DECATUR, Ala. — UPDATE (10/24): On Tuesday some of the protesters involved in the Steamboat Bill Memorial Bridge blockade turned themselves into the Morgan County Jail after the Decatur Police Department announced on Monday that arrest warrants were obtained.
The demonstration on the bridge was held for the lack of police body camera footage in the shooting death of Steve Perkins, 39, back in late September.
One of the protesters who turned themselves in included Morgan County NAACP President, Rodney Gordon. "What's confusing to me is, it took you four days to get me. But it's been twenty-four days and you ain't made no arrest for the murder [Perkins death]. No justice. No peace. Listen to me. We still got to fight. It only just begun. Until someone is arrested for this death. For this execution. For this modern-day lynching. We 'gon still march. We 'gon still go to jail. You understand what I'm saying? We 'gon still love on each other," said Gordon.
Another individual who turned himself in was Malik Malone, the Morgan County NAACP chapter youth council leader. He says these arrests are a scare tactic and that they will not stop "peacefully protesting" until they get answers and justice for Steve Perkins. “People are being arrested for standing up to speak against, speak out, 'cause we've been silenced for too long and it's time to speak up... This will not silence us. This is a little bump in the road. That’s all it is,” Malone said.
UPDATE (10/23): Following a protest resulting in a blockade of Decatur's Hudson Memorial Bridge, Decatur Police took to their official Facebook to share they have obtained multiple arrest warrants for numerous protesters who took part in the blockade.
DPD says they have positively identified those persons and are in the process of attempting to notify them so arrangements can be made for them to turn themselves in if they choose to do so.
The police department adds:
"As a result of the traffic blockage on the bridge on October 19, numerous individuals have been positively identified and arrest warrants have been obtained on those persons charging them with Disorderly Conduct. We are in the process of attempting to notify those individuals so arrangements can be made for them to turn themselves in if they choose to do so. "
ORIGINAL STORY (10/19):
Demonstrators continuing to protest the lack of police body camera footage related to the shooting death of Steve Perkins last month organized a blockade, preventing access to Decatur's Steamboat Bill Memorial Bridge for about a half an hour Thursday afternoon.
It has been more than two weeks since Perkins' death; on Monday, a family spokesperson was advised that the body camera footage would be provided to attorneys the following day. However, on Tuesday that footage was not provided; the reason given was that "legal issues" had prevented the release of that footage.
"We're tired of saying the same thing," said Rodney Gordon, Morgan County NAACP President, ahead of Thursday's bridge blockade. "We're doing something different."
"The police want a reaction," added Minnie Redus, "a violent reaction, and they're not getting it."
The blockade ended by 6:00 p.m., with the vehicles at the front of the blockade continuing to drive down the bridge. Traffic was flowing again minutes afterward.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, in a written statement on Tuesday, said in part that the request had not been fully completed. Attorney Cannon Lambert Sr. responded, "We were told that we need to submit a form, which we will do immediately."
Calls for police accountability have included demonstrations, rallies, and marches almost every day since the Sept. 29 incident; Decatur Police Chief Todd Pinion wrote in a statement that the department gave an inaccurate description of officers' commands in “our initial rush to release information” about the shooting," prompting further calls for disciplinary action against not only the officers involved, but police and city leadership as well.
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