Boston area Pigs plan protest of Black Lives Matter banner...
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https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2016/07/26/police-plan-protest-black-lives-matter-banner-somerville-city-hall
Police plan protest of Black Lives Matter banner at Somerville City Hall
After Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone denied a request from a city police union to remove a Black Lives Matter banner from City Hall, the union announced it will hold a rally to protest the banner’s “disrespectful” message, according to a release from the Somerville Police Employee’s Association.
“In the face of the continuing assassination of innocent police officers across the country as an apparent offshoot of the BLM movement, it is irresponsible of the City to [publicly] declare support for the lives of one sector of our population to the exclusion of others, including police officers,” the union’s release said.
On Thursday, officers from the association, along with others from the Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition, will hold a rally outside of City Hall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“The rally will be peaceful and respectful, but will demonstrate the solidarity of police organizations in Massachusetts to the exclusionary message that the banner sends,” the release said.
Last week, the association, which serves as the bargaining unit for 90-95 patrol officers, sent a letter to Curtatone, calling the banner “deeply” troubling and asking the mayor to replace it with one that reads “All Lives Matter.”
But Curtatone said he doesn’t plan to remove the banner, and noted that a second banner above the city’s police headquarters honoring slain officers shows that he stands with the officers and doesn’t intend to exclude them.
“My unwavering support for our police officers does not and cannot preempt our commitment to addressing systemic racism in our nation,” he said in a statement last week. “Violence is never justified, and that is the message that both of our banners— for Black Lives Matter and for the slain officers—are intended to make.”
Curtatone hung the banner above City Hall nearly a year ago. The Somerville Police Department’s chief, David Fallon, said he supports the city’s initiative, and called for the union to open a dialogue about the issues at a press conference last week, according to The Boston Globe.
“If you want to talk national issues about what’s going on, there needs to be more dialogue, not an open letter to the mayor,” Fallon said.
Still, the union remains unsatisfied with Curtatone’s response.
“While we support the core goal of the BLM movement — equal treatment under law — we find the banner’s message disrespectful of police officers and potentially encouraging to individuals who pervert that message through indiscriminate murder of our counterparts around the country,” the release said.
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They still don't get it huh ??
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They still don't get it huh ??
Lmao @ u thinking they dont get it.... u better smarten up. -
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So the reader is just supposed to step right over that gigantic straw man, huh?
“In the face of the continuing assassination of innocent police officers across the country as an apparent offshoot of the BLM movement, it is irresponsible of the City to [publicly] declare support for the lives of one sector of our population to the exclusion of others, including police officers,” the union’s release said.
If that's the case, then Blue Lives Matter is an exclusionary message.“The rally will be peaceful and respectful, but will demonstrate the solidarity of police organizations in Massachusetts to the exclusionary message that the banner sends,” the release said.Still, the union remains unsatisfied with Curtatone’s response.
"While we support the core goal of the BLM movement — equal treatment under law — we find the banner’s message disrespectful of police officers and potentially encouraging to individuals who pervert that message through indiscriminate murder of our counterparts around the country,” the release said.
So the message with the goal of "Equal treatment under law" = disrespectful to police officers..
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What does BLM l, have to do with the police honestly.. Can anybody explain how this concerns them.
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stackmaster 313 wrote: »What does BLM l, have to do with the police honestly.. Can anybody explain how this concerns them.
BLM started as a response to police brutality. -
Boston is one of the most racist cities in the country. The audacity of these ? to call somebody exclusionary and disrespectful.
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See, now this is the perfect opportunity to show how you feel by getting out there and VOTING.....,for local government that is, because that's where change truly begins.
So pull up your bootstraps and hit those polls. -
[img]https://scontent-ord1-1.? .fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/fr/cp0/e15/q65/13737728_1185633381500643_6776103556757690833_o.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9[/img]
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I know they get it,
but instead of acknowledging the situation and correcting it, they'd rather insert some ? distraction into the equation, to try and take away from the "Black Lives Matter" message..
This magnifies the personalities of the type of people we're dealing with in this country.. -
i always wonder while these clow are protesting who s patrolling the streets lol....if i were a criminal id know exactly when to strike...
