Police in Somervile, Massachusetts, are a wee of a tad bit perturbed with the city’s mayor. Last August a Black Lives Matter banner was hung on the front of City Hall. The mayor said the gesture was intended to send a signal that the city was serious about confronting any racial problems it may have:
“It was a statement. It is an important national conversation that’s happening on an important matter,” [Mayor Joe] Curtatone said. “The question for us [is] what is our role as a municipality? What is my role in leading that conversation and locally… Does structural racism exist in our public institutions? And how do we lead a community conversation around that here?”
Be that as it may, the local police union is (still) offended by the gesture and on Tuesday, July 19, they sent a letter to the mayor expressing their offended-ness:
“The Somerville Police Employees Association and its members are deeply troubled that the city continues to display the Black Lives Matter banner above the main entrance of City Hall. It is inconceivable to us as it is demoralizing that our city would propagate its support for this movement while standing silent over the seemingly daily protest assassinations of innocent police officers around the country,” Somerville Police Union President Michael McGrath said in a July 19 letter to Curtatone.
The union wants a banner saying “All Lives Matter” to be hung instead, if a banner is going to be hung.
A banner in honor of officers recently slain in Dallas, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, currently hangs on the front of the Somerville Police Department. President Curtalone said both banners make a necessary statement:
“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. 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 said.
Kudos to Mayor Curtalone. Shame on Somerville Police.