The rowdy group of protesters that blocked traffic on Highway 31 and called police officers “domestic terrorists” on Monday took to Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato’s house Tuesday evening starting at 8:15 pm.
The protest leader, Carlos Chaverst, Jr., confirmed this plan on Facebook, sending out the mayor’s home address.
In a live stream posted by Chaverst, he said their intentions are “to wake the whole neighborhood up.” He also said they plan to “block the interstate” later on. He did not give a time or day for that.
This is a breaking news update and will be updated.
This came after Chaverst earlier in the day seemed to raise the possibility of using force against police officers if faced with arrest.
In an interview with Alabama Media Group’s Carol Robinson, Chaverst said, “We come in peace but when we’re met with force, we’re going to respond and act accordingly.”
He continued, “That’s just a warning to the Hoover Police Department. They’ve been kinda cooperative thus far because they don’t want to kill any more black men so they gotta do what they gotta do to stay clear right now.”
Chaverst later hinted that frustration could boil over, however.
“Whatever force we’re met with, that’s how we will respond, and we will act accordingly,’’ he outlined. “But you cannot dictate and determine frustration.”
He also claimed that officers would be beating and putting protesters “under the jail” if no one was looking.
“[I]f these cameras weren’t here, it would be a completely different story. Yesterday we blocked traffic on Highway 31. If the cameras hadn’t been there, someone would have been beaten, someone would have been taken to jail, some of us would have been under the jail,” Chaverst asserted.
Update at 8:55 pm:
At the protest Tuesday night, members of the crowd used megaphones to yell at the mayor’s house (it was not immediately clear if he was even at his home).
They repeatedly said Hoover PD had “killed a veteran,” referring to Emantic “E.J.” Bradford. They shouted that Hoover police officers are “veteran killers.”
The Army has confirmed that Bradford was not a veteran.
Members of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense and African Socialist Club were present. The former is categorized by the SPLC and the US Commission on Civil Rights as a hate group that incites violence against law enforcement, as well as white and Jewish people.
One protest leader went as far as to warn that, since they do not trust the justice system, “We’ll get justice in the streets.”
Protesters also chanted that Brocato and Hoover PD are guilty of “genocide” and are “the real criminals.”
While it was unclear what they had to do with the protesters’ cause, the crowd at one point heckled the mayor’s neighbors who were looking out their windows and taunted them to come outside. Protesters also specifically mocked people who had Christmas lights in their yards.
Update 9:05 pm:
One female protester approached a black Hoover Police officer outside the mayor’s house, and proceeded to heckle him. While yelling in his face with a megaphone, she went as far as to assert that his daughter could be next in being killed.
Update 9:10 pm:
A male protester took to the megaphone and came back around to singling out the black officer, claiming he looked like George Wallace standing in the schoolhouse door.
Update 9:20 pm:
One neighbor responded by quietly bringing the protesters cups of hot chocolate to enjoy.
Update 9:30 pm:
The protesters left after threatening to come back day after day, in the future staying through the entire night.
Live stream (WARNING, explicit language):
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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