Five years later, activists remember Marcus Deon Smith who was hogtied by GPD in 2018

Featured photo: A group of activists created a small memorial at the corner of Market and Church Streets in downtown Greensboro to remember Marcus Deon Smith, who was hogtied and killed by police there in 2018. (photo by Sayaka Matsuoka)

On Friday, Sept. 8, a small group of committed activists gathered at the site in downtown Greensboro where Marcus Deon Smith was hogtied and killed by police officers five years ago.

With a small altar bearing his photo along with flowers and LED candles, the group talked amongst themselves and taped up posters that explained the significance of the site as other downtown goers walked towards the ongoing Folk Festival.

“We Remember! Marcus Deon Smith”

“Jan. 30, 1980 – Sept. 8, 2018”

“father, son, brother, friend, musician, poet, barber”

“Marcus Smith killed by GPD 5 years ago tonight”

“Sept. 8, 2018”

“Right here”

At the corner of Church and Market Streets, they laid out posters for others who joined to write their own messages.

On Sept. 8, 2018, Marcus Deon Smith was in the midst of a mental health crisis when he was approached by Greensboro police officers. During his encounter, Smith asked the officers to help him but when officers tried to put him in the patrol car, Smith panicked. As he tried to escape, officers caught him and eventually hogtied him, leaving him bound face down with his hands and feet behind his back towards the air. He died due to “sudden cardiopulmonary arrest” and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Smith’s death a homicide.

The district attorney at the time cleared the officers of any wrongdoing and the police department said that officers didn’t violate any policies. However, the family sued the city and the officers, leading to a long, drawn-out civil suit in which the city eventually paid out $2.57 million to the family.

The city also updated its policies to ban the use of hogtying, which they used on mostly Black detainees, after Smith’s death.

But the activists who gathered at the memorial don’t think the city has worked enough to change its culture of policing since Smith’s death.

“It’s five years later and people are still getting killed by the Greensboro police,” said Marcia Foutch, one of the activists. “They’re still been really no apology about this. They had to pay out the settlement but the city wouldn’t admit any wrong. So I kind of feel like it’s up to us to say there’s something wrong or it’s going to keep happening.”

As TCB has reported, Greensboro police officers killed two people in June. The names and work details of the officers were released earlier this month.

The city has also spent $4 million of taxpayer funds in last five years to defend police officers who use force.

Foutch also noted the increasing penalties and rules that appear to target the unhoused population in downtown Greensboro, including signs that don’t allow people to keep belongings on the sidewalk. A few weeks ago, the NC ACLU sent city officials a letter to stop removing, destroying belongings of unhoused people.

“It all ties together because that’s the situation that Marcus was in,” Foutch said. “So yeah, it’s been five years, and there hasn’t been a lot of change.”

One of the things that the city did do that Foutch pointed out was to install a plaque in honor of Marcus Smith at the IRC, the day center for unhoused individuals to gather at the edge of downtown. The plaque was installed on Sept. 7.

“We’re waiting for the city to do something different, which right now doesn’t seem likely,” Foutch said.

Read our reporting about the Marcus Smith case here.