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In response to recent questions regarding the Black Lives Matter banner at Somerville City Hall, and a letter sent to the Mayor by the President of the Police Employees Association, Somerville Chief of Police David Fallon made himself available this morning at City Hall to answer questions and provide a brief statement.
A statement from the Mayor is below.
From Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone:
My unwavering support for our police officers does not and cannot preempt our commitment to addressing systemic racism in our nation. The City of Somerville stands against all violence and all injustice, which is why a Black Lives Matter banner hangs at City Hall and why a banner in honor of the slain officers is hanging at Somerville Police Headquarters where it would provide the most moral support to our officers—both on my order. Both banners will remain hanging. I’ve made very clear to our officers that we should be thankful for—and reinforce—what we have here in Somerville: a safer community thanks to the highest quality policing by a force dedicated to community policing, de-escalation, proper use of force, and anti-bias awareness. 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.
To download a PDF copy of the letter from the Somerville Police Employees Association, click here.
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Public buildings should just stick with the American flag and State flag. City one too if they have it. People can hang a banner or put up a flag if they wish to. Also wear clothing that expresses their view
To Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Somerville Chief of Police David Fallon:
You both are a disgrace to police officers everywhere and you should resign your posts immediately. The BLM movement is nothing more than a bunch of black punks that want to commit crimes and kill the cops who try to apprehend them. They stand for hatred pure and simple and the fact that you two refuse to acknowledge this makes me question your ability to do your jobs without political correctness. You need to remove those banners of theirs from city property and apologize to your police officers and if the police need to shoot these punk ass gang bangers then let the officers do their job.
Sincerely,
Kyle Hanniford
A. Moore, why not keep it up and use it as a point of pride for a community that has achieved so much of the mission behind BLM and continues to improve by building a safe community with mutual trust and respect between members of its community as well as between members of the community and law enforcement. I’ve said this elsewhere, but I think its important, our cops embrace our community and constantly strive to improve it by being a part of it (and have had great success in doing so) and they have been doing it since before #BLM was even a thing.
The banner should stay up.
I have no problem with it personally, I just think it is better not to have such things on a government building. As you can see since it has been put up we have many people for and against it. All with valid points. I would think it leaves the city open to lawsuits if other groups want to have a banner as well.