About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2020)
8A Weekend Edition - June 6-7, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com NATION DC paints Black Lives Matter mural near White House KHAUD NAJI-ALLAH I Associated Press The Washington Monument and the White House are visible behind the words Black Lives Matter sign that has been painted in bright yellow letters on the 16th Street by city workers and activists, Friday, June 5, in Washington. BY BEN FOX Associated Press WASHINGTON - The city of Washington capped nearly a week of demonstra tions against police brutality Friday by painting the words Black Lives Matter in enor mous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House, a highly visible display of the local govern ment’s embrace of protests that has put it further at odds with President Donald Trump. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the painting by city workers and local artists that spans two blocks is intended to send a message of support and solidarity to Americans outraged over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. It comes as the mayor has sparred with Trump over the response to the protests and as D.C. prepared for a dem onstration on Saturday that was expected to bring tens of thousands of people into a city still under coronavirus restrictions. “We know what’s going on in our country. There is a lot of anger. There is a lot of distrust of police and the gov ernment,” the mayor said at a news conference. “There are people who are craving to be heard and to be seen and to have their human ity recognized. We had the opportunity to send that mes sage loud and clear on a very important street in our city. ” The letters and an image of the city’s flag stretch across the entire width of 16th Street to the north of Lafayette Square. The mural ends near St. John’s Episco pal Church, where Trump staged a photo op on Monday after officers in riot gear fired tear gas and charged demonstrators to make way for the president and his entourage. A sign now identifies that section of 16th Street near the White House as “Black Lives Matter Plaza.” Bowser has complained about the heavy-handed fed eral response to the protests and called for the removal of out-of-state National Guard troops. She says the differences with the Trump administra tion highlight the need for the District of Columbia to be a state and have more control over its affairs. They may also reflect the fact that Trump is deeply unpopular in the district, where Demo crat Hillary Clinton won about 90% of the vote in the 2016 presidential election. While not addressing the painted mural, Trump con tinued his attacks on Bowser in tweets Friday. “The incompetent Mayor of Washington, D.C., @May- orBowser, who’s budget is totally out of control and is constantly coming back to us for ‘handouts,’ is now fight ing with the National Guard, who saved her from great embarrassment over the last number of nights,” he tweeted. “If she doesn’t treat these men and women well, then we’ll bring in a different group of men and women!” She shrugged off his criti cism. “You know that thing about the pot and the kettle,” the mayor said. The local chapter of Black Lives Matter said it did not support painting the street and took a swipe at Bowser, whom they see as insuffi ciently supportive of their efforts to combat abuses by the police. “This is performative and a distraction from her active counter organizing to our demands to decrease the police budget and invest in the community,” it said on Twitter. D.C. officials have long standing grievances against the federal government. Bowser and the D.C. Coun cil have long resented Con gress, which retains the right to alter and even reverse any city law. It was Congress, not Trump, that cost the District of Columbia more than $700 million in federal funding earlier this year by classify ing it as a territory rather than a state in the first big coronavirus relief package. Buffalo officers suspended in shoving of 75-year-old man MIKE DESMOND I Associated Press In this image from video provided by WBFO, a Buffalo police officer appears to shove a man who walked up to police Thursday, June 4, in Buffalo, N.Y. BY JOHN WAWR0W Associated Press BUFFALO — Dozens of Buffalo police officers stepped down from the department’s crowd control unit Friday, objecting to the sus pensions of two fellow officers in the shoving of a 75-year-old pro tester who fell and cracked his head. Prosecutors were investigating the encounter captured by a TV crew Thursday night near the con clusion of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. The footage shows a man identified as Martin Gugino approaching a line of helmeted officers holding batons as they clear demonstra tors from Niagara Square around the time of an 8 p.m. curfew. Two officers push Gugino back ward, and he hits his head on the pavement. Blood spills as officers walk past. One officer leans down to check on the injured man before another officer urges the colleague to keep walking. “Why? Why was that necessary? Where was the threat?” asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo at his daily briefing Friday. The governor said he spoke to Gugino, who had been hospitalized in serious condition. “It’s just fundamentally offensive and frightening. How did we get to this place?” The police commissioner sus pended two police officers without pay Friday, Mayor Byron Brown said. In response, 57 members of the Buffalo Police Department’s emer gency response team quit the unit “in disgust because of the treat ment of two of their members, who were simply executing orders,” said John Evans, Police Benevo lent Association president, accord ing to WGRZ. The resigning officers did not leave their jobs altogether. Gugino and the officers all appear to be white, but details of their backgrounds were not released. Late Friday, the New York City Police Department announced the suspension of two other officers, including one seen on video shov ing a much smaller, female pro tester who was hurled back and hit her head on the pavement. The Buffalo confrontation raised concerns about more possible flare-ups in a city where, earlier this week, two officers enforcing a curfew were injured by an SUV that plowed into a large group of officers who had begun swinging batons and using police dogs to enforce the curfew. Things looked to have calmed somewhat Friday evening, as a large group of about 300 protest ers marched uptown peacefully but after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew, accompanied by two police cars and a police helicopter. Brown said contingency plans are in place “ensure public safety.” Additional state troopers will be in the city through the weekend to assist Buffalo police, according to a state police spokesman. And Brown said they are working with other agencies. “I want people out in our com munity to know that people peace fully protesting will be protected,” Brown said at a news conference Friday. Northeast Georgia Health System The Times appreciates Northeast Georgia Health System sponsoring coverage directly related to public safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allows our coverage to be free to nonsubscribers as a public service. Our news coverage is always independently reported, as we work to provide accurate and up-to-date information about the effects of COVID-19 in the state and region. Please consider supporting our coverage by subscribing to The Times. She Stmcs gainesvilletimes.com Honestly local. WHAT HAS RICHARD HIGGINS AND BILLY POWELL DONE FOR YOU AS COMMISSIONERS? Nothing. Just Raise Your Taxes Paid for by Steve Gailey Concerned Citizen
