This letter was written by members of the Prince William County Democratic Committee’s Steering Committee.

Freedom of Speech is as fundamental to our democracy and the rule of law as breathing is to life. That is why we write to you today, in earnest, to request reconsideration of the arrests of Alinah Shahla Kargar, Tasia Teray Dodson, Enrique Bernardo Dentone, and Moeez Ahmed Sheikh. These young adults are just beginning on their path to adulthood and finding their voice, and on July 14, 2020 they exercised their 1st Amendment right at the doors of the McCoart Building; a building in and of itself, that should embody our community.

The fact that their rights were violated in an unjust arrest is paramount given that an arrest record, before their lives have even begun, will have lifelong impacts on their futures. But the greater damage is the message and impact that we are demonstrating by allowing this process to continue; that you do not have a right to exercise your rights in the face of adversity.

For this reason, we ask the Commonwealth’s Attorney to drop all charges and expunge the arrest records.

There are easily searchable videos online taken by protesters engaged in the altercation as well as security footage from the McCoart building. In these videos, a white adult male can be seen walking toward the McCoart building, veering off his path toward the front door to yell at one of the protesters, “I hope you and your family are shot tomorrow.” He then aggressively walks into—not around—the crowd of protesters. Video footage shows he shoved a woman to the ground. The protesters can be seen putting their arms up in a defensive stance despite the older man’s aggression. A second white adult male can be seen entering the scuffle, immediately throwing punches, though it is unclear if he witnessed how the incident began.

The video is enough to substantiate charges against these aggressors; however, that is not what occurred. Instead, the police officers who were present allowed the instigator to leave the scene and enter the McCoart building to speak during Citizens’ Time at the Board of County Supervisors meeting while detaining the young adults, who had arrived and signed up to speak at the same Board of County Supervisors meeting and were denied the same privilege. 

Furthermore, subsequent to the aggressor’s remarks to the Board, the instigator was provided a police escort to his car, as though he felt unsafe as a result of the incident he verbally and physically incited. 

As if this disparity in the execution of justice is not enough, following the arrests, the Prince William County Police Department publicly released the police reports without redacting the home addresses of those arrested, thus endangering the safety of the young adults and their families with whom they live.

The details above are a textbook case of how systemic racism works. A person of color is attacked by a white man for any one of a thousand reasons. The people of color are then punished for defending themselves, speaking back, and/or engaging. But the greatest travesty of all is the denial of, and lack of desire of people in a position of authority to allow people of color to participate in our democratic process. 

As is so often the case, the cycle continues, and the white man, the provocateur, who accosted people he hated, was allowed to participate in our democratic process, and was provided a police escort to his car afterwards.

We are living through a time in our history when the ails of society, systemic racism and the disproportionate and indifferent distribution of our judicial system, is on full display. It was evident on July 14th that these four young adults did not receive equal treatment under the law and our community now has an obligation to right that wrong.

The public has a right to have an independent body investigate the actions of all of the police officers involved. We have a right to know why the instigator was allowed to freely enter the McCoart building and make comments during a public hearing and then have police escort him to his vehicle. And we deserve to know why the safety of these young adults and their families was put in jeopardy by publishing their addresses when they have not been convicted of a crime.

We call on the office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney to drop all charges against Alinah Shahla Kargar, Tasia Teray Dodson, Enrique Bernardo Dentone, and Moeez Ahmed Sheikh, all of whom were acting in self-defense.

Exercising your first amendment right to speak out against police brutality and abuse of power should not result in the lifelong effects that these charges will cause. As people of color this will disproportionately impact their futures and we should be lifting up young voices right now, not silencing them.

Signed,

Kara Pitek, Chair, Potomac Democratic Committee

Samuel Chisolm, Chair, Brentsville Democratic Committee

Jamie Beletz, Chair, Coles Democratic Committee

Idris O’Connor, President, Prince William Young Democrats

Monique Raulston, Chair, Neabsco Democratic Committee

Brenda Medrano-Frias, Chair, Woodbridge Democratic Committee