On March 29, 2009, over 500 people marched from a Baptist church to the Powhatan County courthouse, located approximately 30 miles SW of Richmond in rural Virginia. The crowd was protesting the recent decision by a mostly white jury (11 whites and 1 black) in the case of the shooting death of Tahliek Taliaferro, a popular African-American youth (18) from a local high school. Talieferro was killed last June when Ethan Parrish fired six rounds into a car using an AK-47, semi-automatic, assault rifle. According to the driver of vehicle from which the shooting was committed, Stephanie Reynolds, Parrish reportedly stated he was going to “smoke” Taliaferro as he attached an 83-round drum clip to the weapon. A colleague of Taliaferro, Courtney Jones, was also injured in the attack, which required surgery that resulted in the removal of part of his colon. On March 23 the jury returned a surprising verdict of involuntary manslaughter, recommending a sentence of 11 years in jail.

Security for the march was organized by the NAACP, with support from Richmond Jobs with Justice and the Richmond-based community organization Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality. For additional background in the case, as well as details of the protest at the Powhatan courthouse, please see the article in the Monthly Review written by Phil Wilayto, founding member of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality.