(Updated at 5:20 p.m.) As the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps across the world in response to George Floyd’s death, Fairfax County locals are taking to the streets to call for racial equality.
Already, there have been protests and marches in Reston, Falls Church and Vienna. An upcoming protest is slated to take place in McLean on Wednesday.
Tysons Reporter interviewed Sean Perryman, the president of the Fairfax NAACP, to gain insight into underlying issues in the community and how the group is advocating for solutions.
After graduating from the Vanderbilt University Law School and working as a civil litigator, Perryman decided to join the NAACP back in 2016 after Donald Trump’s election. Since becoming president in 2019, he has led the group to promote the NAACP’s mission to “ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race.”
“I threw myself in because I didn’t like what I was seeing at the national level and wanted to get involved at the local level,” he said.
The Fairfax NAACP actually originated in the Falls Church area, which Perryman said is historically significant because the county government unjustly took land from Black owners in the area.
Though Fairfax County is thought of as a progressive and liberal area, “there is a history of violence here that often gets overlooked,” Perryman said.
Throughout the last several years, Perryman recalled several incidents of alleged police brutality and discrimination against Black individuals that he claims were overlooked by the public.
Just recently, a Fairfax County police officer was charged with three misdemeanor counts of assault and battery after using a stun gun on a black man, the Washington Post reported.
Fairfax County hired a research team to look into the use-of-force incidents by Fairfax County police after a study found a disproportionate impact on black individuals. The research team is expected to reveal its findings early next year.
“The use of force here is disproportionate here for the police department [against black and brown people],” he said, adding that it is still better than some surrounding jurisdictions.
How Photos Can Influence the Perception of Law Enforcement
Roughly a week ago at a Black Lives Matter rally in Vienna, Mina Salama captured a photo of Vienna Police Chief Jim Morris kneeling, maskless alongside hundreds of other protesters.
Though Salama said she didn’t know that the officer in the photo was the police chief at the time, she said the moment and his position intrigued her.
Tysons Reporter is working to schedule an interview with Morris to talk about the photo and will update this story.
“I thought it was great — he wasn’t in the middle of the crowd. He was doing it on his own and just really feeling like he was a part of it,” Salama said.
Perryman said he didn’t want to be “cynical” and possibly discredit Morris’ true intentions behind the image, however, he said he wants to see progressive policy changes instead of social displays of support. He added that “nice” images of police kneeling don’t always portray an accurate representation of a situation.
“I don’t care about police chiefs kneeling or holding Black Lives Matter signs. Get your officers in check,” he said. “Make sure they are not abusing people. Give us transparency and data. Make real change, and anything short of that can just be seen as a photo opportunity.”
The Vienna police chief photo happened on the spur of the moment, Salama said.
Before Salama ultimately decided to post the photo on Facebook, she said she struggled with the decision but decided that the image helped to accurately describe the atmosphere at the event.
“I kind of went back and forth about posting the picture [on social media] because in a lot of communities it’s done as a photo opp and this was more organic,” she said. “Nobody promoted him.”
NAACP’s Demands for Reform
Perryman claims students of color and students with disabilities are taken into police custody disproportionally compared to their white peers in Fairfax County Public Schools.
“Sometimes these were for issues like disorderly conduct,” Perryman said. “What does this mean? For a kid, does that mean they were just being bad in school?”
Perryman said that Fairfax NAACP’s efforts have been able to reduce arrests in schools by 60%. Still, he wants to see more done: “I’ve always said we need to get the cops out of schools and put in more counselors.”
In terms of One Fairfax, Perryman said he thinks the policy is good for “looking at things through an equity lens,” but added that the county’s school board and Board of Supervisors have a long way to go before the policy is more than “lip service.”
“You can’t have One Fairfax when you have a Robert E. Lee High School, and the school is named after a Confederate general who wanted to enslave black people,” he noted as an example.
The Fairfax County School Board voted in 2019 to consider renaming seven schools, including Mosby Woods Elementary School, named after people with Confederate ties.
Recently, the school board resumed its process to consider renaming Robert E. Lee High School.
In the next several months, Perryman said that the group will continue to push for police reform at the county, state and national levels.
The NAACP wants to see qualified immunity eliminated, Perryman said. “It ensures trust in the system. If you have trust in the system, you don’t have people going through the streets looking for justice,” he said.
If elected officials are determined to enact changes, Perryman said new policies could be in place within a year. For a complete list of NAACP’s agenda items, people can visit the organization’s website.
Ways Community Members Can Support
For people who want to keep rallying and showing up to protests, Perryman said that he hopes people will try to keep in mind precautions such as wearing masks and social distancing. Last week, Fairfax NAACP held a car rally where people could listen and participate in their cars.
If people want to support the NAACP, they donate or ask how they can be of service. Though some people requested that the NAACP help them organize rallies, Perryman said that isn’t the purpose of the group.
