Fredericksburg To Hold Forum To Hear Voices Of Young People

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — The city of Fredericksburg is holding a youth forum Saturday at James Monroe High School from 9 a.m. to noon to give young people a chance to address city leaders and offer feedback on how the city has been handling the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial justice in the city.

The first 50 youth community members, ages 15 to 25, must RSVP and will need to arrive at 9 a.m. "to work with a team to shape their message." Community leadership will arrive at 10:30 a.m. to listen to the message, the city said.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, attendance at the forum is limited to 50 seats. People can register online. The city will not allow walk-ins.

The city has implemented aggressive measures against protesters, many of whom are young people, during demonstrations against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and police brutality. City officials blamed outsiders for the anger against police brutality.

Fredericksburg City Manager Timothy Baroody said in a statement Saturday how he felt a "deep feeling" of "unshakeable fear" when he saw protesters in the streets last Sunday, fear that the protesters' actions would get someone injured or killed. "The scene was chaotic and there were no familiar faces in the crowd to reach out to provide order or calm," said Baroody.

Leaders in other cities have had to backtrack on false information they provided about the vast majority of protesters who were arrested being from out of town.

At a protest on May 31, Fredericksburg police fired tear gas on a group of protesters. Baroody said he hopes the use of tear gas is "something that we hope to never see again" in Fredericksburg. On June 2, an open letter signed by nearly 1,300 medical and public health professionals urged the police to stop using "tear gas, smoke, or other respiratory irritants."

Baroody also implemented a curfew that began at 8:30 p.m. In a statement, Baroody said all the members of the Citizen Advisory Board, which serves as the city's civilian law enforcement panel, established in Fredericksburg in 2015, agreed with his decision to implement the curfew. Instead of meeting at a neutral location to discuss the protests, the Citizen Advisory Panel met at Fredericksburg Police Department headquarters.

The members of the panel are Reverend Jarvis Bailey, Meredith Beckett, Reverend Hashmel Turner, Lafayette Upper Elementary School Assistant Principal PJ Pcsolinski, Fredericksburg School Superintendent Marci Catlett and Fredericksburg Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw.

In some jurisdictions, police civilian review panels have been criticized for lacking teeth and rubber-stamping the conduct of police departments.

On Saturday, Baroody lifted the curfew, explaining that protesters had started working more closely with city officials in organizing the protests. The protests, many of which grew organically, intentionally did not want to include city leaders because it was in fact city officials' lack of action on racial justice and police reform on a nationwide basis against which many of the people were protesting.

Community leaders that will be present at the forum are Vernon Green as host and organizer, who owns GCubed Inc. in Stafford. Members of the Citizen Advisory Panel also will be at the forum, along with Baroody, Mayor Greenlaw, Council Member Chuck “Charlie” Frye Jr., Police Chief Brian Layton, School Board Member Jarvis Bailey and School Superintendent Dr. Marci Catlett.

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