Since McDade’s murder, TPD has used Marsy’s Law as a legal shield to protect their officers from public accountability, refusing to release the names of the officers involved in the shooting.

McDade’s death, occurring just two days after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis and six days after TPD officers killed Wilbon Woodard, helped spark last summer’s uprising for Black lives both locally and globally. McDade’s name and image appeared in news articles and social media posts, and thousands of people took to the streets of Tallahassee last summer chanting “Black trans lives matter.”

A year later Black and trans people in Tallahassee are still waiting for justice, and still fighting for a world where the police are held accountable through a democratically elected Civilian Police Accountability Council, CPAC, which would have full oversight and authority over TPD policies and budgets.

Speakers at Thursday’s vigil highlighted the correlation between the state sanctioned violence and transphobia he was subjected to, and the systems that overlooked and neglected him despite McDade’s decades-long battle with mental illness. McDade’s tragic death shows the combined violence of white supremacy, transphobia and capitalism. Not only did the criminal injustice system target McDade because he was Black, but it also refused to recognize his trans identity and incarcerated him in a women’s prison for nearly a decade.

Tony McDade’s mother, Wanda McDade, climbed the capitol steps to speak to those in attendance. Wanda McDade expressed that she is not much of a speaker, but because of the love shown to her and Tony by the community, she wanted to say a few words. With tears in her eyes, Wanda thanked TCAC for organizing the event and those who came out to show love and support, and prayed for peace, love and understanding, stating, “Tony loved everyone and would do for anyone, doesn’t matter who you are.”

Delilah Pierre, vice president of TCAC, pointed out the ongoing disrespect by TPD and the media, who continued to deadname and misgender Tony McDade. Delilah spoke specifically of the trauma that Black trans people experience every day at the hands of the police and the community at large: “When I go out somewhere, I look inside of my car and I see what clothes I have. I try to pick out the clothes I think will best disguise me, the clothes I think will best make me seem less threatening to other people, the clothes I think will make me less possible or able to be killed. I have a pocketknife, mace and a taser in my car. I try to protect myself because I know that as a Black trans woman at any time and any moment someone can just decide that they don’t like me. That they don’t like my identity, they don’t like the kind of person that I am and try to kill me, stomp on me, beat me down. That ain’t right.”

Regina Joseph, president of Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) and also one of the #Tally19, made the call for CPAC, and stressed its importance “We need to build a new society, not just in Tony's memory but for everyone else.” She continued, “Be about the work and figure out how we’re going to demand these concrete policies into reality so that another mother does not lose her child.” She closed with a question to the crowd, “What are you going to do after you walk away from this to make sure another Black person isn’t killed by the police? We need community control of the police. CPAC now!”

During the vigil, the people also condemned the actions of TPD for their racist, murderous tactics. Joseph pressed the crowd to remember that it’s important to not let this be just a moment, but part of a movement, exclaiming, “I would be arrested over and over again so Tony’s life would not be taken in vain.” She reminded attendees of the violent arrests made by TPD on September 5, when 19 community members were arrested en route to the capitol in protest of a grand jury’s decision not to indict any of the cops involved in the murders of Mychael Johnson, Tony Mcdade and Wilbon Woodard.

Delilah Pierre called out the inhumane conditions of the prison system, stating the only reason we got to this point is because of a lack of accountability and failure to listen to McDade’s pleas for help. Upon his release, just a few months before his murder, McDade spoke out about his struggles, vowing to take his own life. Pierre explained, “I think Tony was very angry – very, very angry – but you know where that anger came from? I can tell you as a trans person, as a Black trans person, that anger came from fear. From the constant fear of belittlement, the constant fear of death, the constant fear of the way you’ll be treated, the constant fear of not being accepted by anyone in your life. That constant fear that you sit with, that you live with.”

Alongside demands for police accountability and justice, Octavia Thomas of Movement 850 reminded attendees that it’s also important to remember McDade’s life and humanity, stating, “I want us to embrace ourselves in that love that his mother talked about. I want us to embrace that because that is what’s going to move us in the future, if we understand the value of life. If we understand what life truly means when you lose it. Because like Regina said, I don’t want to get desensitized to this.”