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The people youd expect have been mad about the banner the whole year it's been up and they've said they're not taking it down. I hope they don't take it down now.
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so the banner been up for a year and now they want to protest? I like that mayor.
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The user and all related content has been deleted.
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Elzo69Renaissance wrote: »i always wonder while these clow are protesting who s patrolling the streets lol....if i were a criminal id know exactly when to strike...
You not thinking like lilfinga with this -
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/us/police-protest-black-lives-matter-banner-hanging-on-a-massachusetts-city-hall.htmlPolice Protest ‘Black Lives Matter’ Banner Hanging on a Massachusetts City Hall
SOMERVILLE, Mass. — Dozens of police officers and emergency medical workers from across Massachusetts gathered here on Thursday to protest a “Black Lives Matter” banner at City Hall, making this largely white, working-class suburb of Boston the latest flash point in the escalating national tensions between the police and advocates of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The police were protesting the decision by the city’s mayor, Joseph A. Curtatone, to keep the banner hanging on outside City Hall. The police contend that the banner is divisive and gives voice to a movement that has inspired violence against the police, including the recent killing of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La.
“Because some elements identified with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement have resorted to killing innocent police officers and putting the lives of citizens in jeopardy, the Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition cannot stand for the continued display of that organization’s banner on a public building,” Michael McGrath, an officer of the coalition and the president of the Somerville Police Employees Association, told the crowd.
As he spoke, officers from two dozen nearby cities and towns, wearing street clothes, stood quietly around him, and television helicopters hovered overhead. The police unfurled a large blue banner that read “Cops Lives Matter” and held posters saying “Support Your Local Police.” About 100 residents looked on.
The police unions want the mayor to remove the “Black Lives Matter” banner and replace it with one saying “All Lives Matter.” But Mr. Curtatone, a Democrat, argued that the “Black Lives Matter” banner was not divisive, and he reaffirmed in an interview Thursday that he would not remove it. Besides, another banner, “In Honor and Remembrance,” hangs from the police station in honor of the fallen officers, he said.
The “Black Lives Matter” banner “speaks to all lives,” Mr. Curtatone said. “We know about the horrific incidents of black people being killed by the people who were sworn to protect them.” He added that Somerville’s police chief, David Fallon, had told him that if he removed the banner, “we’re telling part of our community that they don’t matter.”
As the police protested, at least 100 supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement held a counterdemonstration a 10-minute walk away in support of the mayor and the banner.
“It’s not a symbol at all,” Stephanie Guirand, 28, a graduate student from Cambridge, Mass., said of the “Black Lives Matter” banner. “It’s a declaration. It’s saying that the black lives matter in Somerville.”
“If it is moved,” Ms. Guirand added, “then we’ve lost.”
Matt McLaughlin, a Somerville alderman who spoke at the Black Lives Matter demonstration, said that the banner should stay up and that he was frustrated that the debate over it had distracted from a more sweeping discussion of the nation’s problems.
“Other parts of the country are dealing with shootings, and we’re dealing with a banner,” said Mr. McLaughlin, 35.
Mr. Curtatone, 50, a son of Italian immigrants, said in the interview that Somerville, a city of 80,000, was less racist than when he was growing up here, but that racism still existed. The city is about 74 percent white and only 7 percent black. It is home to many college students, including those of nearby Tufts University.
“This is not about picking sides,” the mayor said of the banner. “We can stand up for the rights of minorities and the good work of police, and those are not competing thoughts.”
But the Somerville police union said that the city was choosing sides unnecessarily and that the banner sent an “exclusionary message.” The police objected to displaying the banner on a public building and also alluded to labor issues within the department.
As the demonstration ended, Mr. McGrath said his message was simple: “that life matters and we don’t want to exclude any group.”
Some of the protesters from the Black Lives Matter demonstration made their way to City Hall. One woman carried a sign that said, “It’s not that your life doesn’t matter, it’s that systematically, black lives have not.”
Gary Goodwin, 68, a retired construction worker and lifelong Somerville resident, observed the scene. Looking up at the “Black Lives Matter” banner on City Hall, he said it was “like yelling fire in a crowded building.”
