Somerville Police Group Demand Black Lives Matter Banner Taken Down From City Hall [UPDATED]

SOMERVILLE, MA - Somerville police officers are demanding the city take down the Black Lives Matter banner hanging from City Hall and replace it with one that reads All Lives Matter.

In a letter to Mayor Joe Curatatone yesterday, Michael McGrath, president of the Somerville Police Employees Association, said police officers are "deeply troubled that the city continues to display the Black Lives Matter banner above the main entrance of City Hall. It is as 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 this country."

McGrath cited recent instances of violence against police, including the shooting in Dallas, TX this month that left five officers dead and seven wounded, and said "fringe elements of that movement...are provoked to indiscriminate violence against police officers in their name."

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The banner has appeared over the entrance to City Hall since August last year. At that time, Curtatone said he worked with Cambridge organizers who are part of the Black Lives Matter movement to create the banner. Curtatone said the banner was not a comment on the work of the Somerville Police Department.

In this week's letter, McGrath said officers would only feel their work is genuinely appreciated by Curtatone if the sign is taken down.

"The removal of that banner and the placement of a banner stating All Lives Matter would reflect appropriate concerns that police officers everywhere, as they do in Somerville, use deadly force only when necessary to protect the public or themselves from substantial harm, while simultaneously condemning the reprehensible murder of innocent police officers."

Curtatone said the Black Lives Matter banner, along with one memorializing fallen officers that hangs at the Police Department, will remain where it is.

In a statement, he said: "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."

Photo courtesy of City of Somerville