Protesters sprayed by deputies at jail annex
No injuries, no arrests reported
Around 10 protesters were sprayed with what they say was pepper spray during a demonstration demanding reallocation of funding to education that took place outside of the Memphis jail annex Saturday morning.
Protesters showed The Commercial Appeal a video of the incident that occurred just after 10 a.m. Saturday. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Department later confirmed that a “chemical agent” was deployed.
The group is demanding that 50% of the funding for the sheriff’s department be reallocated to Shelby County Schools, for “material needs, mental health services and remote learning support.”
Vada, an organizer who declined to give her last name, said she was wanting to gain entry to share the protest’s list of demands.
SCSO Capt. Anthony Buckner, spokesperson for the department, said the agent was deployed after the protesters tried to enter the building.
Buckner said deputies “attempted to gain voluntary compliance” from the protesters outside the jail annex.
The SCSO statement is in full below. In the protester’s video, deputies appear to be closing the doors to the annex as protesters are still at the doorway. The protesters are pushed out of the way before the doors appear to be nearly closed.
The video shows one protester still opening the door before a deputy then sprays the surrounding crowd at the doorway.
The group of 20-25 people then reassembled Saturday on the sidewalk outside the annex, instead of in front of the door.
Co-organizers Vada and Marissa, who also declined to share a last name, say they both have previously worked in education.
“We care about the kids in our community,” Marissa said. “And want to see them taken care of, and their families taken care of.”
The group is pushing for county commissioners to reconsider defunding the sheriff ’s department next week. Earlier in June, the commission voted not to make cuts of either 10% or 5% of the sheriff ’s office budget for fiscal year 2021, cuts that would have come to $17.8 million or about $8.9 million.
Commissioner Tami Sawyer made the two proposals, which would have put money toward the community services department or toward community services as well as the commission’s contingency fund, respectively.
“Even if you’re not a person that finds yourself political, COVID-19 isn’t political,” Vada said.
Marissa followed by saying, “Children don’t deserve to die in the middle of a pandemic, or be forced back to school... parents should have genuine choice. But when you can’t make rent, if you’re not working, you have to send your kids to school, and that’s not a genuine choice.”
Vada said a funding reallocation would ideally provide child care to families who are in that position.
“That’s what our tax dollars should go to,” Vada said. “Not pepper spray for them to assault us with,” Marissa said. The full statement from SCSO: “A group of protesters assembled outside of 271 Poplar (Jail Annex) Saturday morning. At some point during the assembly, protesters reportedly moved from the sidewalk and tried to enter the building. Deputies attempted to gain voluntary compliance from the protesters, who were pulling on the lobby doors, to move away from the entrance. After several failed attempts to achieved compliance, a deputy sprayed a small amount of chemical agent in the general area of the noncompliant protesters. The protesters then left the entrance and returned to their original location. There were no reported injuries to the deputies or protesters, and there were no arrests made in this incident.”