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| Boston-area police to protest Black Lives Matter banner hanging from city hall | Boston-area police to protest Black Lives Matter banner hanging from city hall |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Police officers in Massachusetts are upset that the mayor of a largely white, historically working-class Boston suburb is refusing to remove a Black Lives Matter banner that has hung over city hall for nearly a year. | Police officers in Massachusetts are upset that the mayor of a largely white, historically working-class Boston suburb is refusing to remove a Black Lives Matter banner that has hung over city hall for nearly a year. |
| Related: Ohio lawyer may spend five days in jail for wearing a Black Lives Matter pin | Related: Ohio lawyer may spend five days in jail for wearing a Black Lives Matter pin |
| The Somerville Police Employees Association and other police unions said they would rally peacefully on Thursday evening outside Somerville city hall to demand that Mayor Joseph Curtatone remove the sign. | The Somerville Police Employees Association and other police unions said they would rally peacefully on Thursday evening outside Somerville city hall to demand that Mayor Joseph Curtatone remove the sign. |
| The police union’s president, Michael McGrath, said his officers support the “core goal” of the Black Lives Matter movement, but believe the current banner sends an “exclusionary message” and is disrespectful to officers. | The police union’s president, Michael McGrath, said his officers support the “core goal” of the Black Lives Matter movement, but believe the current banner sends an “exclusionary message” and is disrespectful to officers. |
| “In the face of the continuing assassination of innocent police officers across the country … it is irresponsible of the city to publicly declare support for the lives of one sector of our population to the exclusion of others,” McGrath said in a statement. | “In the face of the continuing assassination of innocent police officers across the country … it is irresponsible of the city to publicly declare support for the lives of one sector of our population to the exclusion of others,” McGrath said in a statement. |
| The killings alluded to by McGrath occurred in Dallas, where five officers were shot while policing a protest over the deaths of African American men at the hands of police, and Baton Rouge, where three officers were killed by a black man self-identified as a “sovereign citizen”. | |
| Somerville police chief David Fallon chided the union for getting involved in the debate. He said he supported keeping the banner over city hall. | Somerville police chief David Fallon chided the union for getting involved in the debate. He said he supported keeping the banner over city hall. |
| Curtatone, a Democrat who is the 50-year-old son of Italian immigrants and has been mayor since 2004, has argued that standing up for black and minority residents and supporting police officers are not “competing interests”. He noted the city has also hung a banner over police headquarters honoring the officers killed in Dallas and Baton Rouge. | Curtatone, a Democrat who is the 50-year-old son of Italian immigrants and has been mayor since 2004, has argued that standing up for black and minority residents and supporting police officers are not “competing interests”. He noted the city has also hung a banner over police headquarters honoring the officers killed in Dallas and Baton Rouge. |
| “Both of those banners are hanging for the same reason: too many people have died in a cycle of violence that needs to be stopped,” Curtatone said in a statement. “It is a violence that tests us in every community, demanding we either come together or break apart.” | “Both of those banners are hanging for the same reason: too many people have died in a cycle of violence that needs to be stopped,” Curtatone said in a statement. “It is a violence that tests us in every community, demanding we either come together or break apart.” |
| Curtatone hung the 4ft-by-12ft banner over city hall’s main entrance in August 2015, at the request of a local Black Lives Matter chapter. At the time, he said it was meant to recognize that “structural racism” exists in society and stressed it was not a criticism of his police department. | Curtatone hung the 4ft-by-12ft banner over city hall’s main entrance in August 2015, at the request of a local Black Lives Matter chapter. At the time, he said it was meant to recognize that “structural racism” exists in society and stressed it was not a criticism of his police department. |
| Related: The Washitaw sovereign citizens: where the Baton Rouge gunman found a home | Related: The Washitaw sovereign citizens: where the Baton Rouge gunman found a home |
| Curtatone has since said he will also seek to equip officers with body cameras, something some civil rights activists have called for in the wake of police-involved killings. He also pledged to push the police department and other city agencies to conduct anti-racism training programs for their employees. | Curtatone has since said he will also seek to equip officers with body cameras, something some civil rights activists have called for in the wake of police-involved killings. He also pledged to push the police department and other city agencies to conduct anti-racism training programs for their employees. |
| The mayor was supportive of other actions by Black Lives Matter activists, including a January 2015 protest in which a number chained themselves to concrete barrels on the main highway leading into Boston from Somerville, snarling morning rush hour traffic. | The mayor was supportive of other actions by Black Lives Matter activists, including a January 2015 protest in which a number chained themselves to concrete barrels on the main highway leading into Boston from Somerville, snarling morning rush hour traffic. |
| Last week, the city police union called on the mayor to replace the banner with one that states “All Lives Matter”, a phrase some civil rights activists say diminishes their concerns about the killings of black men and boys at the hands of police. | Last week, the city police union called on the mayor to replace the banner with one that states “All Lives Matter”, a phrase some civil rights activists say diminishes their concerns about the killings of black men and boys at the hands of police. |
| Somerville is a city of more than 80,000 residents that borders Boston and Cambridge and is home to most of the Tufts University campus. It is about 74% white, 11% Latino, 9% Asian and 7% black, according to 2010 US census data. | Somerville is a city of more than 80,000 residents that borders Boston and Cambridge and is home to most of the Tufts University campus. It is about 74% white, 11% Latino, 9% Asian and 7% black, according to 2010 US census data. |