THE 9:01

The 901: Memphis protests weren't without mistakes — or heroes

The 901 is your morning blend of Memphis news and commentary

Ryan Poe
Memphis Commercial Appeal

Good Monday morning from Memphis, where some truly bizarre things happened during last night's protest. More on those in a sec, but first...

Medics supporting demonstrators douse a protester hit with tear gas after a confrontation with police during a protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd downtown Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday, May 31, 2020.

Mistakes — and heroes — were made last night in Memphis.

As several hundred protesters marched north on Riverside Drive toward the Interstate 40 bridge, law enforcement officers in full riot gear blocking the way fired tear gas canisters and pepper spray into the crowd at about 11:15 p.m. near Bass Pro Shops. It's not clear which of the several law enforcement agencies made the call although Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph last night said it wasn't MPD.

It seemed like an unprovoked escalation hours into a mostly peaceful protest against police brutality and demanding justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, three black people whose deaths have sparked protests across the country.

As the tear gas cleared, leaving protesters gagging, coughing and teary-eyed, people rushed in to help lead people to safety and douse their eyes with milk. And although they were shouted back by protesters, two officers began advancing toward the crowd in what looked like an attempt to help someone who was lying on the ground nearby.

Protesters got the message that law enforcement wasn't going to allow a reenactment of the July 2016 protest that shuttered the city's main commercial thoroughfare for hours. 

And then, at about 11:45 p.m., after marching past the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center at 201 Poplar, about 20 people rushed the convenience store at the Downtown Express Marathon gas station on Poplar, west of Danny Thomas, taking some small items like bags of chips in the couple of minutes before officers arrived on the scene.

What some of the cameras didn't catch were the vast majority of protesters shouting at them not to do it, shouting that looting would only undercut the message of the protest.

Later, Winfield's Shoes & Accessories on Main Street — a black-owned business and staple of Downtown retail — had its display window broken and some shoes taken:

When police responded to the "looting" at the gas station, a white officer started advancing menacingly toward a black man filling up his car at the gas station, seeming to think he was a protester. That's when another, black officer jumped in between them, waving his colleague away. And if he hadn't this could've been a very different column.

Here's the video: 

That wasn't the only courageous act of the night. I saw people jump in front of a law enforcement SUV to allow protesters to safely pass — and stay there, even after the officer inside kept lurching the vehicle forward threateningly. And who knows how many tragedies were avoided because protesters and police restrained their more hot-headed brethren, in some cases pulling them away from the thick of the action?

At the end of the protest, in the early hours of this morning, police charged into the crowd, detaining at least 10 people, although it's not clear how many were arrested.

Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner criticized one arrest in particular.

But while other cities burn, no buildings were torched in Memphis. Little was stolen. And — most importantly — no one was reported seriously injured. Sure, mistakes were made on both sides. Police could have showed more solidarity and less antagonism toward protesters. (One county officer, in particular, while riding in the back of a truck on Riverside yelled "Move, motherf----rs!" at protesters unnecessarily and repeatedly.) And, sure, protesters did their fair share of provoking officers as well.

But that the protests were as peaceful and successful as they were is thanks in no small part to small acts of heroism by good people on both sides of the barricades.

Speaking of protests: The Commercial Appeal has gone all-out on its coverage these last five days. Read the story about Saturday's eventful protest on Beale Street here, and about Friday's protest here. And if you want to support our journalism (and, God knows, we need the support), please consider subscribing here.

Three bizarre things from last night

So, the serious bits about last night's protest aside, let's talk about the not-serious parts.

Here are three bizarre/funny/weird things that happened...

  1. Smoke gets in your eyes. Shortly before law enforcement officers really started firing tear gas canisters, the crowd briefly stampeded on Riverside Drive because they thought they had. The rumor in the crowd was that it was all thanks to the excessive smoke from someone's vehicle.
  2. Drop it like it's hawt. As the protest headed south down Front toward the University of Memphis law school, a woman stopped her car in the middle of the street and — I kid you not — started twerking. It's unclear whether she was showing solidarity with protesters or just crossing "twerk in the middle of the street" off of her bucket list.
  3. Water under the bridge. In front of the law school, a protester apparently threw a water bottle in the direction of a police officer. Unfazed, the officer picked it up, said "Thanks for the water!" and took a big — and possibl unsanitary — swig. 

New study bolsters case for TVA exit

Finally, after months of waiting, Memphis has a better idea of the costs and benefits of buying power from someplace other than the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Siemens on Friday released the long-awaited, MLGW-commissioned "integrated resource plan" (IRP), which highlighted two scenarios where Memphis spends about $14.5 billion between 2020 and 2039, and in return saves $150 million a year compared to the $1 billion it's spending now, our Sam Hardiman reports. Savings aren't the only consideration — reliability is a major one as well — but this study confirms what advocates for leaving TVA have said all along: that it will bring long-term savings.

And let's not forget that studies paid for by advocates have shown even greater savings.

The city is in a budget crunch thanks to COVID-19, which makes the enticement of savings all the more mouth-watering for elected officials. There's more work to be done before a decision is made, but the IRP puts Memphis that much closer to leaving TVA.

Speaking of leaving TVA: Entergy, which operates in Arkansas and Mississippi, would love to sell Memphis power and is open to the idea of teaming up to build the power plants that could be required for Memphis to leave TVA, Sam also reports.

What else is happening in the 901

The Fadeout: Bartholomew Jones

Fading us out this morning, Memphis rapper and coffee connoisseur Bartholomew Jones released new song "Sunkissed" on Friday. Here's the music video...

Like The Fadeout? Check out The 901's Spotify playlist

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 901, a running commentary on all things Memphis. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

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