Thursday, March 28, 2024

Standing against racial injustice

Posted

An estimated total of 350 participants turned out for two Black Lives Matter rallies at the courthouse over the weekend.

Both ended with no arrests, no destruction of property and not even any littering, according to Granbury Public Information Officer Alex Southern.

Granbury joined other cities across the country to rally against racism and police brutality following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died on a Minneapolis street after a police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

On Sunday afternoon, a veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council voted to disband the city’s embattled police department.

On Monday, a judge set bail for Derek Chauvin at $1.25 million. Chauvin was the officer who pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck, even though Floyd was handcuffed, not resisting and was repeatedly stating that he couldn’t breath.

Fifty countries have also joined in the protests over Floyd’s death, some calling attention to similar issues within their own communities.

While most protesters have been peaceful, according to news reports, nightfall has brought looters and violence to many American cities.

Although many Hood County citizens who posted on social media ahead of the local events did not support the protests, some of them pointing out that there have been no such issues here, the gatherings on Saturday and Sunday were not impeded by opponents. Part of the reason may have been because of a heavy law enforcement presence that was announced in advance.

Granbury Police Chief Mitch Galvan stood with several of his officers on the square during the protests, and the department barricaded streets to prevent through traffic. Prior to the events, Galvan participated in planning meetings with the Department of Public Safety, the sheriff’s office and county Emergency Management Coordinator Jay Webster.

Saturday’s rally drew approximately 150 participants. There were about 200 at Sunday’s, by Galvan’s estimation.

Participants in both events stated that they had no issue with the Granbury Police Department and thanked the officers for being there.

Both protests were engineered by young people. Granbury High School graduates Faith Melton and Blake Beatty were the organizers for Saturday’s rally. Seventeen-year-old Kaya McClain, a biracial student who said she is working on her General Equivalency Diploma, was the force behind Sunday’s.

McClain had initially canceled her march after being attacked on social media, but then changed her mind.

“Just seeing all those comments really made me want to do it more,” she said as participants gathered by a parking lot across from Shanley Park in preparation to march with her to the square.

Melton was angered by a post made to a Pecan Plantation neighborhood Facebook page by Precinct 2 Constable John Shirley about the planned events. Shirley’s post stated in part: “While these events were scheduled by locals (supposedly), we have information from multiple sources that outside people and likely outside groups will be coming in from DFW and possibly elsewhere for these protests.”

Shirley’s Facebook page, which identifies him as constable for Hood County’s Precinct 2, on Monday contained several posts that harshly criticized the mass protests, as well as Democrats. In one post about protests occurring in “blue states,” he posted, “Let the MF’ers stew in their own dirty diapers,” and referred to Democratic governors as “DemonRAT governors.”

Melton shared Shirley’s Pecan Plantation post about outside agitators to her own Facebook page and posted: “How dare he use fear tactics like this against the people of Granbury. This message was meant to scare the people who are already nervous about riots happening in their town and the demonstrators who will be on the square. #votehimout.”

Shirley won’t be voted out any time soon. In March, he won the Republican primary against two challengers and faces no Democrat on the November ballot.

He did not respond by press time Tuesday morning to a message left by the HCN on Monday seeking comment about his post and Melton’s criticism.

Asked whether there had been any reason to believe that outside agitators might pose a problem, Galvan provided this statement to the HCN via email late Monday afternoon:

“All the information we received from intelligence agencies and area resources gave us no indication that these events would be anything other than peaceful and localized, nor at any time did the sheriff or I receive any reports of outside influence or agitators from anyone, including Constable Shirley.”

Hood County is about 80% Republican. The weekend’s protests were unusual for the conservative county, which last year was ranked the ninth fastest-growing county in the nation.

For years, Hood County has been about 95% white. It is still predominantly white, but a small number of people of color were at the protests.

Several white speakers stated that they either are the parent of a black child, the foster parent of a black child or have a child of mixed race.

Minutes before Saturday’s event got underway, Beatty told the HCN that he hoped the gathering would serve as an opportunity “to bring the community together in solidarity and create maybe a dialogue instead of a monologue.”

SATURDAY’S EVENT

Unlike Sunday’s protest, Saturday’s event did not involve marching.

The gathering lasted about an hour, with speakers addressing the crowd from the gazebo by the courthouse. The public addresses lasted almost 34 minutes in total.

Many in the crowd carried signs bearing such messages as, “Black Lives Matter,” and, “Hate has no home here.”

In addition to organizer Melton, speakers included: Micky Shearon, a former Granbury School Board member and president of the Granbury Theatre Company board; Anna Roe, former Acton Elementary School principal and the mother of black children; Wade Killough, senior pastor at Acton United Methodist Church; DeShay Jackson, music minister at First Christian Church of Granbury; and Daniel Shelton, who is of mixed race and played football for Granbury High School.

Shearon told the crowd that, as a 58-year-old white male, he is “heartbroken” because he feels that “my generation is going to be the first generation that is going to hand off a world to their kids and their grandkids that is worse off than the world that was handed to me.”

Singer Javon Tcheco capped off the event by singing “Amazing Grace.”

SUNDAY’S EVENT

After marching to the courthouse from the parking lot by Shanley Park, protesters stood or sat on the pavement and grass to listen to speakers. The public addresses lasted about 42 minutes.

Sixty-year-old black educator Calvin Lawrence, a 10- year resident of Hood County, said that a friend told him that they didn’t think they would ever see anything like the protests in Hood County, to which Lawrence responded, “I’m with you, brother.”

Lawrence went on to say that the “well-spring of love” at the event was “genuine.”

He exclaimed, “I’m impressed with these kids!” and drew applause when he thanked the police officers who were present.

Perla Campos told the crowd that she was born and raised in Granbury after her mother immigrated from Mexico to give her family a better life. Campos said that she has lived in California for the past 10 years and that part of her has been ashamed to be from Granbury, a city that has not always returned her mother’s love.

“This moment right here makes me so proud,” she said.

After the speakers finished, the group marched around the courthouse several times to chants that included, “No justice, no peace, no racist police.”

The group then struck off down East Pearl Street to City Beach Park before circling back. They were quietly accompanied by police officers.

The group did not appear to encounter any harassment from the public or passing motorists. The driver of at least one passing vehicle honked, seemingly in support of the protesters.

On their way back to the square, protesters stopped to lay face down in the grass for several minutes, assuming the position that Floyd was in when he died. While lying prone, they continued their chants.

By the time the group arrived back at the square, officers had removed the traffic barricades, but they stopped traffic so that protesters could cross to the courthouse.

The marchers dispersed at about 3:35 p.m. At 3:42 p.m., dispatch alerted sheriff’s deputies that they were no longer needed at the square.

On Monday afternoon, the Granbury Police Department issued a statement through Webster, the county’s emergency management coordinator, thanking 11 other law enforcement agencies and other entities for their assistance. Among the list was the Texas Military Department and the Erath County Sheriff’s Office.

IMPACT ON THE SQUARE

Ken Hackett, president of the Granbury Historic Merchants Association, was on the square during Saturday’s protest. He said that some merchants had concerns, “but not of any consequence.”

He stated, “We support the constitutional rights of the protesters; we just want everybody to be peaceful. It does stymie some business.”

Late Sunday afternoon, this message was posted on the Silver Saddle Saloon’s Facebook page:

“The square is finally back open for today, but we’re all hurting after the roads being shut down the bulk of the day for the protests. Please support local through Sunday evening, wherever you can.”

kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258