From the Frontlines: Philadelphia
An Interview with Jessica Wise
In the wake of the viral video of Philadelphia protestors being trapped and tear gassed by police, the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality continues to be met with just that. As we prepare for Week 4 of the global protests and pushes for improved legislation, Audacity had the opportunity to speak to one of the unarmed civilians who endured the brutality shown in this video. In fact, he was there. Duke University graduate and Philadelphia grad student Drew Underwood gives his account as he prepares to return to the frontlines, after taking a traumatic rubber bullet to the face.
What protests have you participated in in the past? What made this one so different?
I have protested racism and my undergraduate institution’s lack of response to mitigating those issues and providing a safe space for Black students. The first time a really felt convicted to get out there and protest was in the wake of Michael Brown’s murder. I protested after Keith Lamont Scott was killed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police as well. Protesting the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd was very similar.
The only difference is I had not personally encountered police that would just shoot at protesters without provocation. I have seen them in viral videos from Ferguson to Baltimore, but that was the first time I was tear-gassed and definitely shot myself.
Talk to us about the moments before the video.
Before the video, we’d probably walked about 30 yards on 676 heading eastbound when there was a panic, and people from the front of the group began sprinting back. I moved laterally to stand next to the median and avoid being trampled. When the panic subsided a bit, I walked slowly to the front and there was a protester down. I asked what happened to him. The folks giving him aid just said he was hit.
At this point, my eyes began to itch and I was blinking a lot. That’s when I realized the police were throwing tear gas behind the group on the highway. I put on sunglasses which helped a bit and crossed over into westbound lanes and then onto a steep hill to escape the highway.
There was a wall, covered in vines, that was probably eight feet tall at its shortest point with a ten-foot fence on top. That was the only place to escape and also where the police were concentrating most of the tear gas. I made my way to the top of the hill to wait to get out at a place that was away from the tear gas, but it was entirely too high to climb.
Tell us what happened in this video that has gone viral. How did protestors end up trapped on a hill, just to be tear gassed?
As the group of protesters were adjacent to the Vine expressway. I remember hearing two big booms from behind the group (I was closer to the front), and we hesitated for a moment then went in the direction away from them and onto the expressway. We were boxed in by police on that hill, with police on either side, and they just opened fire on literally the only place we could escape.
To be clear, nothing was done to provoke this kind of behavior, right?
No, the police initiated all of the violence. They gave no commands to leave the highway. Even as we scrambled to escape, they continued throwing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets into the crowd.
Do you feel like BLM protests are targeted by police?
Yes. That is the only logical explanation when you look at the record of who gets police protection to protest versus who is attacked by the police while protesting. For instance, the “fine folks on both sides” In Charlottesville, the people that took over the Michigan State House to push for the reopening of the state amidst COVID-19 concerns, or the many notable figures in the Ferguson movement that have mysteriously died in the past few months. If you are speaking up in support of Black lives, you are definitely a target.
Describe what it’s like being hit by a rubber bullet. What do you want people to know about it?
I want everyone to know that rubber bullets are lethal. They kill 3% of the people they hit. They break bones, fracture skulls, and hundreds of people have been permanently blinded by them. They are extremely painful. It felt like a can of soup being thrown full force front point-blank range hitting me square in the face.
I want people to know that rubber bullets are called that to seem less harmful than they actually are. They are huge, have a metal core, and are supposed to be fired at the ground to hit people in the lower extremities. The way the police are using them, aiming for the head is extremely telling. They are aiming to kill.
Has this experience in Philly discouraged you from attending another protest?
Absolutely not. That is precisely why we are out here. Countless other folks have had similar experiences with police. Many of these folks weren’t able to fight another day. Fortunately, I am able. So I will continue doing what I can. Protesting, educating myself, and amplifying the voices that need to be heard.
I am angry and scared sometimes when I think about how the police could have blinded me or killed me with impunity. What is scarier though is accepting a reality where that has always been the case. So we fight.
What advice do you have for anyone who wants to get on the frontlines and protest as well?
Protect yourself and friends. Have a safety plan and do not think just because you did nothing to provoke them, that the police won’t attack you. Your very presence as a Black life or supporter of Black lives is a threat to their well-established order of bullshit. And no amount of free hugs, or kneeling with cops, or videos of police playing pickup basketball with little Black kids will undo the centuries-old systemic racism and degradation of Black life that the police was founded upon.
Only revolution will, so keep fighting. Take a break, rest if you must, but don’t quit fighting.
