Rev. Nelson Johnson of Beloved Community Center spoke on the group’s recommendations to address policing, including an apology from the City of Greensboro on the police department’s role in the 1979 Greensboro Massacre.
The group is also recommending that the city immediately settle the case of Marcus Deon Smith, the 38-year old African American man who died in police custody after he was hogtied by Greensboro Police officers in September 2018.
Johnson and Beloved Community Center later joined with grassroots organizations Greensboro Rising and Guilford For All in Governmental Plaza on Tuesday, June 16, to continue to demand that Greensboro City Council members work to swiftly enact justice for the Smith family.
“For Nancy Vaughan and the city of Greensboro to condemn the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and yet to delay justice for the Smith family in their own backyard is the height of hypocrisy,” said Tyler Walker, a Guilford For All member.
Councilmembers tabled that investigation saying that the independent investigation could not go forward until the Smith family lawsuit against the city, the county, eight Greensboro police officers and two Guilford County paramedics was concluded.
