The Morgantowner: The. Demonstrations and The Pandemic

On May 25, a police officer in Minneapolis held his knee on George Floyd's neck, ultimately killing him. Other officers watched while Floyd. pleaded that he couldn't breathe. Floyd was on the ground, handcuffed and not resisting. The officers had. to know they were being recorded on a cell phone, but didn't think it would be a problem for them.

Once the video was released on social media, there were demonstrations, and at time riots in cities around the world. Rioters smashed storefronts and looted stores; a police station burned. Our American President accused "antifa" of organizing the riots, although some have said there were white supremacist groups behind much of the violence. In Washington, armed troops with no insignia lobbed pepper balls and rubber bullets at demonstrators and news reporters who were clearly marked. In Morgantown, there were major demonstrations several days last week. The Morgantown Police stayed away, thankfully. I didn't go, being afraid to be around so many people in the midst of a pandemic. When I finally did go one afternoon, there were very few people out and I didn't stay long. Judging from the pictures of the large demonstration in Morgantown, but more importantly in New York and Washington, I worry about people becoming ill from being in the large crowds.

Demonstration in downtown Morgantown

Demonstrators blocked High Street, our main street

May 31, before the street demonstrations here, I attended a "video demonstration" featuring the head of the NAACP locally, and three African-Americans, all state delegates, from different parts of the state. All of them have been harassed by the police, after being elected. Delegate Danielle Walker is in Morgantown. I was upset.

I asked the City Manager what stats there were on complaints about the department, the break down by race of drug arrests, and how many were sent to Municipal Court (a $15 fine for small amounts of cannabis, thanks to our Council) and how many to Magistrate Court. I also asked the ACLU if they had stats. I haven't heard back from the ACLU, but I got a response from the Police Chief and Deputy Chief. They have policies about being polite to everyone, banning chokeholds and other good things, no complaints lodged against them in the last year, and all cases going to Magistrate Court, which was a bit unsettling. Magistrate Court can give probation, but Municipal Court can't, which is the reason they gave me. Magistrate Court can also fine you $1,000 or six months in jail for carrying a small amount of cannabis.

Meanwhile, a video collective put out a release about a Black man who was badly beaten by the police in Morgantown. I read the article and found that the incident, eighteen months ago, was not in Morgantown, but in Westover, walking distance from downtown Morgantown, but with a different police force. I asked the collective to change the title of the video and they did. Now it says "...near Morgantown."

I've received a few dozen emails yesterday and today from people asking that we defund the Morgantown Police and spend more on social services. I only recognized two of the names, and I asked one of those to call me so we could talk about this. We do not have a big-city police department here, and, although the Morgantown Police are under City Council, where I am a member, the County Sheriff, West Virgina University Police and State Troopers also operate in our city. In the last two weeks, no one in Morgantown can say that our police interfered in the demonstrations. The police don't have the equipment that was used on demonstrators in Washington. We are not the kind of city where the police brutalize the public. Most of the letters say "I'm a Morgantown resident." I doubt that, and if they are, they have not been involved in any way with city government and do not understand what we have here. We do have serious drug issues and domestic abuse problems that the police deal with. We have tried to find an alternative to having the police take inebriates to the hospital; we do have people who intervene with addicts, and there is a needle exchange program. We are waiting for state approval to put up sharps containers. Our city is limited by state law and lack of money from doing more. Our police are not overpaid and the force is not fully staffed.

I had been visiting one county per month, in alphabetical order, within three hundred miles of Morgantown. I missed December to attend a funeral of a friend from synagogue, and I missed. January because I was sick almost the entire month. In February, I spent a full day and two nights in Harrisburg, in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

I wrote here about my canceled trip in mid-March to Delaware, Ohio because. it was obvious that there was a health problem. We've rarely gone out since then. I've been running a bit almost every day. My former gym has reopened with restrictions, but I'm not ready for that. We get carry-out Saturday nights and sometimes for lunch.

This past Sunday was supposed to have beautiful weather, and I suggested to Joe that we visit Doddridge County, sixty-five miles southwest of here, originally on my schedule for a May visit. Doddridge has a population of less than 8,000 people, and more than eighty per cent of voters went for the current president in 2016. We walked around West Union, the county seat, stopping for lunch at Betty Noll's Restaurant, the only place open in the middle of town. We both had fried fish fillets with three sides. Joe had cole slaw, broccoli and fries; I had mac and cheese, corn and apple sauce. The food was good, if not exactly diet-conscious. We were able to see most of the town in about an hour of walking in the pleasant sunshine. Doddridge County is off U.S. 50 between Clarksburg and Parkersburg. The former B&O Railroad line is now a paved trail.

We walked into town less than a mile along the rail trail from a park off U.S. 50 to downtown. On the way back a gentleman stopped us on the trail He was in a bathrobe at 3 P.M. He lives down the hill from th trail and his family has been in the area since before the Civil War. He owns some gas wells on his property. He said he could tell we were not from West Union, he said. I asked how he knew that, and he answered diplomatically "You look smart." A friend in Morgantown also told me her ancestors lived in Doddridge before the Civil War. West Union was apparently a stop on the Underground Railroad.

After seeing the town, we searched for a restored covered bridge in Center Point, really out in the woods. We saw many houses festooned with banners with the name of the current President, one of which also flew a Confederate flag. Doddridge County is a center of fracking in the state. People say it is prosperous, but aside from the newer schools along U.S. 50 and a handful of big new houses along the country roads, it doesn't look it.

We were glad to get away for a day. Neither of us has been far from home since March. We wore masks, as did some of the people we saw, but Doddridge is one of two counties in West Virginia with no reported COVID-19 cases.

Update: the person I asked to call me about the police did call. I missed the call, and she, phone banking today for the election, said she will call back tomorrow. Also, the first case of COVID-19 in Doddridge was reported today (Tuesday afternoon) after a prisoner tested positive.