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Mayor Says Confederate Monument Will Be Removed From Linn Park

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has vowed to remove a controversial Confederate monument from Linn Park “as soon as possible.” That decision, which results from violent protests that erupted in downtown Birmingham Sunday night, would violate state law and likely trigger a lawsuit from the State of Alabama. That’s a cost Woodfin said he is “willing to accept… because that is a lower cost than civil unrest in our city.” On Sunday night, demonstrators protesting the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis began defacing the monument, chipping away at its base with shovels and unsuccessfully attempting to pull it down with a rope and a pickup truck. By end of the night, it had been covered in spray-painted slogans; its engraved quote from Jefferson Davis was painted over with a scrawled “Black Lives Matter.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Cleanup Begins After Looting Damages Downtown Birmingham Businesses

Dozens of people took brooms and shovels in hand Monday morning in the aftermath of looting that plagued downtown Birmingham in the continued outrage over the police killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis. Private citizens and professionals cleaned up broken glass at storefronts from Park Place south to Third Avenue North. The historic Alabama Theatre was among the structures that were damaged. To combat a potential repeat of what happened Sunday, Woodfin declared a state of emergency in Birmingham today and enacted a curfew for 7 p.m. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham Mayor Sets out Curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Birmingham has once again been placed under curfew — though this time, the curfew is intended to quell civil unrest, not COVID-19. The curfew is a response to Sunday night’s violent protests, Mayor Randall Woodfin said. Those demonstrations, which were ostensibly to protest the May 25 death of Minneapolis man George Floyd at the hands of police officers, turned angry as protestors in Linn Park defaced a controversial Confederate monument and, tried to set fire to a statue of Thomas Jefferson, and deface two monuments to post-confederacy military workers outside the Jefferson County Courthouse. Pockets of the protest looked more like riots as they spilled over into the north side of the downtown area, Birmingham Police Chief Patrick D. Smith told reporters Monday that 14 businesses had been burglarized, while another 13 businesses “had significant damage — property damage, looting, broken windows, and things of that nature.” Fire Chief Cory Moon added that his department had responded to 22 fire calls Sunday night as a result of the protests. Police also reported 24 arrests among the protestors. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Protestors Vandalize Downtown Buildings, Try to Take Down Confederate Monument

Protestors who gathered for a demonstration in Linn Park on Sunday night defaced monuments in the park and, as they left, smashed windows and vandalized buildings along downtown streets and set several fires. Police, who had taken a hands-off stance even as the protestors defaced monuments in Linn Park, moved in after the crowd began its destructive trek through downtown. It was unclear after midnight how many people were still downtown or the extent of the damage. Several hundred demonstrators had gone to Linn Park after an earlier, peaceful protest in Kelly Ingram Park.¬ Jermaine “FunnyMaine” Johnson, a local comedian, during the first rally, dubbed “Birmingham the World is Watching Rally for Justice and Peace,” had told the crowd he was going to Linn Park to topple the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument there. That’s what the crowd attempted to do, using a truck and cords. That was after they had defaced it by spray painting messages and taking out chunks with implements such as shovels. But the monument still stood. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin later gave the crowd his word that the statue would be gone in 24 hours. Read more.

by Tom Gordon and Virginia Martin

Birmingham Protestors Turn on Confederate Monument

UPDATING — Protestors as they were leaving a protest in Linn Park have begun vandalizing downtown buildings and have set fire to buildings at and near the People's Bank. Fox6 News was showing video of protestors setting fires, smashing windows of the Wells Fargo building, and looting the Alabama Power Co. museum. Police are moving into the area in force. A crowd of several hundred protestors attacked the Confederate monument in Linn Park on Sunday night. The protestors tried to topple the monument using a truck and chains, and earlier they defaced it by spray painting messages and taking out chunks with implements such as shovels. As the crowd became more rowdy, defacing or toppling three other monuments in the park, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin arrived and asked people to peacefully disperse, but the crowd shouted him down. After Woodfin talked with protest organizer Jermaine “FunnyMaine” Johnson, a comedian, and Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson, who also was leading the protest, Johnson asked people to disperse and the mayor said the crowd to give the city 24 hours to remove the monument itself. Johnson said that if the monument isn't removed by Tuesday morning, protestors will return at noon. Taking down that monument could be tricky since the state has a law banning the removal of historic monuments. Read more.

by Tom Gordon

Crowd Protests in Kelly Ingram Park in Wake of Floyd Killing

UPDATED — Spurred by the police killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, nearly 100 persons gathered at Birmingham’s Kelly Ingram Park Friday evening to rally for an end to hatred and racism. Alabama Rally Against Injustice has coordinated another protest that began about 5 p.m. Saturday. Speeches from politicians and civil rights activists are set for the evening at Kelly Ingram Park. Cedric Hatcher of Song Ministry was at Friday's protest and said, “I want to bring awareness that this is not just a Minneapolis problem. It's a Birmingham problem. It's an Atlanta problem. It's a New York problem. It's a Detroit problem. It's a California problem. It's a Texas problem. “It's a problem all over the country,” Hatcher continued. “Am I my brother's keeper or am I gonna keep killing my brother?” The group's acronym stands for Saving Our Next Generation. Speeches and the release of black balloons were sandwiched between a pair of marches around the perimeter of the park. The racially mixed assembly chanted the name of George Floyd, the man who died during an arrest while a police officer kneeled on his neck. The officer has been fired and today was charged with third-degree murder. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

High Unemployment Hits Even Inmates; Prisons Losing Millions of Dollars

Nearly 40 million Americans are out of work. So are about 3,300 Alabama prison inmates eligible to work for private and public employers. The Alabama Department of Corrections’ 22 work release and work centers, which include a center for women inmates based in north Birmingham, suspended operations March 18 because of the growing threat of the coronavirus. The suspension originally was slated to run through May 22, but it has not been lifted. “At this time, the ADOC is working on a comprehensive plan to resume more standard operations but has not yet established a definitive timeline for resuming our work release and work center programs,” corrections information specialist Samantha Rose said in an email. Read more.

by Tom Gordon

Two More Weeks of Face Coverings Required, Birmingham Council Says

The Birmingham City Council has extended the city’s face covering ordinance for two more weeks. The updated order, now effective through June 12, also relaxes the original law’s controversial penalties for violation, which had drawn criticism from state and local leaders. “What we’re doing is going to save lives,” Councilor John Hilliard said. "Just a sneeze on someone could kill them. Isn’t that incredible?" Read more.

by Sam Prickett
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