The U.S. Department of Justice should investigate the Decatur Police Department for infringing protesters’ First Amendment rights, an activist group said at a press conference before the city Hall this afternoon.

Decatur police officer shot and killed 39-year-old Stephen Perkins on Sept. 29 in his front yard at the 3900 Block of Ryan Drive, and Standing In Power members have participated in the protests that took place thereafter.

The racial justice group also called for a federal investigation of Perkins’ death.

“So we will make complaints with the Department of Justice, and we are asking them to come down here and investigate this case and the other wrongdoings that the police department is currently doing,” Adrianna Tapscott, one of the group’s co-founders, said in response to a question from AL.com.

Other co-founders who addressed the press at the steps of the Decatur City Hall today include Terrance Adkins, Aneesha Saafiyah, and Lawrence Souffrant.

Adkins said police threatened and harassed peaceful protesters during the weekend of Oct. 6-8.

“Initially, the Decatur police responded aggressively to our lawful First Amendment protests using militarized vehicles and intimidating tactics,” Adkins said. “Eight people were arrested, and one of the protesters is serving a 15-day sentence for disorderly conduct.”

Garrick Rawls has been in Morgan County jail since Oct. 7 after police arrested him the second time during protests for disorderly conduct, leading to the revocation of his bond and subsequent 15-day jail sentence.

Police Chief Todd Pinion addressed that weekend’s arrests in an Oct. 11 statement, explaining that the police “facilitated prior protests without any arrests.”

“However, during protests over the weekend, we made nine arrests for Disorderly Conduct – both for obstructing traffic on main roadways as well as Disorderly Conduct Language in Public,” the police chief added. “While we would rather have had no arrests, we will make arrests when actions include violence or impeding roadways that could impact providing basic public safety services to the rest of the community.”

Adkins said the arrests were not justified.

“The chief’s press release highlights the unjust arrests of peaceful protesters who were arrested while merely present in blocked-off lanes,” Adkins said at today’s press conference. “This infringes on their First Amendment rights and demonstrates how law enforcement agencies have constructed false narratives against black people.”

The police “were extremely aggressive” and intimidated protesters, “following them in off-duty cars, pulling up with shotguns,” Saafiyah said.

“And then when we called them out in the city council meeting (on Oct. 9), that’s when everything started to slow down because they know they can’t take any more corruption and bad behavior and policing,” she added in answer to a question from AL.com.

The police used “fear tactics” and grabbed “people off the sidewalk,” Tapscott said in an interview with AL.com after the press event.

“We have several videos stating the excessive force that we’re using,” she added. “We have a young lady who was hospitalized, and she suffers from concussion; four officers tackled her on the concrete, and she ended up having to go to the hospital.”

Standing In Power also called for the arrest, termination, and prosecution of the Decatur police officers at Perkins’ house in the early morning of Sept. 29. The police said they were there because Perkins threatened a tow truck driver with a gun and later turned a gun on an officer.

An initial police report said Perkins refused to comply when the police asked him to drop the weapon. Police chief Pinion had since apologized, saying the initial report mischaracterized what happened and that it was wrong to say Perkins refused to drop his gun.

Home camera footage of the deadly shooting appeared to show that the police were out of sight when Perkins told the tow truck driver to drop the truck that morning before a police officer appeared to come from the corner of the house, told Perkins to get to the ground and immediately shot him.

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating the case.

The Decatur police department had placed the unnamed officer who shot Perkins on administrative leave, a move the mayor signed off on.

The other officers present at Perkins house on the morning of the shooting have been on administrative assignments since the night of the incident and are not at this time on patrol duty, a spokesperson for the department told AL.com yesterday.

Standing In Power members have filed reports with the FBI, the DOJ, and the Decatur Police Department about protesters’ negative experiences, the group said at the press conference.

Adkins said, “On October 14th, 2023, neo-confederate counter-protesters appeared when the police presence diminished. Protesters had to form a barrier to protect themselves from counter-protesters; (protesters) have been harassed by both on-duty and off-duty law enforcement members.”

“Surveillance drones have been flown over homes, probation officers contacted, and neighbors intimidated. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the most significant threat to domestic peace in America is posed by alt-right white supremacists,” he added.

“We continue to document and file complaints about these incidents and refuse to be silenced. We call upon the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate Steve Perkins’ murder and the harassment of protesters. It is crucial to ensure justice prevails, not only for Steve and his family, but also for the peaceful protesters who are the moral conscience of our nation, seeking transparency, accountability, and justice.”