By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL – Expressing opposition to tactics employed by police in the recent raid on occupiers of the Yates Motor Co building at 419 W. Franklin St., protesters filled Chapel Hill Town Hall on Monday night, spilling out of council chambers and lining the windows surrounding the room.
At the meeting, former U.S. Senate candidate and investment banker Jim Neal petitioned the council to call for the appointment of an independent review commission to research and report on the circumstances leading up to the decision by police and town officials to deploy a Special Emergency Response Team in response to the occupation. The council voted unanimously to refer the petition to town staff for review, which is in accordance with council procedure.
“I believe that the only way to bring this to resolution is to have independent eyes … come in to evaluate, from beginning to end, the events that happened,†Neal said.
Town Manager Roger Stancil said the town is conducting an internal investigation of the events.
Concerns have been raised about the police’s response to the occupation, which began the night of Nov. 12, led, reportedly, by attendees of the Carrboro Anarchist Bookfair, and resulted in a dramatic encounter with police the afternoon of Nov. 13, with seven arrests.
Residents have questioned the police’s failure to attempt to communicate with those inside the building prior to the raid, in which police brandished long-range rifles and detained those on the sidewalk outside the entrance of the building – including a News & Observer reporter covering the occupation – before rushing inside.
Prior to the council meeting, a rally was held at the police station, with supporters chanting, “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?†and “Defy orders, prove it’s true: I hear cops are people too.†A half-dozen drummers maintained a steady beat. Signs read, “CHPD: Follow Your Moral Before Your Manual†and “Apathy is Complicity.â€
Roughly 100 people then marched the half-mile up Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to town hall, chanting and drumming, filling the northbound lanes, accompanied by the blue flash of police cruisers. An occasional car honked, in solidarity or annoyance.
Inside the meeting, protesters raised hands in support of speakers and waved in opposition. The meeting was kept mostly in order until protesters began a “mike check,†in which the group repeats the statements of one speaker for amplification, and council members walked out for a 5-minute recess.
Several council members said they would support an independent review of the events.
“I believe that we have generally good processes and generally good law enforcement. I am concerned about the loss of trust that this incident has precipitated,†council member Sally Greene said, adding that she strongly supported Neal’s petition.
Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ward agreed.
“Without the third-party assessment, I think we end up in the same place as we are now. We don’t have faith in the system right now.â€
Council member Donna Bell questioned the need for an independent review, given that the town already has a Community Policing Advisory Committee for these types of reviews.
“They’re the committee who has been set up to ask the questions in these specific situations,†she said.
A number of the protesters Monday night were members of the Occupy Chapel Hill movement, some of whom participated in the occupation of the Yates building.
“The method of eviction of individuals from the Yates building was bad policing and bad town-policy implementation,†said Bert Gurganus, a participant in Occupy Chapel Hill.
“Our police forces are being militarized in the name of counterterrorism. I find this to be deplorable,†he added.
Frank Papa, owner of Phydeaux, a pet supply store in Chapel Hill, urged the council to appoint the independent commission.
“I need to know that if I call the police for, say, someone that needs to be trespassed from my business, that they are not going to come into my business with assault rifles,†he said.
Michael Connor, who runs Internationalist Books, said when he read that police Chief Chris Blue’s justification for the tactics employed by police was that “known anarchists†were involved in the occupation, “My blood ran cold.â€
Connor identified himself as “your friendly local neighborhood anarchist,†asking, “Should anarchists expect guns at other events that we bottom line?â€
“When we have our Really Really Free Markets, should we be afraid that you’ll come with guns?†he continued.
“Do you believe that you will need to kill us to remove us from your community, and is that a reasoned response?â€
An apology?
Also on Monday, council member Laurin Easthom petitioned the council to issue a formal apology to the journalists detained in the police raid, including News & Observer reporter Katelyn Ferral and Reese News’ Josh Davis, but the motion failed, 6-3, with Easthom, Greene and council member Ed Harrison voting in favor, and Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and council members Donna Bell, Matt Czajkowski, Gene Pease, Penny Rich and Jim Ward dissenting.
The council then voted to refer the petition to staff for consideration.
“Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our nation, and Chapel Hill is fortunate to have media outlets that still provide coverage to local events,†Easthom said.
Kleinschmidt said that while he was sorry for what happened to the journalists, he felt that it was important to hear a report back from staff on the events before taking any action. The crowd jeered him, at which point the mayor became noticeably frustrated.
“Maybe some of you don’t know who your mayor is, but I’ll tell you. Your mayor is a 25-year veteran of civil-rights and civil-liberties activism,†he said, noting his work as president of the N.C. ACLU and marching on Washington for women’s and LGBT rights.
“Your mayor appreciates the … important work that you do because it’s that kind of activity that really gets the attention of people. I know because I’ve been doing it too,†he said.
“Your mayor has that level of appreciation, but I’m also not going to make a decision or take a position about the way our government works here locally without getting access to information that is very easy to obtain.â€