopeful that the city will halt the controversial warrants permanently.
Taylor has been part of previous protests at the mall, including past protests to get body-worn cameras for police, and has never had a problem with demonstrations there being halted by police, she said. That was also the case Sunday, when no police or security approached protesters.
“We think it went really well,” Taylor said. “There were people who responded really positively, we think people really learned a lot. There were people who really seemed to be paying attention and I think learned a lot of information.”
Another protester, Emma Rangel, said some patrons in the mall pulled protesters aside to talk and ask how they can join future protests.
“I think it was received a lot better than what I thought and what we all anticipated,” Rangel said. “Which is a really good thing for us because we were able to speak and talk to those people without any kind of interference or anybody agitating us making it look like we’re doing anything other than a peaceful protest.”
Protesters said they will continue to gather and call for police accountability, including a list of demands regarding the upcoming renegotiation of the Lexington police contract.
This story was originally published June 21, 2020 at 5:49 PM.
