Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 31, 2020

The Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue was graffitied during the Black Lives Matter Protest on Saturday. Photo by Alexandra Zernik

Eduardo Acevedo, News EditorHannah Eason, Managing Editor

Hundreds gathered in downtown Richmond on Saturday for a second night of protests, which sparked nationwide after the death of a black man in police custody. The demonstration brought vandalism to Confederate statues and local businesses.

Multiple businesses near VCU, including Whole Foods, CVS and Verizon on West Broad Street, were vandalized and graffitied during the protest.

On Monument Avenue, statues commemorating Robert E. Lee, Thomas Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis were tagged with Fuck Cops, RIP George Floyd and ACAB, an acronym for all cops are bastards. At one point a protester climbed the Jefferson Davis statue, hung a noose around its neck and rallied other protesters to pull the statue down, which was unsuccessful.

Police used rubber bullets, tear gas canisters and mace on protesters. Richmond SWAT teams appeared frequently and attempted to break up crowds. WRIC ABC8 News reported that two Capitol police officers are in the hospital with leg injuries after being struck with a baseball bat and beer bottle near Capitol Square.

As the crowd moved westward on Franklin Street around 11:30 p.m., one protester threw a brick into the glass door of Beth Ahabah, a Jewish synagogue. The protester who threw the brick was chastised by other members of the crowd for not keeping the protest peaceful.

Protesters emerged from Hanover Avenue onto Arthur Ashe Boulevard when the energy in the crowd shifted. People in the crowd looked at each other before one said not the VMFA.

That was when the protesters attention was aimed at the Daughters of the Confederacy building, which neighbors the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The protesters quickly swarmed the steps of the building and began tagging the walls and breaking windows with rocks and skateboards. People in the crowd lit the curtains inside the buildings windows on fire before continuing down Arthur Ashe Boulevard.

Black Lives Matter protests have erupted across the country in response to the death of George Floyd, whose death was caught on video. In the video, a white officer can be seen holding his knee on Floyds neck while Floyd can be heard saying I cant breathe.

On Friday in Richmond, police used tear gas as hundreds of protesters moved from downtown to VCUs campus. A GRTC Pulse bus was damaged, graffitied and set on fire during the protest.

The protest on Friday brought damage to VCUs campus, including broken windows and doors, graffiti, damaged vehicles and debris fires, university spokesperson Mike Porter said in an email.

VCU President Michael Rao released a statement on Friday in response to Floyds death, saying he was appalled, horrified, distressed and sickened all at once.

So to be reminded time and time again that skin color still influences mobility and even vitality more than a college degree, more than class status and zip code, disturbs me deeply, Rao said in the release. We are reminded again what can be so easily undone by the exercise of someones privilege and prejudice.

On Twitter, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said the protests were a result of built up pain, but two wrongs dont make a right.

Related

Read more:

Second night of Richmond protest over killing of George Floyd reaches Confederate monuments - The Commonwealth Times

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