Police shooting protesters hold vigil, 'die-in' at Riverchase Galleria

About 75 to 80 people gathered at the Riverchase Galleria Friday night for a vigil for the 21-year-old Hueytown man shot and killed by a Hoover police officer at the mall on Thanksgiving night.

The crowd met outside Macy’s about 9 p.m. and listened to several speakers for about 40 minutes before marching through the mall to the Footaction store on the other end of the shopping center, near where Emantic “E.J.” Bradford Jr. was killed.

Police said Bradford had a gun in his hand as fled the scene of another shooting. Police initially labeled Bradford as the gunman in the first shooting but said the next day they were incorrect but that Bradford may have been involved in the altercation that led to the first shooting.

Protestors claim Bradford’s shooting was unjustified and have called the police officer a murderer and demanded the release of police body camera video and any other videos of the shootings. Police turned all the videos and evidence over to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which is investigating both shootings.

Protesters have said this is just another example of police brutality toward black people.

As tonight’s crowd marched through the mall, they chanted things like “No justice, no peace” and “If we don’t get it, shut it down.” The mall was mostly empty, and most of the stores already had closed and lowered their gates.

When the marchers got to the north end of the mall near the Footaction store, they staged what they called a “die-in,” with everyone lying on the floor for about 10 minutes.

Note: Galleria security personnel asked the Hoover Sun to leave the premises as the protesters marched through the mall.

They then exited the mall and marched around the perimeter of the Galleria to the new Dave and Buster’s sports bar and arcade. Many of the protesters then went inside Dave and Buster’s, all under the watchful eye of a very heavy police presence, inside and outside the mall.

SMALL VIGIL INTERRUPTION

The protest was conducted peacefully, though one man stirred a few protesters shortly after the vigil began by loudly asking “what about the 12-year-old girl?” who was shot in the back inside the mall at some point during the two shooting incidents.

Cara McClure, who was speaking on the loudspeaker at the time, said the protesters love her and are praying for her. Another man noted that the girl is still alive, while Bradford is dead.

“Over a pair of shoes,” the first man replied. His comment upset some of the people gathered for the vigil, and police led the man away.

People upset about the police shooting have been protesting ever since Saturday, including demonstrations at the mall and Hoover Municipal Center, a blockade and march on U.S. 31 and a protest at the home of Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato.

McClure said the protesters have had to deal with comments like “run them over” and “hose them down,” but she said the protesters are going to continue their fight.

“We’re going to keep shutting down the highways, and we’re going to keep shutting down the mall,” she said. “They think they have seen us protest. They have not seen anything.”

Another speaker said people need to stop patronizing the Riverchase Galleria and putting their money in places that don’t believe in black people. This led to chants of “Stop shopping here” and “not one more dime.”

On Thursday, one of the protest leaders, Carlos Chaverst Jr., said the protesters want to see the Galleria fail because mall managers reopened the shopping center just eight hours after Bradford was killed there.

“We want that mall gone. If that mall can be like Century Plaza is right now, that’s what we’re aiming for,” Chaverst said.

McClure said they want people to boycott not only the Galleria but the entire city of Hoover.

“We’re making sure the city of Hoover feels the same pain that we’re feeling,” she said Thursday. “Hoover needs to know that they can’t ever do this again. Their practices and their procedures must change, and we want proof of that.”

LeDarius Hilliard, another protest leader from Birmingham who is president of the Jefferson County Millennial Democrats, complained Thursday that police have not released the name of the police officer who shot Bradford, while Bradford’s face and the face of the 20-year-old Bessemer man arrested in connection with the first shooting have been put all over the news.

“Whoever the Hoover police officer is, whether he is black or white, he has a blue shield. We haven’t seen his face yet. That is the point,” Hilliard said. “Nobody is going to be at rest until black lives start mattering. … If E.J. was in the wrong, let them (his family) see he was in the wrong. They just want to see the video.”

The Rev. Darius McClure, the senior pastor at Christ Church in Fairfield, led a prayer before Friday night’s vigil began. McClure prayed that Bradford’s life and death would be used as a seed to create change in this generation. He prayed for wisdom and courage for the protesters as they seek to overcome adversity.

After the march, McClure said he took part in tonight’s vigil to honor Bradford and to protest against racism and injustice. He said the criminal justice system in the United States is set up to enslave African-American people in prison and that black communities are covered up with liquor stores and predatory lending institutions that are designed to keep black people down.

POLICE TOO LENIENT WITH PROTESTERS?

Some Hoover residents have been critical of the Hoover Police Department and city administration for allowing the protesters to take over the streets and parade through the mall.

Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice on Friday said that police were never caught off guard by the demonstrations and protests and that they are following an intentional strategy in dealing with the protests.

They’re drawing upon lessons learned from other communities across the country that have experienced civil unrest and protests, he said. Police are trained to analyze the size of the protest and the types of activities in which the protesters engage and to gauge their response accordingly, he said.

“Everybody’s safety is paramount,” including the safety of people not protesting, the protesters and the police, Rice said. Thus far, “no one was ever physically accosted,” he said.

When protesters first started blocking U.S. 31 on Monday night, some of them beat on one of the vehicles. Carlos Chaverst Jr., one of the protest leaders, said that happened only because the driver of that vehicle attempted to drive through the protesters.

“When we’re met with force, we’re going to respond act accordingly,” Chaverst said. “That’s just a warning to the Hoover Police Department.”

Rice said “it’s not OK to stand in the road, and it’s not OK to bang on somebody’s car, but it’s also not OK to try to barrel through a group of people standing in the road, even if they shouldn’t be there.”

Police are staying very alert and keeping a close eye on demonstrators and have daily briefings about how to respond, Rice said.

The Riverchase Galleria campus is private property, and mall owners have the right to decide what to allow and what not to allow on their property, he said. But they are in close contact with and cooperating with Hoover police, who have maintained a heavy presence at the shopping center, he said.

McClure said protesters have been told to refrain from protests on Saturday, other than a march from Sixteenth Street Baptist Church to Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham Saturday morning.

Bradford’s funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Boutwell Auditorium. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights and social justice activist who is president and CEO of the Rainbow Push Coalition, is slated to deliver the eulogy, according to Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the Bradford family.

See all stories on the Riverchase Galleria police shooting here.