Tag: Al Thomas

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Police show up at activists’ doors

The Charlottesville police department has come under fire for showing up at the homes of local activists to inquire about their plans for the July 8 Ku Klux Klan rally. Chief Al Thomas has said he’s worried about local citizens making poor choices. Staff photo

A couple of weeks ago at a community meeting, Chief Al Thomas said he wasn’t worried about handling the KKK at its July 8 rally. What concerned him more were local citizens making “poor choices.” Now some are wondering if local police made poor choices in showing up at activists’ homes and asking about their plans for the Klan rally, the names of other activists and offering to help with any plans they were making, according to a letter attorney Pam Starsia sent to Thomas June 23.

Starsia, who is also a member of Showing Up for Racial Justice, says that after one of her clients received a visit from a Charlottesville police sergeant June 20, she left a voice message for Captain Wendy Lewis and said the home visits to activists were unnerving, intimidating and chilling to their exercise of First Amendment rights, and that officers should immediately desist. She “specifically advised that CPD should not visit the home of another activist client—Veronica Fitzhugh,” says her letter.

Fitzhugh is facing assault and disorderly conduct charges stemming from interactions with whites-righter Jason Kessler May 20 on the Downtown Mall, as well as a separate May 21 assault charge at Lee Park filed by Jason Turner. Despite Starsia’s warning—Lewis said she hadn’t heard the voice message—the sergeant showed up at Fitzhugh’s house the next morning.

“If a policeman shows up at your door with a badge, you’re intimidated,” says civil libertarian John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute. “This is an activity that’s illegitimate.”

Following Starsia’s June 23 press conference in front of the city police station, police spokesman Steve Upman issued a release that said officers were gathering information from a dozen organizations, including the KKK and SURJ, to assist in keeping citizens safe.

“Overkill,” says Whitehead. Visiting activists is a tactic of regimes like Nazi Germany and the KGB, he says. “The police’s job is to show up at the protest and keep the people safe.”

However well-meaning the information gathering might be, says Whitehead, “I think it’s a major misstep” to do anything that inhibits free speech activity. “They should back off.”

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Response to KKK: ‘Don’t take the bait’—Chief Thomas

Chief Al Thomas said it's not the Klan he's worried about, it's the local response. Staff photo

 

By the time around 130 people crowded into the fellowship hall at Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church June 13, organizers moved the “So Now What” community forum into the sanctuary to accommodate the mass of people coming out on a rainy evening to discuss the impending appearance of the North Carolina-based Loyal White Knights of the KKK.

Organizer Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy, along with City Manager Maurice Jones, Mayor Mike Signer and police Chief Al Thomas, as well as members of the African American community, spoke out on how to respond to the robe-wearing group that has terrorized blacks for over 150 years.

Most urged ignoring the Loyal White Knights, who will gather at 3pm July 8 at Justice Park at Court Square, and many black community members said they would not be attending. All urged restraint by locals who do show up to offer an unwelcome mat to Charlottesville.

“I don’t feel the need to go scream at these people,” said Yolanda Jones. She advised self-mastery and wisdom to those who did attend, and said white people “can be an interface in ways people of color can’t.”

Chief Thomas acknowledged the emotion and pain of having the Klan come to town, and said city police can manage them. “Quite candidly, our main concern is not the KKK,” he said. “It’s being in a situation where local citizens make poor choices and we have to step in.”

The KKK “does not define this community,” he said. “Don’t take the bait.”

Thomas, who came here from Lexington, which has had its own share of confrontations over Confederate symbols, including the removal of the rebel flag from public property, said he’s dealt with the Klan before. And when it wanted to march through the black community, people came out and turned their backs to the white supremacist marchers, “the most powerful symbolism you can imagine,” he said.

Bellamy presented peaceful options for July 8: a counter rally and community event at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and at Sprint Pavilion. And for those who do want to show up at Justice Park, he suggested protesters wear black, lock arms and turn their backs on the Loyal White Knights—without engaging with them.

He made another plea for people who want to get involved: Volunteer for city and county boards. And he had a list of opening that allow other ways for voices to be heard in the community.

