Tarrant mayor arrested for making harrassing comments about councilman’s wife
Tarrant Mayor Wayman Newton has been arrested again. The arrest comes after a city council member signed a misdemeanor warrant against him for harassing communications, Al.com reported. The incident allegedly happened July 19 at Tarrant City Hall following a council meeting. He was booked into the Jefferson County on Wednesday and released after posting a $500 bond. In the deposition, councilman Tommy Bryant accused Newton of shouting an expletive – “F#*&”- several times, and then, “F#*& your wife” multiple times and finally saying, “I’m going to F#*& your wife” several times as well along with other sexually explicit comments. The deposition states that Tarrant police Lt. Phillip George, Cpl. Anthony Fields and City Councilwoman Cathy Anderson were present. WVTM13.com posted the charging document on Twitter. Newton, the city’s first Black mayor, has been at odds with much of the city council since he took office. “Tommy Bryant is an unapologetic bigot who is a cancer to the City of Tarrant and my administration,’’ Newton said. “I am confident that the baseless harassment claim he has filed against me will be thrown out.” Bryant and Newton had a confrontation in July during a city council meeting where Bryant was captured on video using a racial slur toward Black people. Bryant is seen in the video using the racial epithet “house N—–” to describe a Black city council member. Bryant tried to dismiss criticism by saying he was just repeating something the mayor said in an executive session. Newton has been met with resistance from a majority of the city council since he was sworn in in November. On his first day in office, Newton had a confrontation with the now-retired police chief, Dennis Reno, over his request for Tarrant to hire more Black police officers. Reno filed a misdemeanor assault charge against Newton, claiming Newton slammed his arm in the door. Newton later released video of Reno leaving the meeting, which he said disproved Reno’s claim of an assault. A hearing on the newest charge is set for September.
Joe Biden backs Randall Woodfin in Birmingham mayoral race
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday endorsed Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin for reelection. “Mayor Woodfin is one of the great young leaders of our country,” Biden said in a statement. “From protecting the health and safety of the people of Birmingham to saving and creating jobs, to providing tuition-free higher education and fighting for voting rights, he sets the bar for making sure government works for the people.” Woodfin faces seven challengers in his bid for another term, including his predecessor in office. Former Mayor William Bell, Jefferson County Commissioner Lashunda Scales, former city worker Darryl Williams, sports agent and engineer Ervin Philemon Hill II, building contractor Chris Wood, businesswoman and mental health advocate Cerissa Brown, and Napoleon Gonzalez are seeking the office of mayor. The election is August 24. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Three senators test positive for COVID in breakthrough cases
Three senators said Thursday they have tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, a high-profile collection of breakthrough cases that comes as the highly infectious delta variant spreads rapidly across the United States. Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., all said they have tested positive for the virus. Almost every member of the Senate spent long hours together on the chamber’s floor last week in an all-night session of budget votes before leaving town for August recess. King said he began feeling feverish Wednesday and took a COVID test at his doctor’s suggestion. “While I am not feeling great, I’m definitely feeling much better than I would have without the vaccine,” King said. Wicker’s office said he tested positive for the virus Thursday morning. “Senator Wicker is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, is in good health, and is being treated by his Tupelo-based physician,” a statement from his staff read. “He is isolating, and everyone with whom Senator Wicker has come in close contact recently has been notified.” Hickenlooper announced his positive test a few hours later. “I feel good but will isolate per docs instructions. I’m grateful for the vaccine (& the scientists behind it!) for limiting my symptoms,” Hickenlooper tweeted. “If you haven’t gotten your shot—get it today! And a booster when it’s available too!” The breakthrough cases emerged the day after U.S. health officials announced plans to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to Americans. They said the shots are needed to shore up their protection against the delta variant amid signs that the vaccines’ effectiveness is waning over time. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. had announced Aug. 2 that he had tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. “Sending best wishes for a speedy recovery to my good friends and colleagues,” he tweeted Thursday. “If you have not already done so please #GetVaccinated,” Graham added. Dozens of members of Congress have reported testing positive for COVID-19. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Texas, 67, died from the disease early this year while Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, R-La., 41, died in December before being sworn into office. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Randall Woodfin in national spotlight for spectacular failure in crime reduction
