Protesters occupy entrance to Tompkins Courthouse, demand charges against Rose DeGroat dropped

ITHACA N.Y. — Just below the steps of the Tompkins County Courthouse on Friday afternoon, about 150 people gathered to protest the felony charges Rose DeGroat, 23, of Ithaca, faces.

Since the charges were brought in April, members of the public have protested the charges brought by the Ithaca Police Department and put pressure on District Attorney Matthew Van Houten to drop all charges. On Friday, at a demonstration in front of the courthouse, protesters made their demands clear: Van Houten must drop all charges against DeGroat and the City of Ithaca must hold police accountable for damages experienced by Cadji Ferguson and DeGroat in relation to the April 6 incident on The Commons.

DeGroat is scheduled to go to trial on charges of attempted assault, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration in November.

For the span of about an hour punctuated by joined chanting and the occasional honk of a passing automobile, organizers of local community groups, professors, students and members of the public took turns speaking to the assembly. Contributing speakers and organizers from Black Lives Matter Ithaca, the Multicultural Resource Center and Tompkins County Showing Up for Racial Justice included Rafael Aponte, Phoebe Brown, Russell Rickford, Taz Rite, Kate Salmon and Noa Tia.

Brown, who had attended the climate strike earlier in the day, summarized her inner conflict to people gathered Friday.

“I’ve watched my community die… get brutalized… police brutality, and all these things… but to see all you beautiful people out here, it warms my heart,” said Brown. “The system has created doubt and fear in our lives — I even went there. I started to look (at the video of the incident) and say ‘Well, Rose hit the police…’ — And that’s why it’s so important in who the company you keep. After listening and talking to my people, I had to realize, she was doing something that took so much courage … she came out to defend her friend.”

DeGroat briefly addressed the crowd to express gratitude and disbelief, saying “I never expected this to happen, the support that I have … I want to thank everyone.”

The tone of the speakers and of the group oscillated between cheers and laughter, shouts of outrage and quiet tears. There was also a moment of silence held in respect for people killed by police brutality.

A resounding affirmation was issued in response to one organizer’s question: “Are you ready to put your bodies on the line for change?” after which the demonstrators — many of whom were already standing in the road as a result of the filled — took to Tioga Street: while some lay on the pavement, others passed around sticks of chalk.

Within several minutes and with the encouragement of organizers, the road became a mass of supine bodies outlined to resemble bodies at a crime scene. Several cars were forced to awkwardly detour, and one TCAT bus driver stopped, opened the doors to let out passengers, and waited.

Listen to audio from the event and check out the photo gallery below

 

Check out live video footage of the demonstration on The Ithaca Voice Facebook page