INDIANAPOLIS

'They don't care about us': Man scales monument, streams frank discussion with officer

"No justice, no peace," Jeano Simmons said in a Facebook Live video posted at 9:18 p.m. "And I will not get down until there is some."

Holly V. Hays
Indianapolis Star

For several hours late Thursday night, a man perched on the south side of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis.

Jeano Simmons said in a Facebook Live video that he had been to the demonstrations that have taken over downtown streets every night for the last week, but felt frustrated because speakers and protesters weren't being heard by officials — namely Gov. Eric Holcomb — who have the power to address the systemic issues protesters have been raising concerns about.

Disheartened and angered by the engraving on the monument that references the "colored" companies that served in the Spanish-American War, Simmons decided to climb the structure and make a statement of his own.

"No justice, no peace," he said in a Facebook Live video posted at 9:18 p.m. "And I will not get down until there is some."

Jeano Simmons said he was motivated to climb the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on June 4, 2020, after attending protests throughout the city and feeling like his voice and the voices of other protesters weren't being heard. He was also motivated by the inscription on the monument recognizing the "colored companies" from Indiana that fought in the Spanish-American War.

About three hours later, Simmons posted another video, this time showing law enforcement standing at the base of the monument. When he made it clear he wasn't leaving, two of the officers climbed up and sat with him, an apparent attempt to coax him down.

But Simmons didn't budge. For nearly an hour, Simmons live-streamed a conversation between him and one of the officers, which was at times a frank discussion on community-police relations and the struggles experienced by black Hoosiers.

Simmons — who said he was adopted and his legal name is Thomas Byrd, but Simmons is his name — did not get down from the monument until nearly 4 a.m., he told IndyStar via Facebook message Friday afternoon. Simmons said he was not arrested.

IndyStar has reached out to Indiana State Police for comment and is working to confirm the name and rank of the officer, who appears to be assigned to the department's Capitol Police section. 

If Simmons was angry, the officer said, then he needed to stand up and be a voice. Simmons' retort: A voice for whom?

"The people that march and then look at this wall and then have to be reminded that they were colored once?" he asked. 

"The marching has made a point," the officer said. "Stuff is gonna get changed, but you have to give it time to get changed."

"What do you mean, give it time?" Simmons responded. "Do you know what happened to our ancestors?"

Generational struggles

When the officer suggested he meant slavery, Simmons pointed to issues that, in Marion County, disproportionately affect the black population: poverty, a lack of education funding and resources, unemployment. He pointed to area factories that had been shut down and left families struggling.

"My father was in a plant that got shut down," the officer said.

"Oh, your father was in a plant that got shut down? Well, we're talking about generational (expletive). You're just talking about individual situation, man," Simmons said. "My ancestors fought ... but yet we get treated a certain way, looked at differently."

At another point in the conversation, Simmons pointed out that it's difficult for the black community to differentiate good officers from bad officers. If one is bad, he said, the whole department is. 

“Not really," the officer cautioned, conceding: "But that’s how it’s looked at."

"No, really, but that is how we look at things," Simmons said. "And that is how the judicial system looks at us."

As the officer continued his attempts to get Simmons to climb down from the monument, he reminded the man that he had chosen to climb up there with him so they could talk. 

Every officer has choices, Simmons said, and when officers make bad choices, the community has to live with the aftermath. So, too, do police departments, the officer replied. 

Simmons responded: "Do you think that I wanna be up here?" 

"I don't know what the (expletive) to do," he continued. "That's what I'm trying to get you all to understand. These kids don't know what to do." 

"And neither do the basic officers. We don't know what to do, either," the officer said. "We can only do what is right, but we can't control every officer. I can't control him, I can't control them, I can only control me."

"But you know who can control officers?" Simmons replied. "Laws, codes." 

"Yes, I totally agree," the officer said. "And some slip through the cracks." 

"And how do they slip through the cracks?" Simmons retorted. "Because (of) the crooked-ass system."

'I'm just sick and tired'

As the night continued, Simmons made his frustrations and feelings of despair clear. 

"I'm telling you, man, I don't know what the (expletive) to do. But they do," Simmons said, gesturing broadly — Monument Circle is flanked by the City County Building and the Statehouse.

Jeano Simmons perched on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument late Thursday in protest of police treatment of black civilians.

"I'm telling you, " he continued, "I'm just sick and tired of all of this, man. We don't want to hurt y'all, and I know y'all don't want to hurt us. So then what the (expletive) can we do? Y'all need to walk with us, y'all need to be able to protect us, and y'all need to be able to confront the governor." 

"I totally agree with you," the officer replied.

When protesters marched nearly five miles from downtown to the governor's residence on Monday, they were greeted not by Holcomb, but by State Police and IMPD dressed in riot gear. For nearly an hour, protesters stood on Meridian Street, asking for the governor to come out, for their concerns to be heard.

Instead, the officers removed their gear and several agreed to walk a short distance with the protesters — a display of apparent support on behalf of the police that not all in the community agreed with.

"Making this real clear," Indy10 Black Lives Matter tweeted Tuesday. "We don't shake hands with the enemy."

After Simmons began live streaming, members of Indy10 went Downtown to take him food and water, but stayed when they said officers threatened to arrest him. 

"This movement is bringing so much awareness and waking so many people up," Indy10 organizer Kyra Harvey said in a Facebook Live broadcast posted at 3:05 a.m. "And I'm just so proud of the people, of the young black people, who have been doing this every day. Thirty days, from 62nd and Michigan Road, to the Circle."

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Based on the nearly hourlong live stream of Simmons' conversation, it was clear he and the officer were at an impasse. Both acknowledged much-needed solutions weren't going to come easily. But Simmons was determined to be heard.

At one point, the officer told Simmons he wanted him to climb down so they could continue the conversation elsewhere, citing Simmons' safety as the priority. The officers that if Simmons fell and he was there and could have prevented it, any injuries Simmons sustained would be on his conscience. 

"Does (Dreasjon) Reed's murder live on your conscience?" Simmons asked.

"It does," the officer responded. "That's a person that died. No one should die." 

"But yet, we get the extent of the whole law," Simmons said, arguing that if a black civilian were to shoot and kill someone, they would be prosecuted, whereas officers, in many cases, are not. "And we (are) the ones that have to endure the pain that they put in place." 

"I agree," the officer said. 

Simmons shook his head: "They don't care about us, man." 

Simmons declined an interview when reached by IndyStar Friday, but said his message was this:

"For the People that truly support Black Lives to look around our city, an listen to the pain an hurt in our Black Communities with your heart, An you be the change you want to see here in our communities. Stay True to Us cause Black Lives Matter."

Friday marks the eighth day that actions speaking out against police use of force are planned for Indianapolis, and demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the city into the weekend. Mayor Joe Hogsett has reinstated a countywide curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at 317-444-6156. Follow her on Twitter: @hollyvhays.