Protesters to Police: Get Off Your Knee--Local marchers discourage 'copaganda' viral moments [View all]

It’s become a common refrain at police brutality protests across the country: Take. A. Knee.

Police officers who join marchers in kneeling have been the subject of viral photos and videos, but leading activists in Nashville and elsewhere are trying to put a stop to so-called copaganda.

“I think it’s pointless,” says Jeneisha Harris, a local activist whom police sought to arrest earlier this month before conceding it was a mistake. “We are asking people who are brutalizing us to empathize with us, and I think it’s impossible.”

In Nashville, the phenomenon can in part be traced back to 2014, when the nascent Black Lives Matter movement was protesting the decision not to charge Missouri police officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown. Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson met the protesters with hot chocolate, and he in turn was met with national praise.

Read more: https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/cover-story/article/21137356/protesters-to-police-get-off-your-knee