Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye:

On multiple occasions, The PW Perspective has afforded you a platform to communicate with your constituents and share your vision for Prince William County’s future. The articles you wrote detailed progressive policy changes that you would like to see enacted in our community. It is with those words in mind that we express grave disappointment in having to write to you under these circumstances. As an anti-racist publication, The PW Perspective cannot claim to speak truth to power if we fail our duty to call out racism in all its forms—even as it pertains to one of our contributors.

In November, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted to appoint Peter Newsham as the County’s new Chief of Police, a move that sparked controversy and anger in Prince William while bringing excitement to the city of Washington, D.C. Residents of D.C. were ecstatic to finally be rid of Newsham, who, during his tenure, terrorized people of color in the city, illegally arrested hundreds of people, and cost the city more than $20 million in legal fees because of his failure to fulfill the duties of his role.

Further, the Metropolitan Police Department under Newsham’s leadership has a history of racial profiling, violating the public’s First Amendment rights, and murdering unarmed Black people. Yet, alongside three of your Democratic colleagues, you voted to bring him to Prince William County, a majority-person of color locality.

If you are wondering why the PW Perspective has singled you out, our reasoning is simple: you are more closely affiliated with this publication than any other members of the BOCS and you ran as a “progressive”. A vote to bring a racist Police Chief to Prince William County is the exact kind of vote you campaigned to stand up against. Out of all the Democratic candidates who ran for local office in 2019, nobody put a greater emphasis on criminal justice reform than you. Nobody else ran a campaign as progressive as yours.

When you ran for your seat, you talked about the beauty in the diversity of our community here in Prince William County; you said you wanted to embrace our communities of color and work with them in order to “build the bridge to a brighter tomorrow”. But you have failed to live up to those promises. As people of color have cried out, pleading with you to work with them, you have sat by silently and ignored their words when it mattered most, just as Supervisors of days past have.

Supervisor Boddye, we are writing to inform you that it is not too late to right this wrong. You have said that you will do better in the future, but we are asking you to do better right now. The consequences of Newsham’s hiring could be catastrophic, if not fatal. Newsham’s record is on full display, and multiple constituents have made you aware of it. 

We are asking you to make an announcement during the board meeting on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, that you are going to make a motion on January 19, 2021, to rescind Prince William County’s offer of employment to Newsham. 

The only argument you could make against introducing such a motion is that your Democratic colleagues may not support it. To which we say, “so what?”. Does that mean you shouldn’t try? Are you unwilling to do the right thing out of fear of standing alone? We urge you to introduce a resolution and force your colleagues to either take a stand and support people of color across our county, or turn their backs on us once again.

We are asking you to take a stand. Please do not let us down again.

Actions speak louder than words.

Sincerely,

The PW Perspective