March Turns Into Rowdy Demonstration Outside Councilmember Kim Gray's Home In Jackson Ward
A Wednesday march to and from the Richmond Coliseum took a terrifying turn for city councilmember Kim Gray and her neighbors after dozens of demonstrators swarmed her normally quiet block of West Clay Street.
The evening started off with Councilmember Gray receiving word from a friend that some individuals planned to engage in a form of arson near or at her home. Anticipating the possibility of unrest endangering her family the councilmember brought in a security detail to protect her home from any demonstrators with ill intent.
Around 8 PM demonstrators gathered and marched from the intersection of North Belvidere and West Clay Streets towards downtown. Starting at 8:40 the group of activists participated in their advertised “Reclamation Revival” event outside of the defunct downtown arena.
The event featured a number of speakers addressing issues ranging from Re-opening the case into the death of Marcus-David Peters to absolute defunding of the Richmond Police Department.
After wrapping up their evening program the crowd marched westbound through Jackson Ward along West Clay Street. Around 10:25 PM the rowdy crowd of about 200 arrived outside the home of Councilmember Gray where they spent 20 minutes chanting, blasting horns, detonating fireworks and shining lights/lasers into her home. According to witnesses nearby neighbors also report that they were antagonized by the crowd who demanded they hold Kim Gray accountable for causing them to protest in their neighborhood.
“Wednesday I got calls from my neighbors who were looking out about the weapons pointed up – the assault rifles pointed up. I’ve got photographs of other instances in other neighborhoods in The Fan and surrounding areas, where people are riding through the sunroofs with assault rifles pointed up. So, no, I did not… When I tried to look out the window, the crowd started yelling and pointing up to me and I got out of the window because there were lasers shining into my face and I didn’t know if they were ready to shoot or if they were just trying to blind me. Either way it wasn’t good,” Gray said.
Richmond City Councilmember Kim Gray
Around 10:41 PM the demonstrators moved on from Gray’s home and eventually reached North Belvidere where they dispersed without further incident.
Richmond police later released a statement with their timeline of events surrounding the incident at Councilmember Kim Gray's home.
Read More:
Mostly Peaceful Event: Generally A Peaceful Demonstration With Minor Disruptions