Prominent Black Family from West Michigan Faces Racially Motivated Violence At The Hands Of Their Neighbor and Deputies of the Kent County Sheriff

   

        Author: Aly Bates

A prominent Black family from West Michigan finds themselves in the midst of a legal battle after a confrontation with their white neighbor escalated to a series of false accusations and wrongful arrests. Suriya Davenport and his two sons SuSu and Majer, faced a traumatic ordeal of being arrested on felony trespassing charges all while standing on their own property.

It all started on Sunday, March 10th, 2024, when Suriya Davenport confronted his neighbor, who was allegedly causing damage to his property's driveway with a tractor that he borrowed from  another neighbor. Part of the confrontation was captured on a video that was shared via facebook. The video vividly depicts the neighbor using an orange tractor to dig up the Davenports’ driveway. As Suriya demands that the neighbor gets off of his property, the situation took a turn when the neighbor reportedly ran over Suriya's foot.

                                              

Despite the video ending shortly after Mr. Davenport’s foot was run over, Suriya took to his facebook page of 5.2 thousand followers “Su Dav” to add more contexts to the events that took place prior to to the recording of the video alleging that before the neighbor arrived on to the Davenports property, he (the neighbor) called 911 at 1:26PM, and during that phone call the neighbor was advised by dispatch to not go on the Davenport’s property until law enforcement arrived. However he ignored that advice and went to the davenports property at 1:34.

 

After Deputies of the Kent County Sheriff's department arrived at the scene around 1:48PM, the situation became even more alarming when they immediately responded to the scene with AR rifles drawn on the Davenports, further escalating the situation. They even pinned Suriya’s younger son Majer to the ground with zero explanation. They made no attempt to hear the family's side of the story. And based on the gofundme, these officers acted solely on the allegations made by the neighbor and his son, which lead to the wrongful arrest of Suriya, Susu and Majer for felony trespassing despite being on their own property the entire time.

This incident, which has been described by Suriya as the scariest moment of his life, sheds light on a deeper issue of racial bias and police brutality that continues to plague communities across the country. According to a GoFundMe campaign that was created by Kishara Davenport, Suriya’s daughter, this particular neighbor, who owns the property behind the Davenports,  has a history of causing trouble ever since the Davenport family moved to the property in 2021. Despite having a court ordered easement allowing access to the property to come and go as needed, the neighbor has continuously caused issues with the family, such as damaging the Davenport’s property and even resorting to making false allegations against the family out of alleged frustration over having to cross their property.

While the release of the three men from the Kent County Corrections offers some sort of relief for the Davenports, the legal battle is unfortunately far from over. The financial burden of having to pay for legal fees. The family is raising money for support via gofundme to cover their expenses: https://gofund.me/8c969b40

As the Davenport family continues to navigate this challenging situation, their story further proves the importance of taking a stand against systemic oppression and continuing to address the rampant white supremacy within the policing and judicial system. I urge everyone reading this to remind themselves of the reality of being Black in the United States. The system was not created for us but instead created to continue to oppress us. Justice for the Davenports!