Some activists say that the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) actions following its discovery of a body hanging from a tree on April 13 have further emphasized the need for community control of police.
During a recent act of resistance at MPD Fourth District Headquarters — near where the body was located — members of the DC Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (DCAARPR) gave such a call to action. They did so in criticism of a department that, months after aiding federal agents in the coverup of an officer-involved shooting, delayed the public release of information about what they deemed a suicide.
“We have reason not to trust them,” said a member of DCAARPR who identified themselves as KB. “They have not shown us anything that imbues trust. They have not done anything for our communities that says that they are protecting us. That says that they are keeping us safe. If anything, they are the purveyors of violence and terror and racism in our communities.”
On April 17, dozens of protesters converged on MPD Fourth District Headquarters. Their protest took place four days after community members saw the body of a 19-year-old Latino man hanging from a tree on the north side of the police building, and one day after MPD, under pressure from The Informer, publicly released information for the first time about what authorities deemed a suicide.
Others who gathered on the 6100 block of Georgia Avenue NW were Karen Hylton, mother of the late Karon Hylton-Brown, a young man murdered by MPD Fourth District personnel during a 2020 vehicular pursuit. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Tamira Benitez, one of several communities who said they received piecemeal information about the discovery after seeing rumblings on social media, also joined the protest that later turned into a march down Georgia Avenue NW.
One day prior, Benitez spoke to The Informer about her efforts to gather information from MPD.
“The way in which the sergeant handled the conversation with me was unprofessional,” Benitez said. “I wasn’t expecting much from MPD, but I was at least expecting some sort of respect for life. There wasn’t any empathy in the way that that officer handled the conversation with me.”
For Benitez, the circumstances surrounding the death of the 19-year-old Latino male would understandably give any community pause, especially as the second Trump administration continues to wreak havoc on the District, migrants, and other historically marginalized populations.
“We have to look at this death not just as a one-off. It was a loss of life…that was making a statement, trying to say something,” said Benitez, who represents Single-Member District 4B05, which includes Fourth District Headquarters. “It was hanging from a tree. We need to pay attention…to these messages because of everything that is happening in D.C.”
On that Friday evening, as the sun slowly settled, the numbers of people posted in front of Fourth District Headquarters swelled. Organizers held up signs and flags, and belted chants within earshot of Jason Bagshow, an MPD Special Operations Division commander who shot and killed Lazaurus Wilson in 2022 at the Wharf in Southwest.
Well before Bagshaw and other MPD officers would follow the march on foot, bicycle, and vehicle, KB questioned the appeal of MPD to a community that’s often under surveillance, rather than being protected.
“This is further proof that…these officers need less money,” KB said. “That funding should be going into mental health services. That funding should be going back into our communities to support the things that we need. Not more jump out boys, more SWAT and military equipment. Not more officers.”
Looking Back: The Fight for Answers From MPD
The recent death on Quackenbos Street NW took place six years after MPD found 50 year-old Jose Rodrigo Hernandez-Pena, under similar circumstances, on the 7200 block of Seventh Street NW. It also comes amid tensions between police and young people, the latest juncture of which culminated in D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s reinstatement of a limited youth curfew.
Per MPD’s statement, officers found the 19-year-old Latino male on April 13 hanging from a tree while unconscious and not breathing. The adult adolescent, who hasn’t been identified, was pronounced dead on the scene after attempts by D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services to revive him.
“Currently, no foul play is suspected, and this is being investigated as a suicide,” MPD’s statement said. “The decedent’s family has been contacted by MPD, and our hearts go out to them during this difficult time.”
MPD released its statement on April 16, within 20 minutes of The Informer visiting Fourth District Headquarters and calling MPD public information officer Nicole Deaner. The trek to 6001 Georgia Avenue NW came one day after an email sent to MPD went unanswered.
A police report, which The Informer received soon after the release of MPD’s statement, said at least a dozen officers arrived at the scene and recovered a white Ford E-150.
In speaking about its communication timeline, an MPD spokesperson told The Informer that, as part of its practice, MPD didn’t immediately publish a news release about “incidents believed to be death by suicide.” The department, according to the spokesperson, instead opted to directly respond to community members’ calls and at least four media inquiries.
Last week, Ward 4 D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D) took to social media in a demand for transparency.
“I have asked MPD for a full [and] thorough investigation to address community concerns,” Lewis George’s April 16 statement said. “While based on initial findings, MPD believes that this was an apparent suicide, it is essential that MPD conduct a thorough investigation and provide regular bilingual updates to the community.”
For three days, members of the public learned about the apparent suicide from DCAARPR’s postings and that of DC Blacks, a group that represents returning citizens. Merawi Gerima, an organizer with DCAARPR said that, upon speaking with family members of the young man, he and his comrades found out that the young man suffered from depression.
In his remarks at the April 17 protest, Gerima said that revelation further highlighted the failure of institutions occupying marginalized communities.
“From the ANC of this neighborhood,… Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George herself, who came down to ask for answers about what was going on, we say that ain’t right,” Gerima said. “MPD had information on what happened to this young man. We learned today that he had been out here for a week before struggling, living out of his truck, and they were called in for a welfare check, and they came in, checked on him, and did nothing, left him to languish.”
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson Issues a Call to MPD
On Monday, in the lead up to the D.C. Council’s vote on permanent youth curfew legislation, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson weighed in on MPD’s release of information about the body discovered on Quackenbos Street NW.
“A hanging in the District of Columbia is extremely unusual,” Mendelson said. “And of course, a hanging of a Black man evokes the worst memories.”
The Informer would later point out reports that identified the young man as a Latino, which Mendelson said doesn’t diminish his point. He went on to implore MPD to quell public anxiety about a polarizing situation.
“I think that it’s incumbent on MPD to get ahead of that issue, which apparently they did not do,” Mendelson told The Informer. “Based on what I know, it’s not clear the cause of death, and it may take some time to figure that out. Was it a suicide? Was it a murder? That may take some time, which is unfortunate, but I do think that MPD and now the government needs to be as ahead of this issue as possible, because even if it was a suicide … this would evoke just the worst memories, and that we cannot allow.”
