Concern over Gunn shooting reignited

Carrying signs and banners and chanting “justice for Greg Gunn,” a group of 25 to 30 protesters marched and stood in front of Montgomery City Hall on Thursday to protest the city’s resistance to making changes in the aftermath of Gunn’s shooting by a Montgomery police officer.

That officer, Aaron “A.C.” Smith, has been arrested for murder in the shooting, which occurred Feb. 25 after Smith stopped Gunn as the 58-year-old grocer was walking through his neighborhood after leaving a late-night card game.

Since Gunn’s shooting, a number of protests and rallies have taken place around Montgomery. Many of those died down after Smith’s arrest a little more than a week ago, but the recent announcement of a second investigation into procedural matters that will be conducted by Montgomery office of City Investigations has reignited community concern. That investigation, Mayor Todd Strange said this week, was prompted by a number of complaints from angry and upset police officers following Smith’s arrest.

“We were headed down a good path, I thought, and then it shifted once the police department became upset,” said Larry Thomas, who was one of the spokespersons for the protesters. “We want to make it clear that we’re not saying all police are bad or anything like that. We feel that some changes need to be made in order to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. This is as much about prevention as it is about what happened.”

LEARN MORE: Stories about the Greg Gunn shooting

The group had two general demands from city leaders: Form a police review board made up at least partly of average citizens that would be responsible for reviewing complaints made against police officers and to either fire Public Safety Director Chris Murphy or remove his position from the chain of command at the police department.

Gunn family preparing to sue city, MPD

“You hired a black police officer for a reason – let’s just be honest about that – so why are you now handcuffing him by having this guy above him?” asked Orlando Ball, another spokesperson. “In other cities, it doesn’t work like this. Most other cities this size don’t even have a position like (Murphy’s), much less have it fall between the mayor and the police chief. That’s a terrible way to do this. It cuts the legs out from under the chief, who the community respects.”

The attorney for Gunn’s family, Tyrone Means, echoed the protesters, although he stopped short of calling for Murphy’s firing. Means said on Wednesday that he was nearing completion on a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Montgomery and MPD, and he said the demand for a citizens’ review board is possibly one of several changes the family would like to see.

“The firing of Murphy is a political thing and I’m not into that — this is about making this right for this family and correcting issues that led to this shooting,” Means said. “The review board is very important, and it’s something I’d like to look into more.”

In addition, Means said he would like to see a change to the department’s policy on “stop and search” laws, which he contends are being abused and possibly led to the altercation that sparked Gunn’s shooting.

“If you have no reason to stop someone, don’t stop someone,” Means said. “It’s pretty simple and the Supreme Court has agreed. I want them to take a look at that and see what these officers are learning.”