Richmond Free Press May 28-30, 2020 edition

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Front Porch Portraits of top scholars

Richmond Free Press © 2020 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 29 NO. 23

Mr. Floyd

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RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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Meet Richmond’s top valedictorian B3

MaY 28-30, 2020

‘I can’t breathe’

Minneapolis police officers fired after cell phone video shows one kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, who later died. In an eerily similar death to that of Eric Garner in New York in 2014 at the hands of police, a handcuffed Mr. Floyd begged to be released because he could not breathe. Free Press wire report

Four Minneapolis police officers have been fired in the wake of the brutal death Monday of George Floyd, a 46-year-old father and security guard, who died after being handcuffed by police and put face down in the street, where a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. A graphic video, shot by one of several horrified bystanders, has gone viral on social media and shows Mr. Floyd lying face down in the street, gasping for air and groaning, “I can’t breathe,” while the officer continues to kneel on his neck. During the 10-minute video, the crowd pleads with the officer to stop. “Bro, he’s not even f…… moving!” a bystander says. “Get off his neck!” At one point when one of the bystanders moved toward the officer and Mr. Floyd, the officer pulled out a canister of Please turn to A4

City to open Friday at a ‘slow and steady pace’ By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Even with the coronavirus still causing sickness and death, Richmond is finally set to reopen, though gingerly and in a limited fashion, under what the state terms Phase One. It will be far from business as usual. Mayor Levar M. Stoney, whose request for a modified reopening was rejected by Mayor Stoney Gov. Ralph S. Northam, flashed the green light Wednesday for private businesses, public operations and churches to reopen cautiously under state guidelines. On Friday, May 29, most currently shuttered businesses — notably restaurants, retail stores, barbershops and beauty salons — will be able to unlock their doors and serve customers again, though under restrictions that include encouraging customers to wear face masks and limiting the number of patrons. Restaurants and breweries also can offer only outdoor seatEric Miller/Reuters ing, while personal grooming shops must offer appointmentA sea of protesters gather at the site in Minneapolis where a white police officer only service. Movie theaters, concert halls, bowling alleys intentionally kneeled on the neck of George Floyd. Mr. Floyd later was pronounced dead and other entertainment and amusement venues will remain at a nearby hospital. closed for now. Then on Monday, June 1, City Hall and other city buildings will reopen, though with limited COVID-19 testing access. Free community testing for COVID-19 continues across For example, at City Hall in the Richmond area, with new testing events scheduled by Downtown, only people with face the Richmond and Henrico County health districts. coverings will be able to enter Three events, each running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., will By George Copeland Jr. to pay bills, vote absentee and be held at the following locations: conduct other business solely on Gov. Ralph S. Northam DATE Location Address the first floor, officials said. Upapologized Tuesday for not per floors still will be off limits Monday, Saint Paul’s 700 E. Belt Blvd., following his administration’s June 1 Baptist Church South Side to the public. All city employees, own COVID-19 safety guideincluding those who have been Tuesday, Diversity Richmond 1407 Sherwood lines during his Memorial Day working from home, will be issued June 2 Event Hall Ave., North Side weekend visit to Virginia Beach face masks. where he posed for photos with 9000 Three Chopt Mayor Stoney said he felt able Thursday, Tuckahoe Middle people along the oceanfront Road, Western June 4 School to move forward as a result of Henrico without a face mask or social Gov. Northam’s order on Tuesdistancing. day requiring everyone entering Appointments for testing are encouraged by calling the He explained during a meRichmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 public buildings, using public dia briefing in Richmond that from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday. transit or going into businesses he left his face mask in his Walk-up testing will be offered while test supplies last. to wear masks or some kind of vehicle, an oversight that he

No mask, no social distancing earns Gov. Northam criticism

Facebook photo

Gov. Northam poses for photos with beachgoers Saturday at Virginia Beach. He, like many others, was not wearing a face mask or socially distancing as he and health officials have called for to help curb COVID-19.

recognized reflects poorly on him at this time of “new habits and routines,” particularly as Please turn to A4

Please turn to A4

Delegate Carroll Foy announces historic bid for governor Free Press staff, wire report

Courtesy of Sitter & Barfoot Veterans Care Center

Courtesy of the Taylor family

William “Big T” Taylor salutes during a decorated car parade on May 14 at Sitter & Barfoot Veterans Care Center, where families of residents were able to drive by and then park for curbside visits with their loved ones at a safe distance during the pandemic. More parades are expected in June.

Parades and curbside visits bring joy to veterans’ home residents By Ronald E. Carrington

Retired Sgt. 1st Class William “Big T” Taylor had not seen his family since early March. The 88-year-old former paratrooper, a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, has been a resident at Sitter & Barfoot Veterans Care Center in South Side for more than

six years. The nursing home, located on the campus of McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center, has been closed to visitors because of the coronavirus pandemic. So Mr. Taylor was more than surprised and happy when a series of family parades were organized by the SBVCC staff to connect Please turn to A4

Democratic state Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy formally launched her bid for Virginia governor Wednesday, using email and social media to make an initial appeal to voters in the era of the coronavirus pandemic. T h e two-term l a w maker, who repDelegate resents Carroll Foy Prince William and Stafford counties, said her background would position her to be “a champion for working people” if she is elected the state’s 74th governor in 2021. Delegate Carroll Foy, 38, was raised by her grandparents in Petersburg, one of the state’s poorest cities. She was one of the first women to make it through the tough discipline and graduate from Virginia Military Institute. She went on to earn a master’s degree from Virginia State University and her law degree from Thomas

Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. And she has been a foster parent and served as a public defender. Known for her steely determination and confidence, she said her experience shows she understands the challenges people face and makes her the right person to correct the problems the current public

health and economic crises have exposed. “I’m running because the status quo in Virginia has left us with a deeply broken system where too many Virginians are working too hard for too little,” Delegate Carroll Foy wrote in her announcement. Please turn to A4

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Artist-in-residence Art captivates people of all ages, even 15-month-old Ava Spurlock. The toddler helped her mother, LaRonda Malone, create colorful chalk sidewalk art last Saturday in the 1000 block of 23rd Street in the East End.


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