RICHMOND, Va. — Members of the Isle of Wight NAACP traveled to Richmond Friday, to march for police accountability.
“We are not asleep, we are not silent and we want justice,” said Brandon Randleman with Isle of Wight NAACP.
The NAACP chapter, along with Black Lives Matter 757 and Richmond advocates, met in front of the Virginia State Capitol.
Randleman said he was there to talk about the viral Windsor Police Stop involving Army Lieutenant Caron Nazario.
In a body camera video of police pulling Nazario over, two officers point guns at the uniformed Lieutenant and threaten him, giving him conflicting orders to put his hands out of the window and get out of his car. He's pepper sprayed and pushed to the ground, before being released without charges.
Nazario, who is Black and Latino, told the officers he was "afraid" to get out of the vehicle with their guns pointed at him.
Since a lawsuit was filed, and an internal investigation conducted, one of the officers was fired from the police force.
Randleman said the group hasn’t heard from town leaders in two weeks.
“At this point we have lost all faith in our local government,” Randleman said.
For that reason, Randleman said NAACP leaders want Governor Ralph Northam to allow Attorney General Mark Herring’s office to review the final investigation report from Virginia State Police when it’s finished.
“I think the community would feel better hearing that from a third party, than hearing that from one of the local government officials,” he explained.
Leaders are also asking the Isle of Wight Commonwealth’s Attorney, Georgette Phillips, to recuse herself from the case involving Nazario.
“We have reached out to her first by sending her a letter," Randleman told 13News Now.
He said Phillips replied on Friday afternoon.
She said she sent a request to the AG’s office in April, asking them to act as a special prosecutor, but they told her they wouldn't do it.
She said she then requested assistance from a neighboring jurisdiction, and Hampton’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell will act as a special prosecutor in the case.
Randleman said he still has a lot of questions after receiving that email.
In a statement to 13News Now, Charlotte P.L. Gomer, the Director of Communications for Attorney General Mark Herring, said his office "has an ongoing 'pattern and practice' investigation to determine whether this incident is part of a larger problem, and whether changes and reforms are needed within the Windsor Police Department."
Additionally, Gomer said that Herring "strongly supports the use of independent investigations and special prosecutors in cases involving police violence and misconduct, and his team is currently working with the Virginia NAACP and other stakeholders to identify improvements to the way the Commonwealth handles these matters."
13News Now also reached out to Phillips about the situation, and we are waiting to hear back.