JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council is under scrutiny from some members of the community for allegedly failing to attend a series of recent protests and rallies focusing on the Black Lives Matter movement. In addition, one specific council member is also being criticized by a local resident and candidate for public office for a post he made on social media this past weekend.

During the public comment portion of Monday night’s remote council work session – which was streamed online – the city clerk read a series of comments sent via email from several Jamestown residents, including Democratic candidate for the 150th State Assembly seat, Christina Cardinale.

A meme that was shared by Jamestown City Councilman Jeffery Russell on June 6, 2020 and which was scrutinized by a city resident and State Assembly candidate Christina Cardinale

Cardinale was critical of councilman and retired police officer Jeff Russell (R-At Large) for a pro-gun post on his personal Facebook page that was purported to be from Saturday, June 6. The post appears to be shared from the New York State Firearms Association and was intended for Russell’s Facebook friends only, but still managed to find its way to the public sphere.

“On 6/6 councilman Jeff Russell posted the following message on social media. Quote – The answer to the question, ‘Why do you need an AR-15 and a 30-round magazine?’ is on every news channel today – end quote,” Cardinale’s stated in her email, then directed a specific question to Russell. “Councilman Russell, can you please clarify your comment in full detail? When I turn on any news channel I see the black community demanding the end to systemic racism and I am now under the impression a retired Jamestown Police officer supports firing a semi-automatic rifle at Black Lives Matters protesters.”

Russell addressed the comment and defended his post, saying his post was actually a meme that he shared and was in now way calling for violence against any person or group of people. Russell added that he shared it after the death of a retired police captain in St. Louis during the weekend riots in that city.

“This featured a comment about owning an AR-15 and was in support of the Second Amendment, guaranteeing our right to bear arms – my right to defend my home  and my family and my fellow citizens’ right to do the same,” Russell said. “You are now attempting to create a controversy where controversy doesn’t exist.”

Russell was also critical of Cardinale for trying to score political points as part of her political campaign.

“It’s no secret we find ourselves in a tremendously difficult time in this country. But your efforts to score political points by cherry-picking a singular Facebook post, which never referenced violence against the black community or peaceful protesters, is the absolute worst political stunt of its kind. It’s reprehensible, in fact,” Russell said.

In her correspondence, Cardinale also asked the full city council if it had any thoughts about Russell’s post and if the council has a policy regarding social media.

Jeffery Russell

Council president Tony Dolce (R-Ward 2) said that he can vouch for Russell’s character through his 20+ years on the Jamestown Police Department, as well as with his various interactions with all students and staff at Jamestown High School where Dolce teaches.

Dolce also said there is no policy regarding how an elected member of the city council conducts themselves on social media.

“As far as social media conduct, we are elected officials. We are adults. We all make choices in terms of what we want to post [on social media]. There are no rules, laws, or regulations regarding what we can and cant’ do. We all have First Amendment rights,” Dolce said.

Russell wasn’t the only person on the council criticized during the public comment portion of the work session.  Another city resident – Autumn Echo Swanson – chastised the council for not showing support during two recent rallies in Jamestown, organized by the Jamestown Justice Coalition.

“Both rallies have seen poor attendance and support from city officials. I would like to know why the city council has chosen not to support the Jamestown Justice Coalition when a large number of the constituents of the council – including those deeply and personally affected by the mission – are in support of the efforts being made by the coalition,” Swanson wrote.

It’s worth noting that both Dolce and councilman Tom Nelson (D-Ward 6) attended the rally on Sunday, May 31 – along with Mayor Eddie Sundquist and Police chief Harry Snellings.

Council woman Vickye James (D-Ward 3) also took umbrage with the remark, pointing to her long-standing involvement and leadership in the city’s black community.

“As a black mother, a black woman, a black daughter, I always have had this issue come to my face every day. It matters to me. The people in my community matter to me, and because I don’t make one event does not make me not care about being black. That’s ridiculous,” James said.

The council’s other African American member, Tamu Graham-Reinhardt, also addressed the issue – asking those who are critical of the council members to “sit back and take a breath.”

Swanson also raised concern about a lack of leadership and guidance from the council when it comes to working toward improving conditions in the African American community.

“The issue at hand – an issue for which Jamestown is now immune – concerns the poor training, systemic laws and over funding that have led to rampant police brutality across this country,” Swanson wrote. “On a local level we see multiple accounts of socioeconomic instability among our minority communities, ranging from underfunded neighborhood development; disregard for the issue of food insecurity; lack of minority representation and decision making; and a lack of support, education and funding of minority-owned businesses in Jamestown. My question for the Jamestown City Council is this: Where are you?”

