When it comes to race relations in the United States of America, these past few years have been quite tumultuous. We have seen both an increase in protests against oppression of racial minorities and against the seemingly endless accounts of police brutality. About a year ago, I recognized oppression and police brutality as realities, but they all seemed like something that happened over there. Whether the case of New York’s stop and frisk incidents, the murder of Eric Garner, the murder of Michael Brown, the jailing of the poor in Ferguson, MO, or any number of highly public issues affecting blacks, my personal feeling remained the same. Police brutality is a serious issue and I need to advocate against it, but how could I? It never seemed to be close to me.

I hail from Alexandria, Virginia (the V in the DMV). Alexandria comprises a part of Northern Virginia, which includes “the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, King George, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren, and the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park.” This part of Virginia contains 2.8 million residents, making it the most populous region in Virginia and in the DC Metropolitan area. When the counties of America are ranked by income, three of the top ten are from Northern Virginia. (Arlington #2, Falls Church City #3, Alexandria City #4, Fairfax County #8). Northern Virginia, also known as NOVA to some, is a pretty good place to live, if you can afford it. This suburbia, with its low crime rates and well maintained infrastructure, lulled me into a false sense of security. As I said before, institutionalized racism and police brutality probably existed, but no cops had stopped me while I walked to the movie theaters. For all its flaws, NOVA is free from the scourge of institutionalized racism, right?

Nope.

Natasha McKenna was a 37 year old black woman. She had a history of bipolar disorder as well as schizophrenia. She was 5 feet 3 inches tall. One day, she called the Fairfax County police, claiming she was assaulted. She cooperated with the officer who responded and went to a hospital for an examination. After she was examined, she declined additional help from the police. She was then arrested for an outstanding warrant for an assault on a police officer in Alexandria. The police detained her in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on January 26. Natasha McKenna was to be transferred to Alexandria’s police department but never was. Over the course of her time in prison, her mental health began to deteriorate noticeably. On February 3, she was manhandled by six Fairfax County police officers. In an attempt to move her they pinned her to the ground, restrained her hands behind her back, shackled her legs, and tased her four times in her right thigh, before finally strapping her in a restraining chair. Her heart stopped for 20 minutes. She was resuscitated and moved to Inova Fairfax Hospital where she died on February 8, 2015.

The Fairfax County Adult Detention Center is 25 minutes from my house.

Inova Fairfax Hospital is 16 minutes from my house.

Her death was ruled an “accident.” Six men in full biohazard suits and gas masks struggled with her for 45 minutes. The autopsy showed that Natasha McKenna was clearly and brutally mistreated on the floor of the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. She was repeatedly shocked with 50,000 volts of electricity, enough times to induce cardiac arrest. No trained mental health professional was on the scene. Only force was used.

The cause of death was “excited delirium”, a condition in which individuals, “influenced by mental illness or the use of such stimulants as cocaine and methamphetamine, those in its grip often have extraordinary strength, are impervious to pain and act wildly or violently.” After these throws of violence and strength, the individual dies. This condition is not well understood, and its legitimacy has been debated by many. Amnesty International found that between 2001-2008, excited delirium was cited as the cause for 75 out of 330 deaths, where a suspect was detained and Tased. What a coincidence, huh?

When I heard about Natasha McKenna’s murder the first time, I sat in shock. Police brutality was an over there problem. Not in NOVA! Nothing this violent happens in NOVA! I watched on television as they protested in Ferguson as Darren Wilson was not indicted. But that was 829 miles removed away from me. I watched the Baltimore Uprising, as people protested against the custody and death of Freddie Gray. But Baltimore was not the part of the DMV. It was 58 miles away. However, this blatant case of excessive force occurred less than half an hour away from my home. I came to the revelation that I could not escape this issue. Police brutality, institutionalized oppression and racism, stretch from sea to shining sea, from the tiny town of Ferguson, to the ghettos of New York, to the most rural corners of the nation. It is intrinsically intertwined in the fabric of America. We must do everything we can to stop it.

A couple days after her death, a friend of mine tweeted if my high school would do anything to acknowledge Natasha Mckenna’s death. They did not. The days after her death were business as usual in our little bubble. I tried to talk to some of my friends about it. My white friends were not aware of her death. Neither were my black friends. Her death only seemed to weigh heavy on a few of my peers. Her death still weighs heavily on me.

I think about Natasha McKenna a lot. Even in the safe haven of suburbia she was still killed by the police. She was mentally ill, another victim to police officers not trained in handling people with mental illness, similar to the case of Anthony Hill. None of the officers involved were indicted, as per usual. There is a video of her struggle with police. I have not watched it. I do not think I ever will. I still have not gotten over the video of Eric Garner’s death. Natasha McKenna was a mother. She had a seven year old daughter at the time of her death. Her last words were, “You promised me that you wouldn’t kill me. I didn’t do anything.”