A statement: Solidarity Against Repression in Richmond, Virginia

The following statement was written by several organizations here in the city. Active-RVA is among the endorsers, the full list of which I will include when it becomes available. Give it a read.-- Kat

The City of Richmond has a long tradition of resistance and voicing dissent. As the former capital of the Confederacy, our city of Richmond was built by enslaved people and immigrants. The legacy of resistance is woven into our streets. From anti-war protests to reproductive rights, school funding and preserving public and sacred spaces, to now resisting the creeping fascism of the new presidency in 2017, Richmond has always been a city of resistors. 

We offer this statement with the intent to honor our past resistance and to stand together for future resistance in their face of growing repression both locally and nationally.

The Richmond Police Department, along with their partners at the Richmond Times-Dispatch and WTVR, recently engaged in a PR campaign against the resistance to the Trump Regime. A front page article in last Tuesday’s RTD, full of rhetoric and no clear evidence, declares that protesters who took the streets on January 20th had plans to block interstate 95 with trash and barricades.  

The article makes these claims even though the police raided a warehouse in Carver and admitted they had no real knowledge of what protesters’ plans were on that Friday. In addition, two trailers holding construction tools and materials were dumped upside down and destroyed by RPD during the raid.  

Neither the lease holder, nor the property owner, were informed of the warrant and subsequent search. All they got was the pleasure of coming back to their property being destroyed by agents of the state with no warning or legitimate cause given. It is strange that the RPD would go through the trouble of obtaining a warrant for what is, essentially, trash and debris.  It is even stranger to then have nothing remotely illegal happen at the J20 march, yet they have continued to feed this story to the press as if it’s worth reporting on. We congratulate the RPD on obtaining a warrant for trash.

Meanwhile, as Richmond anti-Trump marchers walked their route, a self-identified white nationalist followed and harassed the march. This white supremacist was armed, open carrying a handgun, being openly hostile while the police did nothing. This same night in Seattle, an anti-fascist protester was shot trying to break up fights at a protest against notorious Trump supporter, Milo Yiannopoulis. 

In this current climate, we must not take for granted that what happens nationally impacts what happens locally. Currently, a white nationalist, Steve Bannon, who also hails from our beloved city, sits at the head of the National Security Council and is Trump’s Chief Strategist. The local media has neglected to even mention the existence of the growing far-Right elements in the Richmond area, when these elements have proven themselves to be far more willing to carry out violence. Just last year, a plot to go on a rampage across the South against synagogues and black churches was uncovered just across the county line in Chesterfield. So while RPD kept Richmond “safe” from a peaceful demonstration, armed nationalists are allowed to harass people unchecked by the so-called authorities. Yet the media and police would have us believe that it’s from resistors that the City of Richmond needs to be “protected”.

This new wave of repression comes on the tails of attempts from the state to further intimidate the public for participating in common political protest. Two failed bills, SB 1055 and SB 1058, would have increased the penalties for remaining at any assembly the police deemed “unlawful” from a Class 3 to a Class 1 misdemeanor, and would have made blocking any highway during protest a felony. Though the bills failed to pass in the General Assembly, they are further evidence of growing intimidation against those who resist oppression. In this age of Trump, our right to dissent and to live our lives without fear of repression is essential. Mayor Stoney campaigned on the affirmation of Richmond as a sanctuary city, and we demand he uphold that for refugees, immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community, those of every faith and all those who resist Trump. If Mayor Stoney does not support the repressive policies of the new Trump administration, then we demand he resist those policies. Just as we will not be intimidated by harsher sentencing or attempts at defamation as we resist, neither should he.

As Trump begins his sweeping executive orders to attack immigrants, Muslims, indigenous people, black communities, queer folks, the Earth, and other marginalized communities, those of us in Richmond who are ready must come together to resist this fascism, to protect each other, both nationally and here at home. When Mike Pence marches against reproductive freedom in Washington and Trump makes fun of the Women’s Marches, we must increase our commitments to each other to stand against the normalization of draconian policies around gender and reproductive health. 

We must protect each other against attempts to demonize people’s resistance, whether in the airports or in the streets. In the face of the Trump Era, we call on all those of good conscience to get active, to connect with others, and to help build power against Trump and the regressive world he is trying to build.