Black Lives Matter peacefully rallies, marches in Milford - The Clermont Sun
Black Lives Matter peacefully rallies, marches in Milford - The Clermont Sun |
| Black Lives Matter peacefully rallies, marches in Milford - The Clermont Sun Posted: 25 Jun 2020 10:48 AM PDT    Police chief takes a knee during rally By Brett Milam Milford hosted a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest and march at Riverside Park on June 20. The protest, with protesters wearing masks and social distancing, was centered around showing "solidarity, love and support for one another," Anna Jewel, who emceed the event, said. In addition, the event was for calling attention to police reform and racial equality. Jewel said her family has been four generations in Milford, so the rally was personal to her. She talked about Black Lives Matter, as a movement, being founded in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the killing of Trayvon Martin. "We are working for a world where black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise. We affirm our humanity, our contributions to society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression," she said. "The call for black lives to matter is a rallying cry for all lives striving for liberation." Jewel also said the protest [and other protests around the country] is not just about one incident that everyone watched – Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for eight minutes, 43 seconds until he killed him – but about the systemic issue of racism in the United States. She also stressed that the work can't end when the protests stop, stressing that it's only the beginning. Reverend Betty Jo Summerville of the Calvary United Methodist Church kicked off the slate of guest speeches from activists and local residents. Summerville said as a teenager, she remembered a member of the church choir and his brother were both killed by police, and "nothing happened." "But because people have stood, that is not true today," she said. She also said it's important to keep the "main thing the main thing," which is to say, whatever one thinks of Floyd and who he was or what he did, the "penalty is not death." "And so I want you to understand that the main thing here is that it is not acceptable to put your knee on someone's neck until they die," she said. "I am here because I want to make that known. The main thing is that we are here so that violence to people is not acceptable. That's the main thing." Kelbi Savage, who grew up in Milford for most of his life, spoke next, and relayed a story that affected that growth and his relationship with police. When he was 13, him and his friend were playing with airsoft guns. The friend let him take one of the guns home with him. So, Savage was walking home where he lived in Timber Creek Apartments near the High School with the toy gun in hand. During that walk, a Miami Township police officer pulled up, got out, and pointed his gun at Savage, telling him to get down and drop his toy gun. "He doesn't really take much note to that," Savage said. The officer took him home, and Savage remarked how all the neighborhood kids saw him in the back of the police car, assuming he did something wrong. And then having a talk with his mother at such a young age about how to act around a police officer left an indelible mark upon him. When people would respond to the story with, "You shouldn't be walking around with a toy gun," Savage said everything isn't always what it seems, and not to judge a book by its cover. "I could have easily been George Floyd, I could have easily been Trayvon, I could have easily been Breonna Taylor, I could have easily been Sam DuBose and the list really goes on down," he said. Jewel followed up the point by mentioning the case of Tamir Rice in Cleveland. He was 12-year-old in a park playing with an airsoft toy gun and was shot and killed by officers within two seconds of them coming onto the scene in 2014. After a number of other speakers, and music, the group marched from Riverside Park, located at 425 Victor Stier Dr., to the Five Points intersection, and the Milford police station, where they were also met by Jamey Mills, police chief of the Milford Police Department. In a follow-up via email, Mills told The Sun that the incident in Minneapolis shocked everyone he knew. "As a [27-year] police veteran, I felt that it was especially hard on the men and women who proudly serve with honor in law enforcement. I repeated the often used quote of, 'No one hates a bad cop more than a good cop,' until one of my officers, Julie Liming, pointed out how that statement could be interpreted by a person of color," he said. "I hadn't thought about how a person of color might hate a bad cop more than anyone. It was humbling to recognize that a police officer from the rank and file could offer something so profound to me, the man tasked with leading this professional organization." While it's hard to think outside of one's own experiences and beliefs, Mills said doing so is critical for a career in policing, especially in a leadership position. "I realized that I needed to make a public statement, but even more importantly, I needed to listen," he said. Mills said in one conversation with a resident, who had never had a problem with the Milford Police Department, he nevertheless had "grown fearful of all police officers from the recent events in Minneapolis and Georgia." The two met for lunch, and Mills' takeaway from the meeting was realizing that the department can never rest on their laurels when it comes to "bridging gaps." "I did some soul searching on the topic of taking a knee. My father, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran and my biggest influence, used to say, 'There's a time and place for everything.' I would never kneel during the National Anthem. It's not the time nor the place, in my opinion. I have two sons serving in the armed forces and I'll always stand for our flag. But I also believe that there's a time to kneel," he said. When the protesters marched to the police station, Mills wasn't planning on saying anything, but when a protester asked him if he wanted to, he couldn't resist the opportunity to say what was on his mind. "I let them know their opinions matter, and their lives mattered," he said. "I let them know that I'm as much of their chief, as I am anyone else's." One of the protesters put his arm around Mills, acknowledged that it wasn't fair to judge all police officers by those who betray their oath, and then asked everyone to take a knee. Mills had found his "time to kneel." "I decided it was the right circumstance to take a knee in solidarity with these citizens who were only asking for a better tomorrow," he said. Michael Doss, Milford's city manager, also took a knee alongside Mills. "I knew that my decision would come with criticism. It only took a few hours for the critics to share their thoughts with me," Mills said. "Some have been receptive to my explanation, some have not. Most have been respectful, some have not; but that comes with the territory." Mills said he's not perfect, but he lives by the motto of "doing the right ring, at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reason." He added that he feels blessed to serve this "amazing community." The Sun followed up with one of the protesters, Achmed Beighle, a Milford resident, after the event via email. Beighle has been a resident of Milford for nine years (and previously lived in Amelia for two years), but was born and raised in Suriname in South America. "I moved to the states with my mother and step-father in pursuit of the American dream, schooling, good-paying jobs, and happiness," he said. He officially became a United States citizen in 2015. He received his associate's degree from UC Clermont, and his graduate degree from Thomas More University. He works in the insurance industry as an "up and coming black leader," he said. Beighle has a wife and two children, who he said will grow up to become Milford graduates. While Beighle said he's been attuned to the BLM movement since its inception, he didn't get active until the video of Ahmaud Arbery came out. Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was chased down and killed by residents of a South Georgia neighborhood, who were arrested and charged months after the February killing. "At that point, I felt that it was my duty as a black man in the U.S. to speak up. My heart broke, because I could have been him, in more instances than other times," he said. "That incident wasn't close to home, but yet, it hit close to home in my mind and on my heart." He added, "I am a young black male who takes his children on walks before bed and usually my only concerns are the neighborhood dogs that could be loose. However this incident shook me and woke me up to get involved and not fall silent for myself or [the] black community. I am speaking up against the racism against black people. " Beighle's first protest was the Men in Suits march in downtown Cincinnati on June 6. The Black Lives Matter mantra and movement to Beighle is about standing up and fighting for equality and justice, given that black lives are "threatened, mistreated, racially profiled, judged and at a disadvantage." "Until the racism ends in our systems and people, we need to continue this movement and not let it die after the moment because why should my life matter less?" he said. Beighle said he was proud of the turnout and the community for the Milford BLM protest and rally. "I was proud of my community! Our police chief, Jamey Mills, was his real authentic self. He spoke from the heart and when he took a knee I know it wasn't just for show," he said. Beighle said he believes in humanity, and would encourage those who don't look like him to listen to those in pain, "who have been [systematically] oppressed and if you disagree, don't fight." "Instead, have that hard conversation with the goal in mind to understand one another and not who's 'right' or who's 'wrong,'" he said.  |
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