One month since the death of Steve Perkins, pastors gather for peaceful protest
Balloons were released by family to mark one month since Perkins was killed by Decatur Police officers
DECATUR, Ala. (WAFF) - Sunday marked exactly one month since the shooting death of Stephen Perkins. Perkins was shot by Decatur Police outside his home in late September.
In the last month, there have been countless protests and numerous responses from Decatur Police. Now, ALEA has denied Perkins’ family the footage that may give them closure.
On Sunday, the group “Standing in Power” hosted a community protest which involved pastors from around the Decatur Community. Co-founder Adrianna Tapscott says it’s important for these community leaders to be at the forefront of their efforts.
“Pastors and ministers also have influence. They can influence their congregation. There is power in numbers. We want to make sure that we make a statement and then demand that we’re together in unity so we can continue to push awareness,” says Tapscott.
Pastor Claudette Owens says events such as these help the healing process for the community.
“We’ve had many organizations, many individuals who are doing their best to help the community come together to heal. We just hope that this will be one of the many steps because we’re in this for the long haul,” Owens says.
The protests come just days after ALEA denied the Perkins family’s request for the body camera footage of when Stephen was killed. Terrance Adkins says this doesn’t change their push for transparency.
“We’ve seen enough footage ourselves that we didn’t even need ALEA’s footage. We just wanted to offer them the olive branch to do what’s right in this case and they slapped that olive branch,” Adkins says.
“We’ve all kinds of press releases, we’ve had all kinds of press conferences. But no one has heard a single voice from the black community to tell our narrative and our perspective of what we see and what we believe.”
Standing in Power plans to continue their efforts.
Monday, they plan to be present for the Decatur City Council’s work session at City Hall. They will also host a town hall meeting on Thursday with remarks from a former police chief and other community leaders.
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