Signs and chants at the recent protest were met with mixed reactions from onlookers, ranging from honks and waves of support, averted gazes, and even yells of criticism.
The group has a list of demands they wish to be fulfilled: reopen and investigate all officer involved deaths, drug test all officers, reprimand all abusive and killer officers, and end qualified immunity.
Event organizer and activist Annemarie Grant , whose brother Thomas Purdy was killed in October 2015, after struggling against four Washoe County Sheriff's Office deputies who had hog tied him, wants all cases of past police brutality and murder reopened. “I also want the community to ask themselves, ‘when police kill … a community member, should they judge themselves? Because right now, police investigate themselves when they kill a community member and that’s not okay, that’s not transparent, that’s not accountability.’”
Two protestors hold up signs for Georgianna Jackson, as a hand waves in support from their car. The hashtag #MMIW can be seen on their shirts, which stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. This movement seeks awareness and justice for the disproportionate violence against Indigenous women. The 22-year-old woman died in March after a police chase on I-80.
The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office has repeatedly ruled that these “police involved” deaths were justified under Nevada Law.
Grant also misses the early days of the renewed Black Lives Matter movement.
“When George Floyd died, this community was out in the street, and here today we have tons of families personally impacted in the community and the community is not out here supporting. People need to not jump on what’s the next big thing, bandwagon on the news, the cool thing to follow, they need to get behind us families, support us, and demand change. Because it could be their loved one next. We’re not out here for ourselves, we’re never gonna have our loved ones back. We’re out here because we don’t want a single person, including you or your family member, to end up in this nightmare. We need change and we need it now.”
Grant has also taken to voicing her concerns and agenda to the Nevada legislation, even though she lives across the country in Quincy, Massachusetts. She also wants to make the community aware that Reno PD, Sparks PD, and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office do not require drug testing.
“There’s a lot of people in this community that have had a loved one killed by police and there’s a stigma that comes along with it. We don’t get the support from the community so that’s why you see us all here together, united as one, because we are stronger together. We are the frontline for change in this battle, and my heart breaks for every family here and I want justice for them just as much as I want justice for my family.”
Many of the families present had a loved one who was killed during a mental health crisis after calling the police for help. They want both accountability for the officers, along with better training when it comes to these crises.
Michelle Tripp attended the event for support and awareness of her brother, Phillip Ernesto Serrano, who was killed by Reno PD in September of 2018. Tripp stated that her brother was dealing with a mental health crisis, and was killed in his vehicle. She expressed her pain over her loss and how it affected her family, and how it was avoidable.
“I just pray that they are accountable and that it’s unnecessary to use deadly force on people that are in crisis or in any situation. There are so many other alternatives to, you know, dealing with a person … you don’t have to kill somebody to get them to stop ... There were so many alternatives.”
Tripp pointed out that the police could have shot her brother’s tires to stop the car rather than at him. After they had shot him, Tripp says she remembers hearing officers laugh in her driveway.
A man pulls over his bicycle to talk to protestors. He asked about the circumstances of their loved ones deaths, including questions about whether they were abusing substances.
During the protest, one man parked his bike next to the protestors and began speaking with them. He said they were “anti-America”, as he donned American flags on his bike. Later, he tried to justify their loved ones deaths through questioning their sobriety, furthering the protestors point that there is a stigma surrounding their situation. Protestors responded that it didn’t matter, and that they didn’t deserve to die.
Our Town Reno reporter Gracie Gordon tried to de-escalate the situation by asking the man to continue his bike ride and leave. By then, one of the protestors had begun crying.
Many families gave their story to Our Town Reno, including Tonja Brown, who has been fighting to prove her brother’s innocence since his conviction in 1989. After Nolan Klein died in prison in 2009, she filed a wrongful death suit. She had a book released titled, “To Prove His Innocence”, detailing his case and her struggle to fight for his freedom.
Emotions ran high throughout the day, as families chanted, told their stories, and held each other close. The protest concluded with a prayer circle.