RICHMOND, VA – It seems like there’s no end to people claiming to be victims of “police brutality” and assault – even when they’re literally trying to block a police vehicle on the street and continue to get in the vehicle’s path while the driver is actively trying to avoid them.
The Richmond Police Department released a statement about a video that has been making the rounds online where people are proclaiming there was some egregious act of police running over protesters with an SUV on June 13th.
Officer backs up
Officer jumps curb to avoid crowd
Natural selection compels crowd to reposition in front of the SUV
People get tipped over and claim police brutality
*shocked Pikachu face*#DoNotBlockCars #TrumpNowMoreThanEver2020 https://t.co/O6fLwlDIRo— Greg Hoyt (@GregHoytLET) June 15, 2020
Except, anyone who watches the video can clearly see the officer is trying to avoid the protesters who then continue to actively “box in” the police vehicle. Due to their actions, a couple of people get tipped over.
According to the RPD, not only do their investigators agree that the officer operating the police vehicle did no wrong, but noted that some of these demonstrators present were the only engaged in criminal activity.
Refuting the claims where protesters alleged that the police officer “mowed down” the demonstrators, police say that the protesters present damaged the police SUV and attempted to assault the officers inside:
“A protester held onto the side of the police vehicle as it attempted to leave. The person then fell backwards over a bicycle as the officers were trying to leave the area again. As the officers drove away, protesters continued to throw more objects at the police SUV.”
The Richmond Police Department has released a statement in response to Saturday night’s incident near Monument Avenue. https://t.co/8h2K61w9Vk
— 8News WRIC Richmond (@8NEWS) June 15, 2020
Obviously, these “protesters” missed the lesson that most parents taught their kids – don’t play in the street.
Furthermore, in the state of Virginia, there’s a couple of laws (outside of laws related to the vehicular damage done to the police SUV) that can be cited as being violated by the demonstrators. Namely, § 18.2-47 and § 46.2-818.
Virginia code § 46.2-818 relates to literally stopping a vehicle illegally. The state code plainly states that one cannot just block a vehicle:
“No person shall intentionally and willfully…stop the vehicle of another for the sole purpose of impeding its progress on the highways, except in the case of an emergency or mechanical breakdown.”
Despite what any progressive would say, engaging in a protest isn’t an “emergency.”
However, once you start trying to box in a vehicle, as seen in the video, while the driver is trying to find an alternate route to leave the area – then you’ve just opened a whole new box of worms. That is when someone enters the realm of § 18.2-47, which is the kidnapping and abduction law.
According to Section A of the Virginia state code regarding kidnapping/abduction, the following defines the criminal act as such:
“Any person who, by force, intimidation or deception, and without legal justification or excuse, seizes, takes, transports, detains or secretes another person with the intent to deprive such other person of his personal liberty or to withhold or conceal him from any person, authority or institution lawfully entitled to his charge, shall be deemed guilty of ‘abduction.’”
Considering the wide range of verbiage present in the state code, it wouldn’t be difficult to allege kidnapping from what is seen on the video.
— Eggroll (@FlaccidEggroll) June 12, 2020
The fact that there even exists a divided take on blocking cars – especially police vehicles – and then proclaiming a victim status while continuously trying to get in front of a slow-moving vehicle is laughable.
Long story short, blocking and impeding one’s free movement isn’t peaceful protesting – it’s a criminal act.
As for the status of the investigation in Richmond, there were no injury reports that were filed regarding the protesters present on N. Allen Avenue that evening, according to the RPD. Now, police are trying to determine the identities of those individuals who were present during the incident, so that appropriate charges can be filed.
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