Raleigh mayor rebuffs calls for resignation after meeting on police and protests
Dozens of speakers called for city leaders’ resignations at a special Raleigh City Council meeting on the Raleigh Police Department’s response to the George Floyd protests.
But after three hours, the virtual meeting ended shortly before the city’s 10 p.m. curfew Thursday, with nearly 200 people still waiting to speak.
More than 130 community members did speak. A total of 463 people had registered to talk, but not all of them followed through or connected. At points in the meeting more than 600 people were watching the live stream on YouTube.
“No, I’m not going to resign,” Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said after the meeting.
“We’ve got work to do to make Raleigh a better place for all people, and my plan is to get about doing it,” she told The News & Observer. “We all recognize the need for change, and we as a council want to lead on that.”
Three City Council members — Saige Martin, Jonathan Melton and Nicole Stewart — called for the virtual meeting to get feedback after police used tear gas, pepper spray and foam bullets to try to disperse crowds last weekend.
People normally get three minutes to speak during council meetings but got just one minute Thursday night so more people could be heard, Baldwin said.
Speakers’ demands
Many speakers reiterated the demands made by community organizations like Raleigh Demands Justice Coalition and Raleigh Police Accountability Community Taskforce.
The demands include:
- The resignation of Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown if the other demands are not met.
- Subpoena power for the city’s newly created police oversight board so it can better review police actions.
- No new police stations in “heavily black areas” and a reduction in over-policing in “Black Raleigh communities.”
- The creation of a policy requiring officers to intervene “when a fellow cop becomes overly abusive.”
- An investment in community-led health and safety.
In Raleigh, the City Council only has hiring and firing power over three positions: city manager, city clerk and city attorney. Deck-Brown can only be dismissed by City Manager Ruffin Hall.
“I fully and unequivocally support Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown,” Hall said after the meeting. “The events over the last several days have been heartbreaking and devastating for our whole community. We are facing a crisis on a local, state and national level, and we are all working really hard to respond to those challenges.”
The city plans to review the “events of the last several days” and report back to the council once the crisis is over, he said.
“But Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown has a tremendous amount of leadership and experience,” Hall said. “I trust her guidance to help us through this crisis.”
In a news release after the meeting, the Raleigh Demands Justice Coalition also called on Baldwin to resign from her new job with Barnhill Contracting Co.
Tear gas, action against bar criticized
Kristen Hill, a self-described organizer, contrasted the protests and police response in Raleigh and Durham.
“Mayor Baldwin, if you do not actually value black lives, then you do not deserve to be serving them, or anyone for that matter,” Hill said. “So please resign if you aren’t going to change.”
Several speakers called for a ban on tear gas which was used by Raleigh law enforcement last weekend.
Andrew Hicks listed community organizations’ demands and told city leaders to drop their curfew.
“Kneeling with protesters doesn’t even start to excuse it,” he said. “It’s pathetic. These officers must be held accountable. Those who stood by should be ashamed. A good cop would not have compiled with those orders. A good cop would have quit.”
Only two of the more than 100 speakers spoke in support of law enforcement.
Many speakers brought up a tense exchange between Martin and Council member Patrick Buffkin, who had opposed the council’s requesting a report about the protests while the protests were continuing.
Others asked for an investigation into why Wake County sheriff’s deputies broke up a medical station at Ruby Deluxe., a downtown bar serving mostly LGBTQ people.
At the beginning of the meeting, Baldwin said it would end by Thursday’s 10 p.m. curfew to give staff members time to get home. However, the city’s Frequently Asked Questions section states the curfew doesn’t apply to local government employees. And the council meeting on Tuesday lasted longer than the curfew.
Martin, who attended the virtual meeting from his office at the municipal building in downtown, said afterward that he needed to be able to arrive home by curfew to set an example.
Watch on YouTube: You can watch the meeting on the city’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/CityofRaleigh
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 4:18 PM.