#TallahasseeFL #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TallahasseeCommunityActionCommitteeTCAC #TonyMcDade

The roughly 75 masked attendees formed a loose, single-file line as they paraded through the sidewalks in front of city hall. Medics stood by with a supply of water and Gatorade as marshals worked to keep the line moving at a steady but moderate pace. A lap was completed for each protester who had been arrested as of the September 5 event, 14 in total, with chants like “When the Tally 14 is under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” and “Drop the charges!” echoing throughout the nearby area. Signs and banners with messages including “CPAC now!” and “End police violence now!” could be seen as the line moved along.

TCAC Communications Director Delilah Pierre led the crowd along with TCAC Deputy Treasurer Lakey Love, Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor, and Florida National Organization for Women (NOW) lobbyist Barbara DeVane.

Pierre began her remarks by addressing the popular conception of police, stating, “We like to be told that the police department is this objective force, that they’re here to protect us...but we know that the opposite is true.” Pierre continued, addressing Tallahassee’s summer-long string of protests against police murder and brutality, “and that’s why we came out to protest…thousands of people came out to protest for Black Lives Matter…for community control of the police.”

Pierre went on to admonish Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey and the city commission, who were holding a city commission meeting concurrent with the rally which included discussion of a proposed Citizen’s Review Board, for their lack of a meaningful response to the protests. She declared, “Nothing has been done in response [to the mass-attended Tallahassee protests]. John Dailey and the city commission passed a $60 million police budget JUST NOW…so we know they don’t care...We are fighting for community control of the police. I am not going to settle for your pitiful little [Citizen’s] Review Board. Not when I had to watch Tony McDade and Mychael Johnson die on camera.”

Tony McDade and Mychael Johnson were two Black men murdered by Tallahassee Police Department officers earlier this year. Their killers, along with the killer of Wilbon Woodard, an elderly white man who was also murdered by a TPD officer this year, will walk free due to a grand jury decision that was released on September 4. This grand jury decision is what spurred the September 5 protest that resulted in a force of about 300 police officers, many clad in full riot gear and outnumbering protesters three to one, brutalizing and mass arresting peaceful protesters. Addressing the contradictions between the treatment of killer cops and protesters, Pierre called out, “Why are my friends...people I love, facing charges that could lead [to] up to 10 years in prison? When people who kill Black people, murder us in the streets in cold blood, get away with it? Why? Because we protest? Because we speak back?”

This lack of accountability for perpetrators of racist violence in Tallahassee has been consistently reflected in recent decisions by State Attorney Jack Campbell, including those related to the actions of white vigilantes. At a May 30 protest in Tallahassee to demand justice for George Floyd, Tony McDade, and other victims of police violence, white vigilante Travis Mixon drove a pickup truck directly into the crowd of protesters. Campbell decided not to press any charges against Mixon, who he claims was acting in self-defense.

At an August 29 TCAC-led event in front of the Florida Capitol, white vigilante Jon Pickett entered the peaceful crowd, instigated violence, and then brandished a handgun at protesters. Pickett was detained by police but was later released with no charges. Despite a significant outcry from the Tallahassee community calling for Pickett to be held accountable, Campbell affirmed on September 9 that Pickett will not be charged, once again identifying racist violence as self-defense.

Although the September 9 rally was centered around calls for all charges against the Tally 14 to be dropped, that number has since expanded. In the hours after the rally, TPD executed two warrants related to the September 5 protest, tracking down one protester at their home and the other as they were returning home from the gym. Due to the quick work of the Tallahassee Bail Fund Coalition, in coordination with TCAC, Tallahassee Dream Defenders, More than A Name, and other organizations, shortly thereafter both protesters had bail posted and were released. To respond to these continued acts of police terror and intimidation, an emergency virtual press conference was held by TCAC the following day, with representatives from the ACLU of Florida and Florida NOW joining the panel of speakers.

The content of that event however, which called for all charges against the now Tally 16 to be dropped, would soon be outdated as well, with the existence of three more warrants targeting peaceful protesters present on September 5 becoming known later that afternoon. As of this writing, once again due to the work of the Tallahassee Bail Fund Coalition two of those three protesters, who turned themselves in to the police, have been released. The status of the third is unknown.

The Tallahassee Community Action Committee is currently collecting a community support fund in an effort to relieve the arrested protesters of the significant legal, physical and mental health, missed wage, and other costs which they may face. The GoFundMe can be found here: tinyurl.com/tally16

#TallahasseeFL #AfricanAmerican #TCAC #Tally14 #JonPickett #TonyMcDade