Sacred Sunday: Protest Recap

TW: Vehicular assault, Police neglect, Racially charged violence

By now you may have heard about the incident that occurred during the reclamation walk at Sacred Sunday on August 14th. Although Sacred Sunday turned out to be a beautiful and healing community space, we don't feel comfortable sharing these moments of joy without first acknowledging the violent act of harm that was enacted on one of our community members. One of the core organizers of Sacred Sundays was a victim of a racially charged hit and run at the corner of 19th and MLK. 

Ann Woodward of Federal Way grabbing the wrist of the person they hit while they continue to gas the car forward.

The person has been identified as Ann  Woodward, the Driver of the Subaru AND8684 (shout out to the community for being better “investigators” than TPD). Woodward, intentionally ran into the organizer and continued to drive forward causing the organizer to be lifted onto the hood of the Black Subaru Outback. They also grabbed the organizer’s wrist and drove forward with the intention of dragging the organizer along with them. While all of this happened, a Tacoma police officer sat In the opposite lane and didn't do anything to intervene. Instead of chasing after Ann Woodward, the police officer (who remains unidentified) drove up to the organizers and started flashing their police siren and lights at the group. The group had to care for one another and make sure that they all got to People's Park safely, which was their initial destination. While on their way there three Cop cars followed them all the way down from 19th to 9th street, still without inquiring about the hit and run.

Images from Tacoma Action Collective

Not only are we angry at the woman who committed such an intentional heinous crime, we are pissed that our tax dollars are going to officers who choose not to step in when they witness a crime. Instead, these police officers decide to tweet about how they are "investigating” a crime even though they haven’t reached out to the folks who posted the video.

We will not be silent about this act that so many have witnessed. We demand justice be served and that policies and actions be put into place so that this never happens again. If you would like to support this young organizer in getting justice follow Tacoma action collective on Instagram to see their Calls to Action on behalf of the injured victim. And you can donate to the organizer as they are missing job opportunities due to their injuries. Their cash app is $MCBRIDE888

Sending virtual hugs! 

Photo via Unsplash

As we let this post settle in, we want to encourage folks to take time to process as we send y'all well wishes and we will continue to give voice to your anger. Return here tomorrow to see the moments of joy that were curated at Sacred Sundays once folks were able to be in a safe community space together. 

In solidarity,