“It’s easy to go out with 300 people and yell at the Klan,” he said. “It’s harder to get involved on boards.”

Added Bellamy, “If you truly want to do something, here’s your chance.”

Charlottesville has been the scene of protests about the removal of Confederate monuments over the past year, most notably at a tiki-torch rally led by white nationalist/UVA alum Richard Spencer May 13. An alt-right coalition plans an August 12 event.

 

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Al Thomas sworn into office

City and county police, as well as other community members gathered at City Hall to watch City Clerk Llezelle Dugger swear in Alfred Thomas, Jr. as the city's new police chief. Staff photo

Charlottesville’s first African-American Police Chief, Alfred Thomas, Jr., was sworn into office May 23. He succeeds Tim Longo, who worked with the department for 15 years.

“You’ll notice they didn’t give me a gun yet,” Thomas said while fastening his new chief of police badge to his pants. City and county police in uniform, city councilors and other community members gathered at City Hall to watch City Clerk Llezelle Dugger swear him in.

Thomas was named chief of the Lexington Police Department in 2010, where he worked for 20 years and served most recently as the public information officer.

He was recommended by City Manager Maurice Jones out of a 63-person applicant pool.

 

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Historic hire: Al Thomas is Charlottesville’s first black police chief

A big Wahoo fan, new Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas, left, says he wanted to make sure the community’s values were compatible with his own before moving here. With Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy. Staff photo

City Manager Maurice Jones announced Lexington Police Chief Al Thomas as his pick to head the Charlottesville Police Department, and City Council approved Thomas, who is the city’s first black police chief, April 18.

Thomas was one of 63 applicants, says Jones, in a search that was “deep” and involved three rounds of interviews.

And while Thomas said he’s often been the first as an African-American, Mayor Mike Signer said Thomas told him, “I don’t want to be the first, I want to be the best.”

A Lynchburg native, Thomas was named chief of the 25-member Lexington Police Department in 2010. Before that, he was a captain with the Lynchburg Police Department, where he worked for 20 years, most recently as public information officer.

Thomas made national news in 2012 when one of his officers arrested Congressman Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, for public intoxication. Ryan was in Lexington that August for a wedding, and called the charge, which was dismissed in December, “garbage,” according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

There’s a perception among some, including Ryan, that Lexington Police target people for drunk in public charges. “We are a college town,” said Rockbridge and Lexington Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert “Bucky” Joyce. “The cops are always out prowling,” he told the Cleveland paper.

Thomas disputed the contention that his officers seek out alcohol violations because it is a college town, and said the stops are based on a suspect’s behavior and the observations of the officer, the Plain Dealer reported.  “We enforce laws and look for probable cause,” said Thomas.

Charlottesville’s new chief got into hot water in November when he described VMI cadets as “trained killers” to a Washington and Lee journalism class, and said the cadets are “not normal,” the W&L student paper, the Ring-tum Phi, reported.

At a press conference April 18, Thomas said he’s been drawn to communities with a college presence, and the town and gown relationship will be one of his priorities. He also is an adherent of building relationships in the community. “We do that by talking and listening,” he said.

Local civil rights legend Eugene Williams hailed the hiring of an African-American police chief. “I’m elated,” says Williams, who has bemoaned the lack of black supervisors on the police force.

In February, Chief Tim Longo promoted three African-Americans—two lieutenants and one sergeant—and says he’s promoted five black officers to supervisory positions during his 15-year tenure, which ends May 1.

On April 18, the same day City Council voted to approve the hiring of Thomas, Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP President Rick Turner criticized Albemarle County for not including any African-Americans among its four final candidates to succeed Chief Steve Sellers, whose last day in office is May 31.

All five city councilors were present at the press conference for Thomas. Kristin Szakos noted that of all the groups of citizens, police and senior city staff evaluating candidates, “What was striking was in every group, he was the one who rose to the top.”

Longo said he was “particularly proud” of Thomas, a friend he’s known for a dozen years and who starts the new job May 23. Said Longo, “I’m still going to be a resident of Charlottesville, and I expect the best.”