“All it does is antagonize people and make crazy people do crazy things,” he said. “I’m not against Black Lives Matter. All lives matter.” -
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2016/07/28/police-officers-rally-black-lives-matter-banner-somerville-city-hallPolice officers rally against ‘Black Lives Matter’ banner at Somerville City Hall
After a week of tension between Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and members of the city’s police department over a “Black Lives Matter” banner hanging at City Hall, police officers from across the state gathered outside the building to request again that the mayor remove it.
“We do not oppose the nucleus of the Black Lives Matter movement or some of its ideology,” Michael McGrath, the president of the Somerville Police Employee’s Association, said at the rally Thursday evening where around 200 people, including union officers and Somerville residents, came to show either support or opposition to the request. “Our core values are similar: Equality for everyone regardless of race.”
But displaying the banner across a city building sends a message that excludes police, McGrath said. That’s why the union penned an open letter to Curtatone last week, calling his decision to display the banner at City Hall “deeply” troubling, and its message “disrespectful.” The union is the bargaining unit for 90-95 Somerville patrol officers.
Curtatone responded, saying the banner was meant to show the city’s commitment to equality and inclusivity. He refused to remove the banner, and noted that a similar one paying homage to slain police officers over the department’s headquarters showed the city’s commitment to both law enforcement and members of the community.
“Peaceful protest to end violence and injustice stands at the core of our nation’s values and our democracy and we will continue our peaceful protest via the banner,” Curtatone said in a statement last week after receiving the letter.
Curtatone hung the banner at City Hall last August. At the time, McGrath said union members came to him, asking what he planned to do about the banner.
Nothing, he told them. But after several police officers across the country were killed, McGrath said he began to see the banner differently.
“My members started asking when,” he said. “When the question changes from what to when, we have to act.”
So McGrath sent and signed the letter on behalf of his union. Frustrated by Curtatone’s response, the union, along with officers from the Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition, gathered at City Hall to show their opposition to the sign. Many wore blue T-shirts, and some held signs that read “Support Your Local Police.”
When asked what the next steps in the process were, McGrath said the union’s plan was “under advisement,” and did not say what the union would do if Curtatone continued to deny its request.
On Wednesday, Curtatone penned an op-ed for The Somerville Times ahead of the union’s protest. He reiterated his stance, saying that neither banner would be removed.
“Those banners do not represent two competing thoughts,” he wrote. “Standing up for our minority populations and supporting the police officers who protect and serve our communities should go hand-in-hand. We should have a culture of respect that flows in both directions. In fact, that respect is the foundation on which our civil society rests.”
Jennine Hickey, a Somerville resident, said the banner should be removed due to community opposition.
“I pay taxes,” she said, noting that its presence on a public building was what troubled her. “If one person says it should be taken down, I’m for taking it down.”
But some community members think the banner should remain.
“I know there’s a lot of people divided,” Elizabeth Way, a Somerville resident, said. “I think there’s a way to be able to support both sides. I don’t think it’s mutually exclusive,”
She said that the “Black Lives Matter” sign, along with a second one over City Hall that reads, “United Against Violence & Racism, United for Peace & Equality, United We Stand for Dialogue,” send a strong message in support of equality.
“I think it should stay,” she said.
Roy Pardi, a Somerville resident who said he supports both police and civil rights, held a hand-written “Black Lives Matter” sign at the protest.
“I support police. I support the banner being there. I support my mayor,” he said. While police at the protest seemed to see support of the movement as a contrast to support for law enforcement, Pardi said he doesn’t see it as a “zero sum game.”
“That’s just not the case,” he said.
Curtatone said Thursday that he did not believe McGrath’s letter and views on the banner were supported by union members, a claim which McGrath refuted Thursday evening.
Curtatone also said the police rally would not lead him to remove the banner.
“That sign is not coming down,” Curtatone said earlier Thursday. “We have to recognize, as a society, most of us here are white, with the exception of a few. Do we really know what it’s like to be discriminated against?” -
Gary Goodwin, 68, a retired construction worker and lifelong Somerville resident, observed the scene. Looking up at the “Black Lives Matter” banner on City Hall, he said it was “like yelling fire in a crowded building.”
“All it does is antagonize people and make crazy people do crazy things,” he said. “I’m not against Black Lives Matter. All lives matter.”
Oh the white supremacy and the irony...
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