Dolce explained that he has already had a conversation about those concerns with the mayor and the city would be working to address them more thoroughly in the near future.

Also during the correspondences last night, city resident Rev. Chloe Smith again urged the city to work toward bringing more diversity into the ranks, something that city officials have acknowledged needs to happen, but also said that it is difficult with a very limited pool of qualified candidates to draw from.

Rev. Chloe Smith (left) talks with Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist (center) and Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings (right) during a Black Lives Matter rally in Dow Park Sunday, May 31, 2020.

JAMESTOWN – There were two rallies that took place in Jamestown on Sunday as part of the series of national protests taking place across the country. The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.

Nearly 200 people were at Dow Park at noon to express solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and to also share concerns about how law enforcement deals with minorities in the community. Leading the rally at noon was Rev. Chloe Smith from God and Zion Tabernacle Church, who urged the community to come together and work with public officials to improve the relationship between police and its residents.

“We are demanding a change starts in our city and we are going to be proactive. We are not going wait until something bad happens. We want the change now,” Smith said, speaking to those in attendance. “We’re not going to be reactive, having the protests after something happens. We want the communication with our law enforcement now! We want to conduct with our law enforcement now!”

Other members of the faith community, including Pastor Roy Ferguson of the Busti Church of God, were also on hand to share support.

“All of us who are not a person of color, whether we want to believe it or not, we have privilege. We need to leverage that privilege to love our neighbor as ourselves, and everyone including persons of color are our neighbors.  We need to leverage that privilege. We didn’t ask for it but we were born with it and we need to use it to bless those who God has created equal in his sight,” Ferguson told the crowd.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist, Police Chief Harry Snellings and Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone all attended the rally, along with some members of the Jamestown City Council. Sundquist, the chief and the sheriff also spent nearly 45 minutes talking to attendees to respond to their questions and concerns.

Sundquist said he felt it was important to be at the event and show support with those who were attending.

“As communities across the country start to protest and start to demand more things, we wanted to let our entire community know that myself and our entire police force are hear to listen actively and to start to make changes to be more inclusive here in the city,” Sundquist said.

A crowd gathers around city of Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings and Mayor Eddie Sundquist as the two answer questions during a Black Lives Matter rally on May 31, 2020

Some of those concerns focused on hiring more minority officers in the Jamestown Police Department, along with working to ensure officers who work for the city also live within the city. Others also expressed frustration over feeling like they are being specifically targeted by law enforcement for no other reason than the color of their skin.

When asked how man officers live in Jamestown, Snellings said 25 of of the 62 members of the Jamestown Police Department are residents of Jamestown.

“So 25 out of the 60 officers actually live in the city? That is not community policing. We need community policing. If [an officer] does not live in Jamestown, you are coming in and you are enforcing a law. You are not part of the community. You are an occupying force,” stated Justin Hubbard, a city resident who was in attendance. “I will not be occupied any more. How are you going to fix that?”

Afterward, Mayor Sundquist said the city will be continuing to meet and talk with the community and work toward addressing some of the concerns brought up at the rally, including having more officers who reside within the city.

“It’s very difficult unless its negotiated [into a collective bargaining agreement] or certain local laws are passed. But we’re trying very hard to encourage our residents to apply for those positions and to be part of our community. We’ve talked about incentivizing that for every employee in the city.  It’s a process. I’ve only been on the job for five months so we’re trying very hard to deal with things as they come up,” Sundquist said.

Chief Snellings also said that while he supports hiring more minority officers, it can be difficult when the city receives few, if any, applications In response, one attendee suggested the police department work harder at encouraging young minorities within the community to pursue careers in law enforcement.

When asked if they felt George Floyd was murdered by the Minneapolis Police Officer, Snellings and Quatrone both acknowledged the the restraint being used wasn’t standard procedure and shouldn’t have been used, but both stopped short of saying it was murder, saying there could have been other factors at play that may have resulted in death. Mayor Sundquist did say that it was murder, based only on what he saw and the information he knows about the case.

A second rally took place at City Hall on Sunday night, beginning at 6 p.m. and continuing until just before 11 p.m. While there was a large gathering in front of city hall on East Third Street near the intersection with Spring, it appeared to be a peaceful event with no damages or arrests reported at that location. However, later in the evening, shortly before midnight, city police did say two men were arrested following an altercation with another group in an area near E. Second and Pine Streets.

Police say 32-year-old Jason Burham of Ashville and 31-year-old Michael Burham of Russell, Pa. were taken into custody on charges of disorderly conduct and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.