Protesters have 'list of demands' for Hoover City Council

About 85 protesters gathered outside the Hoover Senior Center during a special meeting of the Hoover City Council Thursday night, and several expressed frustration that they weren’t allowed to speak at the meeting and present a “list of demands.”

Hoover resident Satura Dudley, 20, said she and some other people who have been protesting what they see as a pattern of police brutality and racism in America, want the city of Hoover to do several things, including:

• Reallocate resources from the Hoover Police Department to social services, such as mental health services
• Provide more training to police officers, including de-escalation and bias training
• Address mistreatment of protesters
• Show respect for the COVID-19 disease by providing masks to people arrested and keeping them separated from one another (though most protesters have not been separating themselves from one another during protests)

Dudley, after the council meeting, said that when she was first arrested on Saturday, May 30, she was thrown to the ground, had her shirt ripped off and was given a concussion.

She said police have been overreacting to what protesters are trying to do. The protesters are unarmed, and “they are acting like we’re going to war,” she said. “We’re just chanting, protesting and showing our solidarity with George Floyd and his family,” she said, referencing the 46-year-old Minneapolis man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes on May 25.

Hoover police won’t even let protesters cross the street, she said.

Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice in the past has said police were not letting protesters cross the street at times because they were concerned protesters would block or impede traffic as some protesters have done before.

Efforts to reach police for comment regarding Dudley’s demands and accusations of poor treatment so far have been unsuccessful.

Dudley said she had been trying to meet with the city administrator and Council President Gene Smith all week and was frustrated that Smith would not allow them to speak at Thursday’s special council meeting.

While about 80 protesters stood outside the Hoover Senior Center Thursday night, chanting, waving signs and speaking with a bullhorn, three protesters sat quietly inside the building in front of the council during the meeting. For a good portion of the meeting, they held up pieces of paper that said things such as “Defund the police” and “You are all cowards.”

After the meeting ended, Dudley approached the microphone and started talking to council members, but police officers approached her and began directing her to leave. She and at least one other protester used profanity as they were escorted out of the building.

Smith said he does not usually let people speak at special council meetings, which usually have limited agendas, but will allow people to sign up to speak at Monday night’s regular council meeting.

Councilman Curt Posey said he was willing to listen to the protesters Thursday night. After the November 2018 officer-involved shooting at the Riverchase Galleria and resulting protests and boycotts then, and the reaction to what happened in Minneapolis, he realizes it’s important to listen, he said.

“We know as a city there is always room for improvement,” Posey said. “I’m looking forward to the day when we can stop yelling and start talking.”