Demonstrators Head To the Northside & Protest at the City's 4th Police Precinct
For the seventh night in a row protesters marched through the streets of Richmond with more than a thousand turning out for a night that began at Monroe Park. Around 7 PM crowds departed the centrally located park and headed east towards the Richmond Police Headquarters on West Grace Street. As the crowds approached the law enforcement facility they observed a police line reinforced by National Guard Units.
With their first destination blocked off and not seeking an immediate conflict the crowds moved north and headed towards Broad and through Jackson Ward. Traveling on Chamberlayne Avenue the demonstrators headed to the Richmond Police 4th Precinct in northside.
Arriving at the RPD precinct some demonstrators initially approached a line of police officers guarding the facility causing many in the crowds to fear a clash at any moment. These fears turned out to be misplaced as the situation de-escalated with crowds seeking to make themselves heard rather than draw a conflict. From 7:40 PM to nearly 9 PM demonstrators protested in the parking lot of the police precinct and the neighboring gasoline fueling station.
With the arrival of nightfall some demonstrators wished to stay and keep this protest at RPD going while others wished to move on to more desirable destinations. Ultimately the crowd ended up marching with the bulk of demonstrators arriving at Monroe Park around 9:05 PM.
After regrouping at Monroe Park the demonstrators went mobile once more choosing to March along West Main Street towards Carytown. Hundreds of individuals on foot and dozens of cars paraded along the city streets until late in the evening. As crowds moved along they chanted “Out of your homes and into to the streets!” hoping to recruit more people to participate in the evenings demonstrations.
Besides the tense moments at the Richmond Police 4th Precinct the events of the evening proceeded without further incident or conflict between demonstrators and law enforcement.