Arlington police, clergy pray for peace a day after vandalism and looting

After a night of protest, vandalism and looting, Arlington police and clergy members met Tuesday to pray for peace and unity in the community.

Marcia Nikl, with the Arlington Clergy and Police Partnership, said there’s destruction that doesn’t need to happen.

Multiple members said the main message was to love one another, unite the nation and find peace amid chaos. Then a moment of silence was held for George Floyd, who died May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer held a knee on his neck for more than eight minutes.

The prayer, organized by the Clergy and Police Partnership, followed a night when peaceful protest turned into the vandalism and looting of multiple Arlington businesses.

Around a dozen protesters broke into the Walmart across from AT&T Stadium, at 915 E. Randol Mill Road, after 11 p.m., according to Lt. Christopher Cook, an Arlington Police Department spokesman. Five were arrested and face charges of felony commercial burglary, Cook said.

On Tuesday, pallets covered windows and the sliding glass doors were shattered.

On the other side of town, at the Jared Jewelers, a shattered door was boarded up. Police stopped the vandals Monday night before they had a chance to steal anything, Cook said.

A burglar also struck Arlington Jewelry Exchange. Police chased a suspect on Interstate 20. The suspect evaded police, but they recovered the jewelry when he threw it out of the car.

At the Arlington Police Station, people set fire to American flags that were placed out for Memorial Day, Cook said. They then proceeded to throw the flag sticks at the building. Four windows were broken.

“There was a lot of criminal behavior going on,” he said. “That’s not a protest.”

The city has no plans for a curfew, Mayor Jeff Williams said in a statement, but it will continue to assess the situation.

Williams said the city supports peaceful protests of the “unjust death of George Floyd and many other black Americans because of police brutality.”

“Through peaceful expression, we can call greater attention to the cause at hand and heal the wounds so many in our cities are experiencing,” he said. “But the violence needs to stop.”

Destruction in the city puts people’s health and safety at risk while also detracting from the important message.

“The path to healing wounds is not tearing things down, it’s building our community back up,” Williams said.

The Rev. Stanley Ferrell of Treasures of Excellence Ministries said protests should be done in peace because the message is lost when the law is broken.

“It’s OK to come out and protest — a matter of fact, we’ll join with you,” Cook said. “But you can’t damage our patrol cars, you can’t injure our officers, you can’t deface city property, you can’t burglarize businesses [and] you can’t damage private business.”

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 4:55 PM.