The meeting was called to order by Alayna Schmidt, a City of Asheville Equity & Inclusion Analyst.
Staff Update
Schmidt reported that the HRCA’s recommendation to adopt an ordinance based on NCHB 170 – The Crown Act has been forwarded to Asheville’s Equity and Engagement Committee for their consideration.
Public Comment
Tracy Mann spoke during public comment to express her outrage over a May 13 police arrest in Asheville of a man named Devon Whitmire. She claimed that “lethal holds” and no de-escalation tactics were used in Whitmire’s arrest. She stated that the police officers’ names must be released to the public, but she didn’t say what purpose that would achieve. Mann also stated that “only community intervention prevented another police murder.” She went on to say that “Violence on our black neighborhoods must stop. These officers need to be held accountable.” Mann stated that Asheville’s population is 6% black and that 33% of those who are incarcerated are black. She concluded that “This is obviously racial discrimination in policing.”
Of course, the Asheville Citizen-Times saw this as an opportunity to fan the flames of division (White Asheville police officers pin Black man by neck; ‘He can’t breathe’). WSPA 7News (Spartanburg) offered a more fact-based, emotion-starved report (‘Asheville Officers Assaulted During Arrest’). WYFF News (Greenville) reported that ‘Angry crowd gathers as police struggle to take North Carolina man into custody, police say’.
Former mayoral candidate Michael Hayes also spoke during public comment. He reiterated many of Mann’s comments and advocated for de-escalation training.
Committee Members’ Responses to Public Comment
Outgoing committee member Delores Venable asked Asheville city attorney Brad Branham to comment on the situation described by Mann. The attorney advised that the body cam footage had already been provided to the district attorney along with other evidence. The DA had determined that there was no probable cause to charge any officer or to bring in the State Bureau of Investigation to perform additional investigation. The City Attorney’s office has drawn up a request to have the body cam footage released publicly. In response to questions from Venable, he reminded everyone that they could attend the public hearing to be held by the judge to determine whether to allow the release of the footage.
Committee member Harvey Dean Harold stated that he didn’t know what everyone was talking about and wanted to know what happened.
Committee member Daniel Young stated that children in the community have been traumatized by the assault by police on a black man, who he says was treated like a dog. He wants to know why the mayor and police chief have not spoken out against the police for their handling of this arrest.
Venable made the point to the others that they need to avoid jumping to conclusions about what happened and wait for some additional facts to be presented. She and others then expressed their displeasure at the presence of a local television station’s reporter and cameraman.
Old Business
Chair Tanya Rodriguez joined the meeting during the responses to public comments and called for discussion on the meeting format (in-person vs. virtual). After roughly twenty minutes of discussion, they decided to push the vote out until their next meeting so that incoming committee members could participate. This vote had been deferred at the committee’s March 16 meeting, also.
New Business
Nominations and votes were then taken for the replacement of the outgoing chair and vice-chair. Alma Atkins was elected as the new chairperson, and Daniel Young was elected as the vice chair.
Committee Updates
As is usual, there was no new and meaningful information provided during this meeting segment.
Meeting Duration
The meeting lasted one hour and 48 minutes.
