Demonstrators March On City Hall & Create Encampment

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After a wild Father’s Day evening of conflicts and clashes on Monument Avenue centered around the Stuart Circle area activists were already fired up for a week of demonstrations. Early on the morning of Monday June 22^nd state authorities dispatched a notice that new restrictions would now be enforced at the Robert E. Lee Monument grounds, these new regulations were not well received by influential members of the protest community.

While some demonstrators took defensive positions at the Robert E. Lee monument others took to the streets and marched to City Hall from Monroe Park. The City Hall event was promoted earlier in the day on social media with flyers advocating “Defund & Abolish Richmond Police Department.” The flyer went on to include an image of a burning police car with the words “By Any Means Necessary.”

Demonstrators gathered in Monroe Park around 5 PM and headed east on Franklin about 30 minutes later. As the crowd passed the YMCA facility on Franklin some in the crowd began antagonizing members exercising inside behind the giant glass windows of the gym. Continuing east demonstrators chanted and listened to speakers enumerate grievances against everyone from Richmond Police to Ring Doorbells a service one activist alleged was being used to spy on protesters.

Arriving at City Hall around 6 PM requests went out on social media for allies to bring tents, sleeping bags and other occupation gear for a long evening.

As the crowd gathered at City Hall some prominent members of the group led a chant of “Fuck CNN” and directed member to block the media and antagonize reporters on the scene. This type of behavior had become increasingly common with “unapproved” media frequently becoming the target of angry words, threats of violence and in some cases physical harm.

Around 6:15 PM a speaker instructed the crowd that the march would now transform into an occupation and signs were placed at city hall renaming it “Reclamation Square.” Cyclists who had helped guide the march along the route used stolen traffic cones to close Marshall Street to traffic and demonstrators setup tents in the street.

Meanwhile at Lee Circle demonstrators took up defensive positions with rumors swirling that police would swoop in after sunset to enforce the restrictions on the monument grounds. Seeing police officers stationed nearby one crowd member eager for conflict yelled out “Come get us!”

Not long after sunset lightning flashes increasingly lit up the skies and between 9:30 and 10 PM heavy downpours and stormy conditions sent demonstrators scattering for cover at both Lee Circle and City Hall. Some defiant demonstrators would not even let the lightning and heavy rains tell them to leave and opted to stay within the monument grounds. While some participants were highly motivated to stay the soaking rains did send some demonstrators on their way and when rains cleared the crowd at Lee Circle was noticeably smaller.

In downtown however demonstrators continued their occupation with participants sitting around watching films and engaged in other forms of protest. Around 11 PM the influential individuals at Lee Circle directed participants to depart and help boost numbers at City Hall. The militant individuals carrying shields and other objects meant for conflict with police were witnessed packing up and departing presumably joining the event downtown.

Around 12:30 AM a combination of Richmond Police & Virginia State Police equipped with crowd management gear arrived on 10^th Street near City Hall. Demonstrators immediately were displeased with the presence of law enforcement and began shining strobing flashlights and lasers at them.

By 12:40 AM police had established a secure formation and announced via amplification system that an unlawful assembly had been declared. For about twenty minutes police requested demonstrators disperse and depart from the city hall grounds and their encampment on East Marshall Street.

The defiant crowd of demonstrators refused to budge and around 1 AM police began to advance their line which was met by tossed bottles and objects from the defiant crowd. Law enforcement responded with several flash bangs and tear gas deployments.

With the situation escalating the protesters established their own front line perimeter equipped with improvised shields while others gathered anything that wasn’t bolted down at nearby properties to construct a barricade in the street.

The confrontation between law enforcement and demonstrators continued until around 2 AM at which point the remaining demonstrators dispersed and police occupied the grounds around city hall.

After the area was secured police reported collecting several homemade weapons left behind by the demonstrators. City crews arrived and cleaned up scattered debris and rubbish generated by the occupying demonstrators.

Read More From:

• Richmond Times-Dispatch - Overnight police declare 'Reclamation Square' encampment an unlawful assembly, disperse crowd with chemical agents
• NBC 12 - 12 protesters arrested for unlawful assembly of ‘Reclamation Square’ outside City Hall
• CBS 6 - 'Reclamation Square' deemed unlawful, tear gas used to disperse the crowd
• Associated Press - Richmond Police Disperse Protest Encampment, Charge 12