Dear Daunte: Vigil at Tappan memorial arch for victims of police violence

OBERLIN — A vigil left the stone steps of the Tappan Square Memorial Arch covered in flowers and hundreds of candles Sunday as Oberlin College students mourned the victims of police violence. Votives burned through the night. Many of the flames were still burning Monday morning as closing arguments began in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd. Video footage shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. Along one of the Oberlin memorial's curved walls facing North Professor Street sat two framed portraits of Daunte Wright. One showed him holding his 2-year-old son, Daunte Jr. Wright, 20, was shot April 11 in a suburb of Minneapolis, sparking long nights of protests across the nation. He died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. Officer Kimberly Potter, who has since resigned and been charged with second-degree manslaughter, said she was trying to serve a warrant during a traffic stop and accidentally grabbed her service gun instead of a Taser. Dozens of notes were left on the Tappan Square memorial, which is owned by Oberlin College. Some were written to those killed: "Dear Daunte, your unjust murder has removed a light to this world," one note read, with the writer vowing not to rest until justice is served. "To those who came before & those who will come after, I thank you," read another note. "I remember you. I love you. I pray that you feel our joy. I pray that you know our peace." Yet others took aim at those who wear badges, even going so far as to call for abolition of police departments. "Police are not gods amongst men," read one note, while another asked, "Who do you protect and serve?" "Police have proven time + time again to serve themselves, not the people who are in their communities," read another. Oberlin police Chief Ryan Warfield said he believes law enforcement is an honorable profession, but as a Black man he feels deeply split about the issues raised by protesters, including college students. "I understand that people should be able to protest peacefully, safely and get that message out," he said. "I pray for summer, that this summer will be a peaceful summer." Kamran Curlin, a third-year student studying jazz and history at Oberlin, said he stopped at the Tappan Square memorial to pay his respects and to grieve for those whose lives have been cut short. Race and police brutality have become part of the daily conversation on campus, he said. "One thing I'm feeling right now is that race relations in the country are pretty frayed," he said. "I think that's the result of a lot of bubbling anguish and fear over the past couple of years. That's really coming to a head now, and I think it's kind of scary." Curlin, who is multiracial, said he fears "the direction things could be headed." His greatest worry is that protest violence could get out of hand, "and the rule of law will be destroyed." There is a difficult balance that must be struck between protesting and violence, he said. Built as a tribute to Oberlin missionaries massacres in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion in China, the memorial arch is dedicated to "the blood of martyrs." Above its stone archway are engraved the words, "Ye are witnesses." Messages scrawled on the walls of the Tappan memorial say there will be no peace until there is justice for people like Adam Toledo. The 13-year-old Latino boy was shot by Chicago police on March 29 after dropping a handgun and raising his hands in the air. Also written in chalk was the name of Miles Jackson, a 27-year-old Black man killed April 12 at Mount Carmel St. Ann's hospital in Westerville, Ohio. He was shot to death by police who discovered he had a gun during a pat-down in the emergency room. Another name written in large letters was Daniel Prude, the 41-year-old Black man who was suffocated to death by police in Rochester, New York, while having a mental health crisis. The names of the dead covering the walls included Freddie Gray, Damian Daniels, Rayshard Brooks, Trayvon Martin, Botham Jean, Alton Sterling, Anton Rose Jr., Breonna Taylor, Akai Gurley, Eric Gardner and many others. "They will be remembered. Rest in power," said one of the many notes left behind. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.