{"id":34840,"date":"2020-06-09T13:17:42","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T17:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/?p=34840"},"modified":"2020-06-09T13:39:17","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T17:39:17","slug":"city-councilman-defends-recent-pro-gun-social-media-post-council-members-criticized-for-perceived-inaction-in-blm-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/city-councilman-defends-recent-pro-gun-social-media-post-council-members-criticized-for-perceived-inaction-in-blm-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Councilman Defends Pro-Gun Social Media Post; Council Members Criticized for Perceived Inaction in BLM Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council<\/strong> 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<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

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<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Cardinale was critical of councilman and retired police officer Jeff Russell<\/strong> (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<\/strong> and was intended for Russell’s Facebook friends only, but still managed to find its way to the public sphere.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“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\u00a0 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.”<\/p>\n

Russell was also critical of Cardinale for trying to score political points as part of her political campaign.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jeffery Russell<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Council president Tony Dolce<\/strong> (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<\/strong> where Dolce teaches.<\/p>\n

Dolce also said there is no policy regarding how an elected member of the city council conducts themselves on social media.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

Russell wasn’t the only person on the council criticized during the public comment portion of the work session.\u00a0 Another city resident – Autumn Echo Swanson<\/strong> – chastised the council for not showing support during two recent rallies in Jamestown, organized by the Jamestown Justice Coalition<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

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

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

“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.<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n

“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?”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Also during the correspondences last night, city resident Rev. Chloe Smith<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":34842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[5032,10086,8569,9973,7652,8520,1004,1122,1139,10107,9164,6007,9086,4765,2269,9158],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/City-Council-June-9-1.jpg?fit=756%2C419&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YlJ4-93W","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23612,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/budget-highlights-city-council-november-voting-session\/","url_meta":{"origin":34840,"position":0},"title":"Budget Highlights City Council November Voting Session","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"November 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"JAMESTOWN - The Jamestown City Council will meet Monday in city hall for its monthly voting session. 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