Fayetteville mayor says protesters must move from Market House

After nearly a week camped out at the Fayetteville Market House to demand more police accountability and more community resources, it's time for protesters to move their sit-in to another location, Mayor Mitch Colvin said Monday.

The protest by a group called Ville's Voice started last week, with the group demanding a community center and garden, a citizens review board and an internal affairs department separate from the police department, among other items.

Colvin said last week that Orange Street School would be turned into a community center, meeting one of the demands. The City Council also plans to discuss creating a review board for the police department, he said.

But on Monday, the mayor said the occupation of the Market House area downtown had gone on long enough and was no longer safe for the demonstrators or members of the public.

"Right now, they're in the middle of a four-way intersection in a traffic circle, which is definitely not safe for them or others who come to support or come to and from it," he said.

Colvin said he offered the demonstrators several alternative locations where they could continue to exercise their right to protest, but they turned him down.

"At the end of the day, public safety is our No. 1 priority," he said. "The police chief and the city attorney's office basically know what the law is – they've clarified that – and now it's just like any other matter with the police department."

Police Chief Gina Hawkins couldn't be reached Monday for comment on when and how the protesters and their tents would be removed.

Activist Rakeem Jones said the campsite is the protesters' way of helping the public and getting better acquainted with police officers stationed nearby.

"We introduce ourselves to every officer," Jones said. "Just as we feed these homeless people, we feed the officers. We give them water and drinks. We take care of them. We take care of the community. Anybody that walks past here, we offer them something."

"Whenever the mayor is talking about issues of public safety, we really want him to recognize the actual issues of public safety," activist Mario Benaveante said. "The issue is about police brutality and all these incidents we can rectify or prevent from happening."

The Market House has stood since 1832, and some slaves were sold there before the Civil War. Rioters tried to set it on fire in May, and a Black Lives Matter mural was later painted on the pavement around the building.

The Fayetteville City Council voted last month to remove the historic building from the city seal.