Civil rights activist jailed 15 days for Perkins protests is not done

Nov. 3—A civil rights activist who spent 15 days in the Morgan County Jail after being arrested while protesting remains in north Alabama seeking justice for Steve Perkins and Sterling Arnold.

Garrick Rawls, 37, of Huntsville, is no stranger to activism. He's been arrested for it numerous times. He was arrested in Ferguson, Missouri, for spending 30 days in front of the Ferguson Market where Michael Brown allegedly stole cigars before Ferguson police shot and killed the 18-year-old on Aug. 9, 2014. Brown's death sparked wide unrest in the city.

Rawls was arrested in Huntsville several times for sit-ins at Walmart aimed at protesting the use of cheap prison labor. More recently, he was arrested at a rally following the Sept. 14 Huntsville police killing of 43-year-old Sterling Arnold, a Black man.

Rawls said Huntsville police arrested him that day for missing a court date for another protest-related arrest earlier this year. He missed court because he was in Chicago raising awareness for its homeless population. He was arrested there, too.

Most recently, Rawls was arrested on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 by Decatur police and charged with disorderly conduct while protesting the Sept. 29 police killing of Perkins, beginning his 15-day incarceration.

Why does he do it?

"I think it's because of my upbringing," Rawls said. His father, despite being a successful business owner, built his home on the Black side of town in Huntsville and took time away from his business to coach basketball and softball, Rawls said.

"He started helping people around the community," Rawls said of his father. "He spent money on brand new uniforms for the kids and all that. Both of my grandparents are pastors. My great-grandfather is a pastor. So, I think it's just in me to serve, you know?" — Huntsville shooting

Rawls returned to Huntsville from Chicago in September to help present a screening of "Ferguson Rises," a documentary detailing the aftermath of Brown's shooting. Brown's father, Michael Brown Sr., spoke at the event.

The day before the screening, Huntsville police shot and killed Arnold.

"Allegedly (Arnold) had a gun, but all the neighbors said he was walking away," Rawls said. "We wanted answers; we wanted video footage released."

Rawls decided to remain in Huntsville to protest Arnold's killing. While there, he said some activists from Birmingham came to town and told him about Perkins.

"We brought all of our Huntsville resources to Decatur, like medics, bail support, and legal observers to assist in the efforts there."

Adrianna Tapscott, 28, of Decatur, said she's known Rawls for several years. Tapscott is the co-founder of Standing In Power, a north Alabama social justice group.

"(Rawls) travels around with Underground Protest, which is a national social injustice awareness group, and they go to different states to organize protests and protest," she said.

"His main thing is — he's just the voice. He writes his own chants. He wrote a few chants specifically for (the Perkins) case."

While trying to balance protests between Huntsville and Decatur, Rawls was arrested for disorderly conduct on Oct. 6 by Decatur police.

"The first time I was arrested — we were in the street, (police) said get on the sidewalk," Rawls said. "The activists were pulling me back on the sidewalk. I saw somebody getting arrested, so I went out there and got arrested as well. (The officer) pushed me, you know. They arrested me.

"I went back into the street because I'm not going to let my people get arrested without me, at least not the first time."

Rawls was bailed out from Morgan County Jail that same night, though he doesn't know who posted the bond. The next day, he resumed protesting.

"They said get on the curb," he said. "We were on the curb. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to mess up anybody's case. When they came back out and arrested us, we were on the curb by the time they put handcuffs on us."

At the time, Rawls said he didn't realize he had violated his bond conditions until he was back in jail and police came to him and told him. — Hunger strike

"I didn't eat or drink for six days until they gave me my release date. Between that time, they brought another warrant in on me from earlier that day."

Rawls said the third charge was for allegedly walking in the street with others and blocking one lane of traffic. He said while protesters were walking, an off-duty police officer kept inching toward the pedestrians from behind and recording them on his phone.

"He finally backed up and went over, because he kept inching like he was about to hit us. And he backed up and went to the other side, and we saw two Blue Lives Matter stickers on his black truck."

Rawls said he didn't learn about the third charge until after his first court date when he returned to jail. There, he claims the previously off-duty officer came to the jail to serve the arrest warrant.

"He was the one who winked at me when he gave me the warrant with a smile."

Rawls was on a psychiatric hold at the jail due to the hunger strike.

"They had me in the front where they book everybody so they could watch me 24/7. They kept coming by offering me food. I wasn't eating or drinking."

Staring down three disorderly conduct charges and, according to Rawls, imprisonment through May of next year, he worked with a court-appointed lawyer and attorney Carl Cole to settle his case.

"We settled it, so I had to do 15 days at the jail. I got two years of probation and around a $1,000 fine."

After the settlement, Rawls said he began drinking water. He still didn't eat.

"You just got to move slow to preserve your energy, you know what I mean? Just move slow."

The day of his release, Rawls' fellow inmates decided to cook him a jailhouse meal.

"They made me like some tacos — it's like Doritos with beans in it and they crushed up the noodle packs. That junk was good. And they wanted me to pray for them. As soon as they made it, they called my name to release me. I still ate. I sat down, prayed for them, and then we sat down and ate together. I ate only half of it because they kept calling my name. But I sat down and ate like I said I was going to do, then got up and left."

Rawls said his fellow inmates were aware of the ongoing protests. One night, protesters marched to the jail.

"(The inmates) were mad. After the activists came to the jail, (the guards) cut all the lights off inside. They cut the TV off, they cut the phones off, they said everybody go to bed. The inmates said, 'Nah, we ain't having that s*** today.'

"They brought all the correctional officers, and I got up and started saying 'Black power, arrest the cops, arrest the cops,' and (the guards) just walked out. They didn't say anything to me. They were lit that night."

Rawls said Cole came to check on him at the jail to make sure they had removed the psych-hold clothing after Rawls had resumed drinking water.

"His wife sent me some food, like some cookies and peanuts and stuff. I ate his food the last day when I got released."

Tapscott said Rawls is the type of person who doesn't just talk the talk but walks the walk.

"This is his life," she said. "The fact that he doesn't care about if he gets arrested, he doesn't care what it costs him — he wants to make sure the police department is held accountable. He also wants the people around the world to know who caused it.

"He connects the dots for people. We hate that this continues to happen, but because he has been to different places around the nation, he can help other families kind of see how to navigate through this. Because people don't understand there's a strategy to it, and he knows that strategy."

Rawls, who remained in north Alabama on Monday, said he will continue to fight for justice for Perkins. However, he said, he still has obligations with protesters in Chicago. He plans to move back and forth between the two places.

"It's really ridiculous to go this length to just blatantly not arrest a white person for murdering a Black person," he said.

"Justice for Steve Perkins. Justice for Steve Perkins. Just got to keep going."

— david.gambino@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438. @DD_DavidGambino