‘A culture of racism’: Local activists call on Raleigh Police to hold officer accountable

Four months after the Raleigh Police Department opened an investigation into a social-media post of a senior officer, local groups are calling for more accountability.

Officer Daniel Twiddy was placed on administrative leave in June after a post appeared on his personal Instagram that said “Juneteenth was a made-up holiday,” nearly eight years after he shot and killed a 24-year-old Black man , Akiel Denkins, in Southeast Raleigh.

Twiddy allegedly posted the message on his birthday, which is also Juneteenth, a federal holiday marking the end of enslavement. The post was screenshot by a Facebook user and went viral, with many people calling on the Police Department to hold him accountable.

Local activists say placing Twiddy on administrative leave is “too little, and much too late.”

“Too much harm has happened,” said Dawn Blagrove, the director of Emancipate NC. “A demotion itself is almost a slap in the face. If an officer with a record like D.C. Twiddy is not the perfect candidate to be fired and thrown out of the law enforcement community, I can’t imagine who is.”

At a news conference outside the Raleigh Municipal Building on Friday, Blagrove and members of the N.C. Black Alliance, Forward Justice and Raleigh Police Accountability Community Taskforce (PACT), called on the police to reopen Denkins’ case and to reveal the findings of the investigation into Twiddy, who has a 15-year career with the Raleigh Police Department. He was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the 2016 shooting of Denkins.

Additionally, the advocates called for more transparency regarding other incidents between officers and residents that they say are racially-charged and violent.

Organizers say Twiddy was demoted, but didn’t provide written documentation. Blagrove said neither the department nor the city responded to their records requests for more information on Twiddy and other matters.

The Raleigh Police Department also declined an interview and request to respond to written questions sent by The News & Observer.

The newspaper requested Twiddy’s updated public employment information on Tuesday but as of Friday afternoon, had not received it.

‘A culture of racism’

The city celebrates Juneteenth and gives many city employees the day off. Police Chief Estella Patterson released a statement in June saying she expects officers to “hold themselves to the highest standard of excellence that reflects favorably upon the organization, both on and off duty.”

Marcus Bass, executive director for the N.C. Black Alliance, said Raleigh residents who have repeatedly called for Twiddy’s removal, years before the social media post, have been ignored.

“It wasn’t until the nation had eyes on what was happening in Raleigh and the lack of justice that leaders decided to move,” Bass said. “There’s no reason why eight years later we’re still asking for justice.”

Twiddy was classified as a senior officer at the end of 2023, making $73,400 a year, according to older information provided by the city. He started as a recruit in 2009 and hadn’t been demoted or suspended as of 2023, according to the information.

Over the past five years, he has issued a range of citations and arrest warrants, most of them related to driving offenses and street-level drug charges, according to an earlier report . From 2010 to 2015, most of those charges were misdemeanors, and 44 times, Twiddy issued charges for resisting a public officer.

He was also named in a lawsuit between the city and three families after a no-knock raid on the wrong house , though he was removed from the suit and the city settled with the families for $350,000.

“We have a Training and Standards Commission whose job it is to vet the people we give authority to carry guns and the license to kill in North Carolina under the law,” Blagrove said. “Where was this commission? Who’s holding law enforcement accountable? No one, and we are tired.”

The groups also called Friday for the renaming of Bragg Street in Southeast Raleigh, a predominantly Black neighborhood. The street is named after Confederate Army Gen. Braxton Bragg, who owned enslaved people in Louisiana.

With early voting underway, Bass said accountability is on the ballot.

“The actions that we’re seeing on behalf of Raleigh Police is cruel and unusual,” he said. “We need justice to roll down on the families of the slain.”

The News & Observer criminal justice reporter Virginia Bridges contributed to this report.