Mayor Randall Woodfin ran his campaign in 2017 on the notion that he had the answers that could solve the issues of gun violence and crime in Birmingham. The young attorney promised that he would ensure public safety, fight for criminal justice reform and racial justice, and hold police accountable. He believed the root cause of violence and crime was disinvestment in low-income communities and persistent, generational poverty. However, many activist groups who supported Woodfin and his vision are now looking to elect a new mayor, hoping that they can do what he has been unable to: solve the issue of violent crime in Birmingham. In Birmingham, murders have increased 5 percent in the city in 2021, and 2020 was the deadliest since 1995. So far in 2021, the city has recorded 65 criminal homicides, putting it on pace to surpass last year’s record, and most victims are young, Black men. In a detailed article, Slate reported on how Birmingham’s crime rate has risen even while Woodfin has tried to attack this issue from all sides. Woodfin argues that simply making arrests doesn’t solve the problem. During his time in office, he has helped establish many alternatives to simply policing and arresting criminals. He established the Mayor’s Office of Peace and Policy to target recidivism among Black men through social support and group therapy. The next year, he launched the Birmingham Promise Initiative, which gave students paid internships and covered the cost of their higher education. Many young progressives assume that all Black people want a smaller police force. But in Birmingham and many cities, that’s not the case. Woodfin has said that most of his constituents want more patrols, especially older people. Many still see police as the main way to combat violence. National surveys show that younger people are more likely to support defunding the police. “When I talk to the mommas and the big mommas in the neighborhoods, they want more police,” he said in 2018. “People my age and younger say more policing is wrong. As mayor, I’m in the middle.” Woodfin faces three main challengers in this election, and all of them are positioning themselves to be more “pro-police” than Woodfin himself. Mayor William Bell, businessman Chris Woods, and Jefferson County Commissioner Lashunda Scales are critical of how Woodfin has handled crime, saying he’s missed the mark. “People want to box me in and make me choose between reform and accountability measures, and policing and keeping the city safe,” Woodfin said in a June interview. “No, I reject your ultimatum. I can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can do both.” As the election draws near, Woodfin, activist groups, and previous Woodfin supporters continue to roll out new initiatives and ideas to address this complex problem. In April, Woodfin created the city’s first Civilian Review Board to investigate complaints of police misconduct. He pardoned 15,000 people for past misdemeanor marijuana convictions. In July, Woodfin banned the use of no-knock search warrants. Some groups have called for Woodfin to use American Rescue Plan money to help the issue. Many have pushed to fund alternative public safety strategies because they believe that relying primarily on law enforcement doesn’t work, and even that gets support from some law enforcement officials. Gregory Clarke argues that police are not the answer. “I’m not saying they don’t do their job—they do their job of responding to crime,” said Clarke, the founder of Birmingham Peacemakers and a leader of the local Fund Peace campaign. “The police had their budget increased. But the effect on crime didn’t match. Matter of fact, it went up.” Many groups who supported him in his last election have put their support behind other candidates. In January, the Birmingham chapter of Our Revolution publicly rescinded its endorsement. The local Black Lives Matter chapter called for his resignation after police shot and killed a 28-year-old Black man named Desmon Montez Ray Jr. “This family has been demanding that the leadership of this community, Mayor Randall Woodfin, council members, the police chief, anybody in leadership should have come to this family to offer their condolences,’’ BLM Birmingham co-founder Eric Hall stated. “That’s the right thing to do. That’s what leadership is.” “Birmingham voters believed that any work initiated by Mayor Woodfin to deter crime and violence would center root-cause analysis and comprehensive grassroots and community-based solutions,” several Black Lives Matter leaders wrote in an open letter at the time. “This is why it was a hard pill to swallow.” “I am sick and tired of people talking negative about our city,” City Councilor Crystal Smitherman said at a July summit in support of the Fund Peace campaign. “It’s time for the communities to step up and take charge of our neighborhoods.”
Jail releases some non-violent offenders because of COVID-19
A south Alabama jail has started releasing some non-violent offenders because of a rise in COVID-19 cases at the facility. WKRG-TV reports that Mobile County Metro Jail began Tuesday allowing some non-violent offenders to be released, similar to what is done when a hurricane threatens the facility or there is a desperate need for space in the jail. Inmates facing only city, non-violent charges are allowed to sign their own bond or be released on recognizance. There are a number of exceptions, including that the charges can’t be related to driving under the influence or domestic violence. “This past week and increasingly over the weekend we had an outburst of COVID infections in the jail and it was spreading really rapidly and so to really reduce the population as quickly as we could and also limit the number of people coming in and out of the jail,” Sheriff Sam Cochran said of the decision. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
