Former Monroe Park Conservancy head acquitted in assault
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 4/7/2022, 11 p.m.
Alice M. Massie, the former president of the Monroe Park Conservancy, has been acquitted of assaulting a Virginia Commonwealth University student.
The case, which stemmed from an Oct. 31 confrontation between Ms. Massie and two Black students at VCU, was decided Tuesday in Richmond General District.
The confrontation arose when Ms. Massie, then president and director of the conservancy, sought to stop the two students from temporarily moving a park table—a common practice—to create a pop-up shop.
Kamiri Branch began using her cell phone to film the confrontation between Ms. Massie and her companion, Aysia Anderson-McCoy, and made a complaint to VCU Police after Ms. Massie knocked the phone out of her hand.
That resulted in a court summons being issue to Ms. Massie.
Ms. Massie resigned in late December from the conservancy, which she had led since 2011.
Meanwhile, VCU has dismissed a disciplinary case against the two students after its internal investigation of allegations that arose from the same incident.
