Photo Courtesy of Chris Knight / Lancaster Online
The people fighting to end systemic inequality have been talking to VICE for years. Now we're catching up with them to find out what's changed.
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Taylor Enterline: When I was 18, there was an incident in Lancaster where a police officer had tasered a man while he was sitting on the curb. And that year, I had faced a lot of racism and my eyes were opened, especially after the 2016 election. So I started interning at Lancaster Stands Up, and I continued with racial justice and gender justice, especially in my studies. And then in May, after George Floyd, that's when the gears switched. That wasn't the first for many Black Americans. I remember Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, and no one was talking about it at school because all of these students were majority white and it didn't affect them in any way. Racial justice doesn't stop because I can't change the color of my skin when I walk out the front door. They see me as a Black woman and I still have to fight for myself in the spaces that I am in. So I'm fighting for those who are affected by police brutality, and I used to say I was fortunate enough not to be touched by that. And then that quickly it became a reality for me.
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It had not gotten violent until we started getting gassed. There were people who were violent, which is public knowledge, that were smashing windows, smashing cop cars, and later in the night there was a dumpster fire. I, Taylor Enterline, was helping as a medic, especially for those who were getting gassed. I was also helping with safe houses, getting supplies, water for people, making sure people had wet napkins for their eyes and stuff like that. There were rubber bullets shot at us. We were being maced at, we were being tear gassed. I had went back to go check on my friend. I was about to leave, and as we were trying to get back in the car, a van pulled up and police jumped out. [They had] riot gear and guns. They were running straight at us.They were cornering us at all ends. I dropped to my knees and put my hands up. And then I was approached and told, “Get on the ground! Get on the ground!” The officer kind of shoved me to the ground and had his knee on my back. I was searched, then I was shoved to other police officers for a second search, which was more hands on and invasive. I was shoved into the van.I spent 14 hours in a cell by myself. I was prepared to get misdemeanors, but then I was told I had three felony charges. When we were finally transported to prison, it was intense because I was literally shackled from my feet to my hands. I love true crime documentaries, and I felt like I was like someone who just committed first degree murder.
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When you know you're innocent and you know you're not supposed to be there, it's a very angry and emotional thing. You can minimize your experience because you can say, people go through this all the time, but it’s actually why we need more justice reform and abolition.I remember the day of getting released, I was able to get my bail reduced to $50,000, and then I noticed the support I had, seeing my GoFund me when I got home, and my fridge full, knowing that people were checking in on my mom and my brother. That was an amazing thing.
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I’m not surprised. Anyone who's surprised hasn't been paying attention. From 2016 in Charlottesville, that should have been the first eye-opener. Those in the GOP and those who hold power—and especially my own Congressman Lloyd Smucker—those people who enabled that rhetoric, enabled white supremacy, enabled and coddled that base, they opened the doors for them. It's interesting to me because [the people who stormed the Capitol] weren't faced with the same violence that protesters have been faced with. We all know if Black Lives Matter did that it would be a different story. It was infuriating because I watched as hundreds walked out of the Capitol, and at first there were only 13 arrests. Someone sat on Nancy Pelosi's desk and stole her mail, a federal offense. I stand a block within a dumpster and get a $1 million bail.What are you looking for in the rest of 2021 and years to come?
I would say for a lot of Black and brown folks to take time to sit back. I feel like we've experienced a lot. I'm hoping we can move forward, but also, I want to see those who enabled this rhetoric held accountable.It's always going to take a while for equity and fair justice, but we keep working on it. One of the reasons I've gotten into the criminal justice major is because I 100 percent believe in knowing thy enemy. It's hard to work within a system, but it’s possible. I would definitely want to help those who have criminal cases and need that guidance. I want to work with juveniles, especially because of the school-to-prison-pipeline. I think you can't reform what happened on Wednesday, but we can continue to work within our communities to make those changes.