| Date | May 14, 2018 (2018-05-14) |
|---|---|
| Location | Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Type | Shooting |
| Participants | Michael Nyantakyi |
| Deaths | Marcus-David Peters |
Marcus-David Peters was aVirginia man shot and killed by police officer Michael Nyantakyi while Peters, unarmed, was having amental health crisis on May 14, 2018. Two prosecutors' reviews have cleared Nyantakyi of wrongdoing. Peters' death was a focus of Virginia protests in 2020 during theGeorge Floyd protests, and a community gathering place surrounding Richmond'sRobert E. Lee Monument was marked with a sign for Peters. Later that year, theVirginia General Assembly passed a law named for Peters, intended to provide behavioral health experts to respond to people in mental health crises. These events prompted a2021 third-party campaign for Governor by Peters' sister, Princess Blanding, who became an advocate for criminal justice reform following his death.
In 2018, Marcus-David Peters was a 24-year-old Black man andVirginia Commonwealth University alumnus who taught high school biology atEssex High School, commuting from his home inRichmond, Virginia.[1] On May 14, 2018, during a mental health crisis, Peters had a car accident in Richmond,[1] witnessed by police officer Michael Nyantakyi, a ten-year veteran of the Richmond Police Department,[2] who then pursued Peters.[3] Peters crashed his car by the on-ramp toInterstate 95 and got out of the car naked and distressed.[3] He was hit by a car but got up and seeing Nyantakyi, advanced toward him. In an encounter that lasted 76 seconds, Nyantakyitasered Peters several times with no effect.[1] Peters continued walking towards the officer, threatening to kill him, and then attacked him.[1] Nyantakyi then fatally shot Peters.[3]
Two reviews by local prosecutors have cleared Nyantakyi of wrongdoing and no charges were brought. In 2018, Richmond'sCommonwealth's Attorney Michael N. Herring reviewed the case, releasing footage of the fatal encounter, and declined to bring charges.[3] Peters' family and other activists, who questioned why Peters was shot unarmed,[1] called for this incident to be reviewed by Herring's successor, Colette McEachin, who took up the case in July 2020.[4] In November 2020, she announced her findings, concurring with Herring that Nyantakyi's actions were reasonable.[3] The decision was an issue in the2021 Virginia gubernatorial election.[5][6]
During the 2020anti-racist police brutality protests, protesters in Richmond unofficially renamed the grassy area around Richmond'sRobert E. Lee statue "Marcus-David Peters Circle". It became a regular site of protest and community gathering, with protest graffiti and messages projected in lights on the Lee statue; images of the protest art were featured on the cover ofNational Geographic.[7] The area marked with a sign reading "Welcome to Beautiful Marcus-David Peters Circle, Liberated by the People MMXX".[8] The eight-foot-long sign was cut down in an apparent act of vandalism in August,[9] but was soon replaced[10] and gatherings continued, including a celebration of Peters's birthday in October that drew hundreds.[11] Organizers handed out plants andSTEM technology kits to children in attendance in honor of Peter's work and as a symbol of commitment to the growth of the community.[11]
In late June 2020, police announced a curfew and other restrictions on activity in the circle, but hundreds of protestors responded by gathering after dark and the curfew was not ultimately enforced.[12]
On the weekend before the2020 United States presidential election, a "Trump train" caravan of supporters of PresidentDonald Trump resulted in an altercation with people in the circle, with witnesses reporting gunfire and chemical spray from the vehicles in the caravan.[13]
In the2020 Virginia special legislative session oncriminal justice reform and budgeting during theCOVID-19 pandemic, House Bill 5043, titled the Mental Health Awareness Response and Community Understanding Services, or MARCUS alert system, introduced by DelegateJeff Bourne, initiated a program to encourage use of mental health professionals to respond to people in mental health crisis.[14]
Peters's sister Princess Blanding worked with legislators and attended GovernorRalph Northam's ceremonial bill signing, but in her remarks at the ceremony she excoriated officials for the final bill that was considerably less robust than the initial proposal:
"Please take a moment to pat yourselves on the back for doing exactly what this racist, corrupt, and broken, may I also add, system expected you all to do: make the Marcus Alert bill a watered down, ineffective bill that will continue to ensure that having a mental health crisis results in a death sentence."[15]
She particularly took issue with the discretion left to police, the years the bill allowed to implement the changes, and the potential for a patchwork system instead of a unified change across the state.[15]
She also criticized other bills from the session that were altered in the legislative process, including changes to a bill that limited newly createdcivilian review boards, as well as the failure of theGeneral Assembly to repealqualified immunity, calling on all elected officials involved to "fix it."[15] In December 2020, Blanding announced a third-partycampaign for Governor under the newly formedLiberation Party (Virginia), criticizingDemocrats for offering "crumbs".[16]