People can become better allies by educating themselves about systemic racism in American history, Perryman said.
“One of the best things to do is to Google the origins of policing,” he said. “Our policing system is relatively new and in the course of American history, the way we do policing originated out of slave patrols,” he said. “I think a lot of people are shocked by that.”
Perryman suggested books such as “Stamped From the Beginning” and “How to Be an Anti-Racist” both by Ibram X. Kendi, who runs an anti-racism center at American University in D.C.
“Historical context helps you to solve a problem and look at things in a different light,” Perryman said.
Photos courtesy Sean Perryman
MCA Backs Building Changes for CityLine — “McLean Citizens Association (MCA) board members on June 3 unanimously backed a resolution supporting CityLine Partners LLC’s proposed development amendments to build one building instead of two at a site in [Tysons].” [Inside NoVa]
Fairfax Officer Arrested After Tasing Black Man — “The actions of a Fairfax County police officer who used a Taser to subdue an African American man on Friday were “horrible” and “disgusting,” Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. says… The officer, Tyler Timberlake, has been charged with three counts of assault and battery and faces up to 36 months in prison if convicted.” [Inside NoVa]
ICYMI: Hundreds Gathered at Falls Church Protest — “Hundreds of people filled Cherry Hill Park on Sunday afternoon for the ‘Falls Church Justice for Black Lives Rally.'” [Tysons Reporter]
High Demand for Libraries’ Curbside Pick-Up — “Across the entire Fairfax County library system, customers demonstrated their hunger for the library’s services by checking out 11,000 items from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, the first day of curbside service. For comparison, on the last Monday prior to branch closures in March, when libraries were operating at full capacity, there were about 12,500 checkouts between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m.” [Vienna Patch]
Another drain near the community center goes from plain to WOW thanks once again to the handiwork of Madison students Myles Temple and Gavin Kneff. #publicart #OneVienna pic.twitter.com/r8NPz6drli
— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) June 5, 2020
A Vienna resident told police that someone stomped on the American flags she put along the sidewalk in front of her house.
The incident happened sometime in the morning on Memorial Day (May 25) in the 1000 block of Hillcrest Drive SW, according to Vienna police.
“The resident placed a small section of fencing around the flags to protect them,” police said. “However, the person then broke the fence and pushed over the flag.”
In a separate incident, police said a woman’s two bicycles were reported stolen from outside of the side entrance to Bazin’s On Church (111 Church Street NW) sometime between May 18-24.
Photo via Facebook
Security at Tysons Galleria reported that a group of men tried to break into Paul Bakery at the mall, Fairfax County police say.
The incident happened shortly after 12:30 a.m. today (Wednesday).
“The suspects ran when officers arrived but were taken into custody,” according to Fairfax County police. Charges are pending for the men.
In separate incidents, several businesses in the Tysons area have been burglarized early yesterday morning: McLean Pharmacy in McLean and Lost Dog Cafe and Nouvelle Nails and Spa in Tysons.
For the two in Tysons, police said someone broke in and stole property. The pharmacy was burglarized by a group of people who escaped in multiple cars.
Mindy Hoang of the nail spa posted a photo on Facebook yesterday showing a shattered glass door.
“We were robbed last night,” according to the post. “Broke the glass on our door and [took] half of my nails equipment. I [guess] they try to save [money by] doing their own nails!”
Fairfax County Police arrested a man for allegedly trying to buy a Maserati in Tysons using fake IDs and stolen credit cards.
The incident happened Thursday (May 28) morning at the Imperial Highline of Tysons (8201 Leesburg Pike).
Police said that the 27-year-old man who lives in D.C. had stolen credit cards and fictitious identifications.
Police charged him with five counts of credit card larceny, possession of a fictitious driver’s license, falsely identify self to law enforcement and obscure/alter a vehicle identification number.
Photo by Thomas Allsop on Unsplash
As the sixth day of protests following George Floyd’s death at hands of a Minneapolis police officer continue, local law enforcement officials say they have faith the justice system will produce a just outcome for Floyd and his family.
Peaceful protests were marred by violence over the weekend — including looting and fires in D.C. last night.
Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and fired after a viral video shows the officer holding his knee to Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes on Memorial Day. Three other officers involved in the incident were also fired.
The incident prompted Fairfax County Police Department Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. to reflect on ongoing challenges that erode the public’s trust in law enforcement.
“We shall have faith the local and federal justice systems will navigate toward justice for the Floyd family, the communities impacted, and our entire nation. However, we must be mindful there is a healing process where righteous anger needs to be constructively exercised through the right to free speech,” Roessler wrote.
Roessler noted that FCPD’s community policing efforts and collaborations with locals have helped the department operate in a transparent and accountable manner.
“Fairfax County is blessed to have a highly engaged community which helps our Police Department transparently use a co-production of policing philosophy to ensure our hiring processes, training, policies, and internal and external accountability systems are meeting the expectations of the highest levels of standards by our community served and the law enforcement profession,” he said.
