Sarasota arrest sparks Black Lives Matter rally. Organizers share a vision for change 

Protesters gathered on Tuesday evening in Sarasota amid continued calls for an end to systematic racism and violence in policing after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The event, supported by the Black Lives Matter Manasota Alliance, was sparked by what organizers say is a recent local incident of police brutality against a Black man.

Ronald Davenport, a 63-year-old Sarasota man, was pulled over by two Sarasota Police Department officers on the night of May 12 for making an improper left turn into a center lane, according to a police report.

Davenport’s daughter, Ronnique Davenport, has shared her father’s account of the events online. Much of her statement was distributed in a press release by BLM Manasota.

“I’ve thought long and hard about sharing this information with the public,” she wrote on social media. “I don’t want anyone to feel like I’m sharing this because of what’s going on in the world. But because of what is going on in the world, is the reason I’m sharing this, with my father’s permission.”

According to the post, police yanked Davenport out of his car, threw him on the ground, placed him in a chokehold and kicked him several times.

The post said that Davenport spent several hours in the hospital before spending the night in jail. He then returned to the hospital, where he was assessed for fractured ribs, lung damage, lumbar strain, popped blood vessels in his eyes and abrasions throughout his body, his daughter continued.

In her post, the daughter also thanked a woman who stopped and observed the altercation.

“Thank you to whoever you are because you may be the very reason why my father is still alive and we’re not seeking justice for his death,” she wrote. “Sarasota Police Department, this is not over. We want answers and we want them now!!!”

The police department responded with a news release from Lt. Rex Troche, who said there were “significant differences in the press release provided to the media and the information documented in the (police) reports.”

Troche included several pictures of Davenport in the news release, detailing two abrasions on his head and one on his knee. It also included a police report, which described “a brief struggle” on the night of May 12.

Two police officers pulled Davenport over on North Washington Boulevard, after he made a left turn into the center lane, “at which point the vehicle came to a complete stop on the east side of the roadway, then accelerated rapidly, and repeated that pattern two more times,” the report states.

As one officer stood outside the passenger window, Davenport leaned over and said, “What the (expletive) are you looking at?” the report continues. The officers reported that Davenport then “quickly jumped out of the vehicle” and refused to get back inside.

The report said that Davenport pulled his hand away as police tried to handcuff him. An officer took Davenport to the ground, “where he continued to resist Officers’ attempts to place him into custody by tensing his arms and burying them underneath his own body,” the officer reported.

Police cited him for an improper left turn and charged him with resisting an officer without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.

“SPD first learned of the incident on June 6, 2020, via a third party social media platform,” the department said in its news release. “Chief (Bernadette) DiPino immediately advised Internal Affairs to initiate an investigation even though no formal complaint was made.”

After a phone call and a visit to his home, the police department was unable to get in touch with Davenport, and police are now asking for witnesses to step forward.

“We are asking for the community’s help by providing information, witnesses, and video related to the incident. Please call Internal Affairs with any of the aforementioned, or any other information about this incident, at 941-263-6027,” the release concludes.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Ronnique Davenport had created an online crowdfunding campaign and raised more than $1,000 for her father’s legal fees. She said the recent incident brought troubling memories to the surface.

“Sadly, this is not the first time Mr. Davenport has been severely injured by this same police force,” she wrote in the fundraiser. “From his previous incident in 1999, Mr. Davenport has suffered from neck and back spinal sprain/damage, as well as having to have both of his hips replaced at a young age.”

Protesters rally for Davenport, systemic change

About 75 people attended a protest supporting Ronald Davenport on Tuesday evening along Bayfront Drive in downtown Sarasota.

Davenport read a prepared statement, thanking Newtown and BLM Manasota for their support.

Davenport cited the slogan “silence is compliance,” which has become a call to action following the death of George Floyd.

“Stop the hate on Black lives,” Davenport said. “All Americans should speak and act for equal justice.”

Davenport, a Vietnam-era veteran who has three daughters and a granddaughter, said he was there to remember “African American women who have suffered and been killed by unlawful cops,” including Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor.

BLM Manasota leaders and other speakers at the event shared a vision for change to stop “systemic racism in all systems.”

“It’s not just about police brutality. That’s the small part of it,” said Terrill Salem, a firefighter and contractor from Sarasota. “The big part of it is that we have systemic racism in all the fabric of America. And until our white allies join us and break it down, we’re going to go through this same thing over and over again.”

Salem said that despite being a firefighter and licensed contractor, he has trouble accessing capital to grow his company. In addition to the financial system, he said there are disparities to be addressed in education, the judicial system and healthcare.

“Black folk, all we want to do, is have our fair opportunity to be successful,” Salem said. “We’re not trying to reverse the roles of oppression. We just want to be able to give our kids a great quality life.”

Ed James III, a BLM Sarasota organizer, called on locals to make their voices heard in upcoming elections.

“They can’t win without the Black vote. If they don’t represent your interests, vote them out,” James said. “It starts right at the city level.”

Attorney Sean Shaw, a former state representative and the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida attorney general, came from Tampa to speak at the event.

Shaw, son of a former Florida Supreme Court chief justice, recalled a talk his father gave him when he was a youth, instructing him how to act if he was ever pulled over by law enforcement.

“How I needed to look down. How I needed to announce everything that I would do with my hands. The only difference between that talk and most talks is that my dad was wearing a three-piece suit at the time and he was the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.”

Shaw’s father was Leander Jerry Shaw Jr., who was Florida’s first Black chief justice.

“Any of us could have been Mr. Davenport. It is the Black man’s burden in this country that when a police car gets behind you, you get a knot in the pit of your stomach.”

“That is why we’re here today,” Shaw said. “We’re not here because of Democrat, Republican, Trump, Biden — none of that. We’re here because we want systemic, specific policies to stop police brutality.”

Shaw said people need to push politicians to make those policy changes.

“The end of the journey is when there are actual police policies that go after cops who have multiple police brutality complaints. Not more marches, not more town halls, not more vigils.”

Sarasota resident Amanda Marie Mason, 59, was among those holding signs at the rally. Mason said she has participated in civil rights demonstrations since she was a child and recalled being tear-gassed when she was 6 years old.

“I learned from my parents to be a lifelong advocate,” Mason said. “I think a lot changed because of the demonstrations. There’s a whole generation of people that thinks this is extreme. But this is what made real action happen.”

Mason, a white woman, encouraged others to advocate for change and to get to know people who are different than themselves.

“Usually (white) people are prejudiced when they don’t know any Black people or any brown people. I embrace those cultures. There’s so much of American culture that we owe to Black folks.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 5:12 PM.