Peaceful demonstrations across the country continue over racism and police violence; we continue our examination of these issues on MidPoint Monday.
We began the show with a short excerpt from a very interesting town hall from last week. It was hosted by the group Equality Florida and called “LGBTQ voices to combat racial violence.” It was moderated by Equality Florida executive director Nadine Smith.
Our first guest was Liv Coleman, an associate professor of political science and international studies at the University of Tampa.
She grew up in Minneapolis and in an opinion piece this weekend in the Tampa Bay Times, she wrote about her experiences with police there and in Tampa. She interned in the office of the first Black and first woman Mayor of Minneapolis, Sharon Sayles Belton.
Coleman mentioned a movement in the Minneapolis area for police accountability, MPD150.com.
Our second guest was Sean Shaw, the Democratic nominee for Florida Attorney General in 2018. He is a former State Representative as well.
On Sunday he participated with the local chapter of Omega PSI PHI Fraternity as they gathered in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park for a protest called, “The Time is Now!” … it included several minutes of silence for George Floyd.
St. Petersburg Police sent an email Monday saying that after a thorough review of our policies, Chief Holloway has decided to add the following language to the department’s General Orders: “Officers have a duty to intervene to prevent or stop wrongdoing by another officer when it is safe and reasonable to do so.”
The St. Petersburg Police said on Facebook over the weekend that they’re committed to something called #8cantWait – President Obama’s Use of Force Pledge. It outlines 8 policies: ban chokeholds and strangleholds; require de-escalation; require a warning before shooting; requires exhaust all alternatives before shooting; duty to intervene; ban shooting at moving vehicles; require the use of force continuum; and requires comprehensive reporting.
A majority of members of the Minneapolis City Council said Sunday they support disbanding the city’s police department.
There are at least three local Justice for George Floyd demonstrations planned for Monday.
From 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m there’s a “St. Pete Peaceful Protest” at City Hall.
And in Ybor City, Tampa Bay SDS has rescheduled its Justice for George Floyd demonstration for 5:30 p.m. at Centennial Park.
In Dunedin, there’s a Peaceful Solidarity Candle Light Vigil at Pioneer Park at 7:30 p.m.
Listen to the 5:30 p.m. WMNF News headlines for 8 June 2020:
Listen to the 4:30 p.m. WMNF News headlines for 8 June 2020:
Listen to the 3:30 p.m. WMNF News headlines for 8 June 2020:
In these headline newscasts, there is audio from video of police shooting at protesters. The video was posted Monday morning, but it turns out it was from several days ago. There do not appear to have been any instances of Tampa Bay area police attacking protesters this weekend:
Listen to the 8:30 a.m. WMNF News headlines for 8 June 2020:
Listen to the 7:30 a.m. WMNF News headlines for 8 June 2020:
Listen to the 6:30 a.m. WMNF News headlines for 8 June 2020:
