Markeshia Ricks Photo
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets Thursday afternoon to demand justice from Yale for an unarmed couple recently shot by a university police officer and a Hamden police officer.
More than 200 people rallied and marched from the corner of Grove Street and Prospect Street downtown to Yale President Peter Salovey’s house on Hillhouse Avenue to demand that the university fire the police officer who was involved in the April 16 shooting of Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon at the intersection of Argyle Street and Dixwell Avenue.
The university has placed the officer, Terrance Pollock, on administrative leave pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation by the state police of how he and Hamden Officer Devin Eaton came to fire on the couple 16 times, injuring Washington.
After days of protests and rallies demanding that body camera footage and the 911 call be released, the state police commissioner did so on Tuesday. State detectives also have filed a search warrant application that indicates they may file first-degree assault charges against Hamden Officer Eaton, who initiated the stop.
Protesters said that justice for Witherspoon and Washington won’t be served until both officers are fired and possibly charged for their actions.
“Yale, hire us, don’t shoot at us,” said New Haven Rising’s Rev. Scott Marks (pictured at the top of the story) from the flatbed of a truck Thursday. “Somebody ought to be ready to say: Enough is enough.”
Rodney Williams (pictured), who is Witherspoon’s uncle, thanked the diverse crowd for doing more than simply watching all of the action on his nephew and Washington’s behalf, and actually being a part of the demand for justice.
“This is how it should be all the times,” he said.
Protesters demanded that Yale follow through on commitments to diversity including hiring more New Haveners and hiring more faculty and staff of color. The event pulled from a diverse cross-section of groups including Yale unions, New Haven Rising, Students Unite Now (SUN), the Yale Endowment Justice Coalition and the Greater New Haven Chapter of the NAACP.
Charles Decker, an East Rock alder and Yale graduate teacher (pictured above) who also serves as the vice president of the graduate teachers union Local 33, announced the release of a report drafted by the Equal Rights and Access Committee called “Failure To Commit.” The report takes the university to task for its failed commitment to increase the number of black tenured and tenure-track professors, and other diversity goals.
“I hear a common theme of Yale doing one thing and saying another,” he said of the demands across groups. “What they’re saying and what their actual record is is crystal clear: On racial justice in the academic community, their record is appalling.”
To which the crowd chanted: “Shame! Shame! Shame!”
“Things aren’t getting better,” he said.
Andy Archer of the Yale Endowment Justice Coalition (pictured) said that justice looks like Yale not only firing Officer Pollock but also fully disarming the university’s cops. He said it also looks like Yale acknowledging how its financial investments that include buying more parts of the city and thus rendering them tax-exempt and withholding financial opportunity by failing to hire more New Haveners hurt the city.
Barbara Vareen, a chief steward for the university’s clerical and technical workers union, Local 34, and a resident of Newhallville, said her neighborhood is triple-policed because Yale, Hamden and New Haven Police officers all work in that section of the city. That has to change, she said.
The marchers made their way through the tree-lined avenue to President Salovey’s house while New Haven Police officers patrolled on foot and blocked traffic for the processional. Yale police officers didn’t appear to be present during Thursday’s event.
Marks encouraged people to plant their signs in Salovey’s front yard.
Click on the Facebook Live videos below to watch excerpts from Thursday’s rally.
Read previous stories about the April 16 shooting below.
• Detectives: Probable Cause For Assault Charge
• Hamden Cop Shoots Woman In Newhallville
• Cop Video Released; Hamden Never Told New Haven It Was Crossing The Border
• Protesters Storm PD Seeking Answers In Officer-Involved Shooting; Officials Mum
• Cop Who Shot Was Trained In New Haven
• Shot-At Man Plans To File Suit; Clerk Describes Original Complaint
• Outrage Over Shooting Shuts Down Streets
• Elicker: Remove Griffin From Shooting Probe
• Post-Shooting, Focus On Suburban Cops
• Griffin Obtains Search Warrant For Shot-Up Honda; Harp Stands By Griffin
• Top Yale Cops Seek To Rebuild Trust
• Public Seeks Independent Probe
• Farmer Backs Independent Investigation
Salovey needs to mow his grass.