OCCUPYWSNC

JULY 15 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

On July 15, 2020, Triad Abolition Project began an occupation of Bailey Park in downtown Winston-Salem, NC to demand justice for Mr. John Elliott Neville. Mr. Neville was murdered by Forsyth County Detention Center and Wellpath Healthcare personnel after being put into a prone restraint position in December 2019. We decided to begin an occupation to push for policy change to ensure that the tragedy of Mr. Neville’s murder does not happen to anyone else’s loved ones inside the Forsyth County Detention Center or elsewhere in Forsyth County. As abolitionists, justice looks like accountability and transformation that make certain wrongs are not repeated. During the occupation, we built a strong community under the canopies which shielded us from intense heat and torrential rains. We hosted educational events with local activist organizations and educators; self-care sessions focused on breathing, meditation, and yoga; and events for artistic expression, including poetry, song, dance, painting, and photography. We corresponded with our incarcerated siblings through letters and daily marches around the Forsyth County Detention Center, and held regular vigils to remember those taken from us too soon by state sanctioned violence. We engaged in mutual aid and community support, and shared meals with the broader community. We also engaged in organized civil disobedience, and the Winston-Salem Police Department made 55 arrests of protesters demanding justice for Mr. Neville. After nearly 50 days, our occupation ended on September 1, 2020 with our demands being met by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. Specifically, FCSO revised their Use-of-Force Policy to include a complete ban of the bent-leg prone restraint throughout their agency, and the Sheriff agreed to notify the public when an incarcerated individual dies inside the detention center. We are immensely grateful to all of the community members, activist organizations, local businesses, attorneys and law students, non-profit organizations, and funding agencies who supported the work that we did in all the ways that they could. We especially owe a huge debt of gratitude to our occupiers who remained steadfast in our occupation.