Police in Richmond deployed pepper spray and tear gas again early Tuesday morning. In recent weeks it’s become a common tactic in the city. Now a handful of VCU doctors are calling law enforcement out for using chemical weapons during a pandemic.
Doctor David Goldberg helped write the letter sent to Richmond police. He stresses that he and his colleagues who co-signed the letter were writing as individuals, not on behalf of VCU Health.
“It makes just all of our hearts kind of sink when we see gas and people coughing,” Goldberg said during an interview Tuesday. “You don’t have to be a physician to know that that’s not good.”
They’re asking police to stop using pepper spray and other chemical irritants against protestors, saying it forces protestors to take their masks off. “They’re coughing, their eyes tear up, and it increases their risk significantly for getting COVID-19,” Goldberg explained.
Goldberg says that increased risk goes for everyone: reporters, bystanders, even the police themselves. And while he acknowledges that being at protests in the first place opens people up to risk, he points out that public health officials across the country have supported the demonstrations anyway.
“Systemic racism is another big public health problem and (public health officials) aren’t condemning (demonstrations) because it is a huge public health problem, it goes beyond just COVID-19.”
In their letter, the doctors ask police to only use pepper spray and gas as a last resort and always with sufficient warning. Multiple videos show that is not how Richmond and state police have consistently been operating.
RADIO IQ reached out to Richmond police for a response multiple times. We have not heard back.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
