RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Kim Gray said she called police, but officers never arrived, after a large group of protesters showed up outside her Richmond home Wednesday night.
CBS 6 obtained several short videos of the protest that included chants and lights shined into the council woman's home.
Gray told CBS 6 Thursday that protesters were screaming for her to come outside. She says the protesters went to far and their tactics represent lawlessness.
"Where my children sleep is off limits," said Gray.
"Coming to someone's house in the middle of the night... coming to my house, pointing lasers in my children's bedrooms, blocking the roadway where I live. Hundreds of people with assault rifles engaged and no response from the police is emboldening their action."
Protesters left fliers outside the home that listed several demands including the defunding of the Richmond Police Department and the removal of monuments to white supremacy in the city.
The crowd dispersed around 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
Organizers from the activist group Race Capitol said that "the event was a response to recent reports detailing that RPD has spent nearly $2 million responding to recent anti-police brutality protests, as well as councilperson Kim Gray’s, recent comment on the civil unrest, in which she compared Black Lives Matter protestors to “terrorists.”
"Community members at Wednesday’s Black-led protest were exercising their rights to free speech and assembly. Along the march route, protestors stopped at the home of Kim Gray, 2nd District Councilperson, and mayoral candidate, to highlight her misrepresentation of the movement and her lack of action toward community demand," the release said.
According to the release, protesters are demanding the following:
1. Re-open the Marcus Davis Peters case
2. Defund the police and fund Black futures
3. Drop ALL charges against every protestor
4. Remove ALL monuments to white supremacy
5. Establish an independent civilian review board with subpoena power that is separate
from the Richmond Police Department
6. Establish and fully fund the Marcus Alert System
7. Release the names of ALL Richmond Police Department officers under investigation for use-of-force misconduct.
Gray represented the City's 2nd District which includes neighborhoods like Jackson Ward, Scott's Addition, and the Fan.
She says she is available to meet with people to discuss issues in a peaceful and democratic way at City Hall. She says her phone number and email are available to the public for those purposes.
CBS 6 reached out to Richmond Police and Emergency Communications about the incident.
A Richmond Police spokesperson says officers were dispatched to the protests and closely monitored it until it dispersed.
"Richmond Police monitored a protest Wednesday nightthat began at Belvidere and Clay streets at approximately 7 pm before moving into the Jackson Ward neighborhood later in the evening.
As the protesters traveled throughout Jackson Ward, the group grew in number and the volume of their protesting increased.
At approximately 10:35 pm, Richmond Police and the Department of Emergency Communications received calls from Councilwoman Kimberly Gray and other Jackson Ward residents concerning the protest. Officers were dispatched and established telephone contact with the councilwoman. They advised her throughout the protest in front of her home. The group was closely monitored for any actions that would have threatened public safety and dispersed after 15 minutes."
