Floyd’s death stokes fear, concern in Augusta community

The outcry, rioting and eventual arrest Friday of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, resonated heavily among Augusta’s large minority community.

The case coincides with the delayed arrests of three white Brunswick, Ga., men in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a young black man, and protests leading to violence in a demand for justice for Breonna Taylor, a black EMT killed by Louisville, Ky., police.

“George Floyd’s killer has been arrested,” said Jared Williams, a young Augusta attorney running for district attorney. “It didn’t take all this to get here. All it would have taken was leadership, integrity and a commitment to justice.”

Jessica Wright of Grovetown said the 400-year history of violence against the black community keeps her fearful for her children and brothers.

“As a black mother, I feel like I can speak for many other black women when I say that I am tired of having to worry about my sons and brothers and fathers when they walk out the door,” said Wright, the district operations director for the Progressive Turnout Project.

The incidents rarely see immediate consequences, which increases distrust, she said.

“We have to come out and protest and fight to ensure that justice happens immediately, and that’s a huge issue,” Wright said. "All they have to do is arrest them when we have an event, but when police can murder – not just men, but women – and not know that they will not immediately have consequences, that ’s a problem.”

In a social media post, Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis said he is tired of those who adhere to stereotypes about African American men.

“I am frustrated, disappointed and quite frankly sick and tired of those who hide behind the caricature of the ‘BIG SCARY BLACK MAN.’ I am not a: thug, thief, murderer, rapist, or criminal. ’I AM A BLACK MAN IN AMERICA,’” he wrote.

Radio host Ken Makin said the case shows little has changed since the 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., which prompted days of civil unrest.

“What’s happening in Minnesota is a flashpoint, just like the events of Ferguson six years ago.” Makin said. “The state-sanctioned murder of a black male elicited righteous indignation from a frustrated community.”

Augusta Commissioner Marion Williams said many in his community are very concerned about the deaths of Floyd and Arbery.

“ There was no sensitivity at all for a man’s life when you put your knee on a man’s neck for nine minutes and you put your hand in your pocket,” Williams said.

Former Augusta Commissioner Moses Todd said a breakdown at the federal level, fueled by President Donald Trump, has led to complete distrust by the minority community that racist misconduct will have consequences.

“Like they do in Minnesota, Kentucky and Brunswick, they feel like the feds, as far as this administration, is anything goes – that the administration don’t care,” he said. “I think the country is like a gunpowder keg ready to go off.”

Todd said what makes Augusta less volatile is its African American leadership.

“The difference in Augusta is that the folks that’s running things are minority,” he said. Residents “feel like the sheriff is not going to put up with deputies doing certain things.”

Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree is African American.

The outgoing president of Augusta Young Democrats, Shannon Rogers, said answers remain elusive about the ongoing “hatred and injustice,” but her religious faith keeps her living without fear.

“No person, police, politician or pastor has the answers to this hate-driven phenomenon we are enduring,” she said.

Richmond County Democratic Party Chairman Jordan Johnson said while most police officers aren’t bad, he’s experienced firsthand officers kicking in his grandmother’s door and breaking her big toe while arresting his uncle.

“We have to understand there is a disconnect that African Americans have with the law enforcement community,” he said.

Groups such as the sheriff’s advisory committee and citizen’s police academy help build connections between the communities, he said.

Around Augusta, some conservatives gave more attention to the looting than Floyd’s death and said brutality occurs when people don’t comply with an officer’s orders.

“The blacks still claim they are abused and discriminated against. If they want respect, they must earn it and this is not the way to do it,” Sandy Cloke, a retired Fort Gordon worker, said of the looting in a Facebook post on an Augusta Chronicle page.

“Just like Eric Gardner and the overwhelming majority of others, all ethnicities, George Floyd would be alive today had he not resisted and caused the police to use force,” Mark Yarbrough said on the same page.

Video footage of Floyd’s arrest shows no resistance by him.

Area law enforcement officials were quick to speak out against Floyd’s killing and said Chauvin kneeling on his neck has never been a technique used by law enforcement.

“‘Kneeling on the neck’ (as described in the video) of anyone is not a tactic or technique that is being taught to law enforcement officers in South Carolina,” Capt. Eric Abdullah, special operations and community services officer for the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, said in a statement. “The actions that were witnessed on that video should be condemned by all law enforcement and the community as a whole.”

Ryan Alphin, the executive director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association, said the incident tarnishes all law enforcement.

“There is no law enforcement training that teaches officers to kneel on a controlled suspect’s neck for minutes on end,” he said. “Cases like George Floyd must not only be condemned by the community but also by law enforcement leadership.”

Lewis Blanchard, the chief deputy for the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, said the incident shows the tremendous importance of the proper vetting, hiring, training and monitoring of police officers, including caring for their mental health.

“There is no single easy answer, but it is very clear that we must do more and in order to do so, we must form partnerships with the community and elected officials in order to make public safety a true priority,” he said.