First, welcome everyone. And thank you for being here.
This afternoon, I wanted to speak directly to our West Palm Beach residents about demonstrations planned in our city, the current state of emergency that is in effect, and efforts that we are undertaking to ensure the public’s safety.
I know that this past week, these past few months, have been difficult for everyone. My heart aches for the families and friends of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbury and Breonna Taylor whose lives were snuffed out so unnecessarily at such young ages. I feel the frustration and anger of those who have taken to the streets to protest such injustice.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those struggling from the impacts of COVID-19 and the economic fallout resulting from this pandemic.
All of these events---the pandemic, the economic fallout, the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbury and BreonnaTaylor, and the recent demonstrations----- have impacted all of us. Some of you have felt loss, grief, frustration, and anger. I understand, and I can assure you we will get through it. My sincere hope is that there will be some transformative changes coming out of this.
This afternoon, I want to share with you some updates as we enter into the weekend:
First, as it has been and always will be, public safety is my priority number one. If there is any one essential responsibility of a Mayor, of a City, it is to keep our residents safe. My primary focus right now is protecting the general public, protecting West Palm Beach Police Officers, and protecting the peaceful protesters in our city. Let me assure you, the City of West Palm Beach recognizes and acknowledges the rights of citizens to peacefully protest. Indeed, I have instructed my Police Chief to work with his department to protect the 1st Amendment rights of the protesters.
As we enter the weekend, our residents should expect additional protests and demonstrations in our city this afternoon, tomorrow, and maybe even Sunday. Please use due care when moving throughout our city. I urge anyone planning to demonstrate in our city this afternoon or tomorrow to please, please keep it peaceful.
In just a few moments, Police Chief Adderley will speak about the steps we are undertaking to protect public safety.
I also want to be clear about something. We WELCOME peaceful protests in the City. We continue to support demonstrators’ right to protest peacefully. And our police department continues to work with demonstrators in support of peaceful demonstrations.
Two protests in the last week, one with 3000 people, were mostly peaceful, and—to the credit of our police department—not a single person got hurt. In my view, West Palm Beach has become an example of how police and protesters can work together to facilitate a peaceful protest.
As you may know, I declared a State of Emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew for West Palm Beach. The imposition of the nighttime curfew is one of the tools being utilized right now to ensure public safety. On Monday night, the City Commission voted unanimously to extend that curfew until further notice.
For the most part, people have been abiding by the curfew. Let me assure you however, that we will continue to vigorously enforce the curfew throughout its existence. Any person or business that violates the curfew will suffer consequences, because this curfew will be enforced to the fullest extent of our resources.
It is my hope to be able to lift the curfew soon. We will lift the curfew when Police Chief Adderley and I have assurances that future demonstrations in our city will be peaceful.
City Hall has received a lot of questions in recent days about what the curfew means for firearms. Please know that during the period of said emergency, the State of Florida preempts local government regulation of ammunition, guns or other firearms. In our executive order, I merely recited the automatic emergency measures that have been imposed by the State of Florida. There have been some claims by the media that I am unilaterally trying to take guns away or violate the Second Amendment. That simply is not the case.
I also want to extend a message of support to our business community. It’s come to my understanding that a number of business owners, especially in our downtown, are concerned about damage to their businesses… and that some may have had their beliefs about the 1st Amendment and race mischaracterized on social media. It’s my understanding that they too are very supportive of peaceful protests and everyone’s right to free speech. And claims that they significantly oppose these things are, to the best of my knowledge, false.
Finally, before I turn it over to police Chief Adderley, I just want to encourage everyone to keep it peaceful. Now, more than ever, we need unity in the community. The calls for unity in our community vastly outnumber the calls for division. There is yet so much work to be done, but I am encouraged by the calls for change that are coming from such a broad swath of people--- black, white, brown, young and old—who are literally risking their lives in the midst of this pandemic to express their views.