Here’s more from the chief on FCPD’s community engagement efforts:
During the last few trying days and today, I’ve personally networked with our community advocates to ensure they have access to their Chief and the senior law enforcement leaders of the Department to create robust dialogue to understand the awful events that have unfolded recently throughout our country as we need to increase our conversations about the erosion of the public’s trust for law enforcement as we continue to observe the disproportionately of the deaths of our African American community members.
As a reminder, we have updated our use of force policies over the years using the co-production of policing model, vetted our policies and training through the Public Safety Committee, and we continue to leverage the partnerships created with community members who were part of the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission.
Additionally, we are grateful for the external accountability measures from the Police Civilian Review Panel, the Independent Police Auditor, the voluntary submission to both state and national accreditation agencies, and the periodic independent reviews of our lines of business by academic institutions.
“We continue to pray for Mr. Floyd’s family as individuals, a Police Department, and as a community who all collectively value the sanctity of all human life,” he added.
Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash
Vienna police say that a pedestrian was taken to the hospital after being hit by a vehicle on the W&OD Trail in a crosswalk earlier this month.
A man driving eastbound on Church Street hit the pedestrian, who was on heading south on the W&OD Trail, in the crosswalk, according to the town’s crime recap. The incident occurred shortly before 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 7.
“[The pedestrian] was transported to an area hospital by rescue personnel with non-life-threatening injuries,” police said.
Police issued a summons charging the driver with Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian.
Photo via Facebook
(Updated 3 p.m.) Fairfax County police arrested a 51-year-old D.C. man and charged him with aggravated malicious wounding for allegedly stabbing a man.
Police tweeted that they responded to the stabbing in the 2700 block of Dorr Avenue, which is near the Prosperity Flats Apartments and the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station, last night (Tuesday) around 9 p.m.
“Two men known to each other were arguing in a parking lot when one man stabbed the other man,” police said.
The victim was taken the hospital with life-threatening injuries,” police said.
“There is no threat to public safety,” police tweeted.
Map via Google Maps
How’s the Local Hospital Doing? — “Several hospitals in Virginia and Washington, D.C., received top grades for safety, while others didn’t quite measure up, according to new spring 2020 ratings released by the Leapfrog Group recently.” The Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church received an “A” grade. [Patch]
Police Investigating Suspicious W&OD Trail Incidents — “Falls Church Police are seeking information after receiving a report of a man following a woman in a suspicious manner on the W&OD trail this past Monday… Police say they are investigating two other incidents similar to Monday’s, that happened on April 18 at about 1 p.m. and April 21 at about 1 p.m.” [Falls Church News-Press]
MCA Says OK to New Office Building Plan — “McLean Citizens Association (MCA) board members on May 6 unanimously backed a resolution supporting Capital One’s proposal to convert an unbuilt hotel into a new office building.” [Inside NoVa]
Vienna Man Promoted in U.S. Army — “The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s (USASMCDC) deputy commander for operations – Vienna native David Stewart – was promoted to brigadier general in a ceremony at the command’s Peterson Air Force Base headquarters on May 4.” [Inside NoVa]
Earlier this week officers from the McLean District Station held a birthday parade for Max, who just turned 4. He loved seeing the cruisers and was excited to play with his new police coloring book. Happy birthday, Max! 🎉🎂🎈 #FCPD pic.twitter.com/sJL9FyzOuJ
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) May 9, 2020
Work at the Vienna Market project at Maple & Pleasant is about to get a little loud. Steel beams for the commercial building will be driven into the ground over the next few weeks. pic.twitter.com/Tfa2LGWhY4
— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) May 11, 2020
Photo courtesy Tejal Patel
Tesla Pursuit in Tysons — “Police officers chased three Tesla vehicles likely stolen from a Virginia dealership overnight Friday, ending with two drivers fleeing and another driver getting caught, police say… A Fairfax County Police officer noticed a Tesla driving on Route 7 near the Beltway about 3 a.m.” [NBC 4]
Local Companies Going Green — “Can you imagine finishing a meal by eating the very same utensils you used to consume it? How about the ability to choose between plain, sweet, and savory flavored edible utensils? If the folks at The Mather have their way, plastic utensils will soon be a thing of the past and the planet will be better for it.” [Inside NoVa]
Shop Local on Saturdays — “Falls Church Mayor David Tarter signed a proclamation Friday declaring all Saturdays in May as ‘Small Business Saturdays 2.0’ to encourage citizens to direct their buying to the City’s small businesses during the lockdown over the Covid-19 pandemic.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Tysons CEO Talks COVID-19 — “Tysons-based business intelligence software firm MicroStrategy Inc. is heading into an economic minefield caused by the spread of Covid-19 — but CEO Michael Saylor said he feels pretty good about the future.” [Washington Business Journal]
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