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City leaders were reluctant to talk about an intentional power outage in the East 9th Street area that was ordered by city officials in response to an apparent block party that occurred on Sunday 5 September, which they felt was getting out of hand.
West Point Police Chief Donald Britt declined to comment, referring to a statement released Tuesday by City Manager Ed Moon. The subject was also not discussed during the working session of the city council on Thursday evening.
According to Moon’s statement, the West Point City Police Department handled an unauthorized rally in the East 9th Street area on Sunday night.
“At around 8 pm, the rally blocked the streets of the city with parked cars and pedestrians and more and more people were entering the area,” the statement said. “The situation was deemed dangerous by police service personnel due to the inability of emergency services to respond to help and the presence of illegal activity. It was of great concern that someone would be hurt if the crowd continued to grow. “
The statement said the police department declared a state of emergency and asked the utility department to cut power to the main event area. The utilities department did so, the statement said, affecting around 35 structures around 8:45 p.m. The statement said the power was cut for 50 minutes.
“The city apologizes for any inconvenience this outage has caused to residents of the region,” the statement said. “While this action helped disperse the crowd, more consideration should have been given to the impact of the blackout on local residents.”
Typically, West Point Day takes place around Labor Day every year and draws large crowds. The VTN has contacted the former organizers of this event, who said they had nothing to do with this year’s event due to COVID-19.
It is not known how large the crowd was on Sunday night, but Chambers County Sheriff Sid Lockhart said his agency was asked for help. CCDS used their helicopter overhead to view the crowd, which they described as large.
It is not known whether a permit was required for such an important event or whether a permit was issued. Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff said they were asked to send two units on hold, but that was the extent of their help.
Allegedly ill with COVID-related pneumonia, one of the residents whose power was cut, Aniya Cofield, said she was dependent on an electric oxygen machine at the time, according to her husband, Henry Cofield IV . Henry said he had to call an ambulance to get him another tank of oxygen and it took him around 20 minutes to arrive.
Henry said he and Aniya would hire a lawyer to represent them in a possible case against the city. He said he doesn’t know if he will be compensated for the ambulance bill, if he receives one.
“I don’t know if I’m getting a bill,” he said, referring to the ambulance he had to call. “I haven’t received a bill yet, but I’m pretty sure I am because every time you call 911 for an ambulance you get a bill.”
Louise Billingslea is another resident who said her electricity had been cut. She said she didn’t think it was a good idea from the police.
“It wasn’t fair because there is a lady down the street next door – she’s on oxygen,” Billingslea said. “They shouldn’t have cut it.”
Billingslea said there was another sick person in the area besides Aniya.
Neighborhood resident Joshke Ross said he had relatives whose electricity was cut off in the incident.
“I have another uncle who lives next door to this house,” Ross said. “His power has been cut off. Everyone in this street – my grandfather’s electricity was cut off. Everyone on this side of the street, their electricity has been cut off.
Ross said he had “no idea” why the police cut the power and didn’t think it was a good idea.
He said the rally was organized by many people.
“It’s a group affair. We do it every year. We’ve been doing it every year since 2017. And we will always be doing it, the night before Labor Day. Every Sunday before Labor Day we always come here and we grill, give out free food. “
Ross said he wouldn’t even call the event a rally, explaining that it was mostly locals who attended.
“We didn’t have any violence, even when they turned off the lights,” he said.
“We still didn’t have anyone to go out. No arguing, no violence, no one had pulled a gun this time, this year. It was great.”
According to Ross, a law enforcement officer came by briefly, then left, finding no problem.
“He came down before dark and went out because he knew some of the guys,” Ross said. “He went out, he walked around, he talked to a few guys, looked to see that nothing was really going on… and he left and didn’t come back.”
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