Arlington woman who promoted Parks Mall protest says police asked her to call if off
Tatum Henderson has planned multiple protests in Arlington — just not the one she said city police asked her to call off Tuesday.
Henderson received a phone call Tuesday after sharing a flyer for a civil disobedience demonstration scheduled for 1 p.m. July 26 at Parks Mall using the Black Lives Matter hashtag. She wrote on Twitter that Lt. Kelly Velder asked her to cancel the protest, claiming the Arlington Police Department was overworked and her previous protests — one near Arlington Highlands and another in southwest Arlington — were illegal.
“They gave us escorts through the streets, so that kind of caught me off guard.,” she said. “I wasn’t sure why that came out at that moment and didn’t come out earlier when we were actually protesting.”
In an email, Arlington police spokesman Lt. Michael Chitty said Velder “attempted to explain the difference” in protesting on private property versus public property.
“We have always worked with any group that chooses to peacefully assemble and practice their First Amendment right in Arlington, and we were simply attempting to assist Ms. Henderson in planning her upcoming event,” Chitty wrote.
He added that APD has previously worked with Henderson on organizing previous protests and “have always had a good relationship with her.” Chitty did not directly address Henderson’s tweet.
Henderson, who said she is not organizing the demonstration, added she felt uncomfortable with the call. She wrote on Twitter that Velder said she was “going down the wrong road” — a statement she interpreted “as a threat, a warning at the very least.”
“Those were just things that were happening through the phone call and I don’t think that’s appropriate at all from the police officers from this city,” she said.
The July 26 protest is the latest planned event in Arlington calling for change after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd in late May. Previous protests, arranged by various organizers including Henderson, have wound through downtown, near AT&T Stadium and the Arlington Highlands.
Although Henderson is not the civil disobedience demonstration’s organizer, she said the event — posted by an anonymous Twitter and Instagram user — is about protesting the people, systems and “moral injustices” that have occurred under existing laws and policies.
“It’s about peacefully demonstrating that moral injustices are happening and we will not continue to comply with the people and the system that allows us to happen,” she said.
The Twitter and Instagram user who posted the original flyer could not be reached for comment.
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 5:37 PM.
