Activists Backpedal on Verrazano Bridge March and Vow Pressure on D.A. In Garner Case

[hrmjustin]

By Jillian Jorgensen

Activists who have been touting a plan to march over the Verrazano Bridge shifted their position among mounting opposition Friday, saying they were less concerned with walking on the bridge than with applying pressure to Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan to bring charges in the death of Eric Garner.

“Staten Island is an island. The way to get on the island is to go over the bridge. We are going to go over the bridge one way or another — on foot, on heels, or on wheels. That determination has to be made with those we are working with, but we will be taking thousands of people to Staten Island,” Kirsten John Foy, northeastern regional director of Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, told reporters Friday.

His comments come after Mr. Sharpton — who recently defended his plans to march over the bridge to the Observer — told the Daily News he was open to changing the location. Several Staten Island elected officials, all of them Republican, have come out in opposition to the march’s planned location, and Democrat Public Advocate Letitia James joined the chorus of dissenters Friday afternoon.

Read more at http://observer.com/2014/08/activists-backpedal-on-verrazano-bridge-march-and-vow-pressure-on-d-a-in-garner-case/#ixzz39u0vOKbs

[hrmjustin]

1. Letitia James Says Al Sharpton’s Planned Verrazano March is a Bridge Too Far

Will Bredderman

Democratic Public Advocate Letitia James today joined a chorus of Republican lawmakers insisting Rev. Al Sharpton call off a planned march across the Verrazano Bridge protesting the death of Eric Garner.

Unlike the GOPers, who complained that Mr. Sharpton’s rally would cause nightmarish traffic congestion, Ms. James cited concerns over the safety of the demonstrators while crossing the span linking Brooklyn with Mr. Garner’s native Staten Island. The pol noted that the bridge and its approaches are designed only for cars.

“In light of structural issues and the lack of an established pedestrian walkway, plans to march across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge should be discontinued,” Ms. James said in a statement. “The tragic death of Eric Garner and other concerning incidents prompt substantive and real reforms for policing throughout New York City, and certainly, the voices of all New Yorkers should be a part of achieving this reform. However, as we move forward, I urge everyone to consider the health and safety of New Yorkers exercising their right to civil protest.”



Read more at http://observer.com/2014/08/letitia-james-says-al-sharptons-planned-verrazano-march-is-a-bridge-too-far/#ixzz39u2kkE39

[hrmjustin]

2. Bill de Blasio Won’t Attend Al Sharpton’s March, Wherever It’s Held

Jillian Jorgensen

Wherever Rev. Al Sharpton holds his much-debated march in the wake of Eric Garner’s death, Mayor Bill de Blasio won’t be there.

“I don’t plan on attending that event. I plan on doing a number of other things that I think are going to help move this forward,” Mr. de Blasio told the Observer Friday at a unrelated 9 p.m. press conference in a Brooklyn community center.

Mr. Sharpton had originally planned to hold his August 23 march on the Verrazano Bridge, a span that connects Eric Garner’s native Staten Island to Brooklyn, where black teenager Yusuf Hawkins was shot to death 25 years ago. But in the wake of safety and logistical concerns, it appears Mr. Sharpton is reconsidering.



Read more at http://observer.com/2014/08/bill-de-blasio-wont-attend-al-sharptons-march-wherever-its-held/#ixzz39u34P3bN