Richmond political canvassing incident sparks police involvement

Richmond Police were alerted to an allegation of paper snatching after a canvasser for a local candidate said a resident grabbed paperwork from them and didn't return it.

The incident happened last Saturday when Claudia Citroen, a vocal critic of the local political organization, the Richmond Progressive Alliance, was in her North & East home and noticed two canvassers approaching.

“I could see that they were pulling out the flyers,” Citroen said. “So I was like, let me just take the flyers and do what everyone does and put them in the trash, and I tore them up.”

Citroen said that along with the campaign materials, she also took a page of talking points, which she returned to the canvasser. The incident was captured on a home security camera.

Lieutenant Donald Patchin, Public Information Officer for the Richmond Police Department, said a caller told police a citizen had taken papers from the caller’s hands and had not returned them.

“The caller indicated they did not need the papers back,” Patchin said. “The reporting party and the officer agreed to a plan of action: The officer would contact the other involved party and advise them that their behavior was unacceptable.”

Patchin said no crime report was requested or written. 

“At this time, the matter is considered closed, with no additional follow-up required,” he said.

The event was discussed extensively on multiple Richmond social media groups.

According to a post on social media by Shiva Mishek, campaign manager for Jovanka Beckles, one of their canvassers was "assaulted" while knocking on doors in a Richmond neighborhood, and following the incident, the canvasser filed a non-emergency report.

Mishek alleged Citroen "committed battery" and used "political hate speech" against the canvasser, who is a volunteer with the campaign.

A statement by the canvasser said Citroen stepped onto her porch and, without warning, snatched everything she was holding out of her hands and ripped it in half before going inside and slamming her door.

“I started shaking and tearing up from the shock of having my belongings ripped from my hands. I later learned that she had taken photos of me from inside her house and posted them on Facebook,” the canvasser wrote.

A comment from Beckles’ campaign provided to Grandview said the canvassers' police call created a record that may help protect other community members from going to Citroen's house and having their materials snatched and destroyed. 

“It would have been strongly preferable for Richmond to have a crisis response team the volunteer could have called, but the crisis response team isn't running yet, as it seems the police union has yet to agree to share these sorts of calls with the new crisis response team,” the statement said. “We’re all trying to build a better Richmond, and it’s important to treat neighbors with respect—even ones we disagree with.”

To our readers–

Grandview Independent was initially not inclined to cover this story. However, after being “tagged” in several social media posts, we investigated the incident to provide information and clarity and to help resolve the growing controversy.

This piece is a news story, not an opinion piece, stating the situation from three perspectives: the two people involved and the police. This story was not written to support either party involved or to influence readers. It was written to provide information. It is up to readers to draw their own conclusions.

Since publishing the story, we have received communication from one of the parties asking us to change quotes that appear in our story that were not theirs. This is not something we would ever consider doing. It has also been alleged that Grandview received money to write the story. This is false; we are reader-supported and never receive money to write stories.

Grandview is completely independent and committed to providing factual information to the community.

Linda Hemmila
Editor, Grandview Independent

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