Black Lives Matter 757 leader arrested as protesters marched through Virginia Beach Oceanfront

Five years ago, Virginia Beach police officers shot and killed a Navy veteran while she sat in a vehicle with her newborn in the backseat.

More than 100 protesters gathered Saturday evening at the Oceanfront to remember 27-year-old India Kager and two other Black people who died at the hands of Virginia Beach law enforcement officers without facing criminal charges: Alvin Lamont Baum II, who was killed in March while police tried to arrest him on a warrant, and Demario Joyner, a 17-year-old boy who was killed in 2005 while police chased him from a teen night at an Oceanfront club.

The “Shut Down the Oceanfront 3.0” rally, organized by Black Lives Matter 757, also was intended to draw attention to instances in which the group says local judges handed out harsh prison sentences to Black defendants. It was not permitted, however, so police repeatedly told marchers to stay on the sidewalk. Participants often walked around officers who used bicycles to block intersections.

Aubrey Japharii Jones, the group’s leader, was arrested after the protesters passed 17th Street on Atlantic Avenue. Jones was booked for preventing a police officer from making an arrest, according to the jail’s website. Three other people were also arrested, with the charges including pedestrian in roadway, failure to ID, assault on officer, drunk in public and resisting arrest, police said. Four people were issued summonses for pedestrian in the roadway.

Demonstrators continued without Jones and walked up and down Atlantic Avenue until almost 11 p.m., carrying signs and chanting. They mostly stayed on sidewalks.

Labor Day weekend always is busy at the Oceanfront, and this year was no exception, even during a pandemic. Many onlookers watched the protest as it weaved along Atlantic Avenue and briefly onto the boardwalk where hotel guests cheered from balconies.

Kager’s mother, Gina Best, participated in Saturday’s gathering. She called for the arrests of the officers — Kyle Ziemer and Steven Ferreira — who shot her daughter in 2015 while trying to arrest another man.

In 2016, Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle determined the officers’ actions were justified and that he would not bring criminal charges. In civil court, however, a jury determined the two officers acted with gross negligence by killing Kager and ordered the city pay her family $800,000.

“I am standing here not only for my daughter but for all Black people who have been killed by the police,” Best told the crowd. “… No matter what I do until my dying day, I am standing for my daughter. It has been five years of torture.”

She then yelled, “Say her name!” The crowd chanted, “India Kager.”

This was the third protest Black Lives Matter 757, which is not affiliated with the national group, organized this summer at the Oceanfront. The first was May 31 and was followed by violent confrontations between protesters and police, who eventually deployed tear gas. Windows of several businesses on Atlantic Avenue were broken that evening, causing more than $300,000 in damages. Some stores were looted.

The second was July 4, when participants marched on the Boardwalk.

Jones, 35, is circulating a petition to defund, demilitarize and dismantle the Virginia Beach Police Department. He also called for an immediate investigation of the police department and the sheriff’s office, and for the city to establish a new citizen review board that would have subpoena power.

The current board can only review cases after criminal and civil proceedings.

This wasn’t the first time Jones has been charged for marching in the street. In July, Hampton police charged him with obstructing the free passage of others, improper use of a highway by a pedestrian and failing to obey the lawful order of police.

Queen Richardson, a Richmond resident, traveled to Virginia Beach to participate in the march. She said she was upset that police arrested Jones by forcing him to the ground. But she said the incident didn’t stop the group from carrying on.

“I think Virginia Beach heard us,” she said. “We are going to keep on pushing.”

Staff writers Scott Daugherty and Peter Coutu contributed to this report.

Alissa Skelton, 757-995-9043, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com.

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