Seven anti-police radicals on the Memphis City Council overturned the mayor’s veto of legislation that would have allowed citizens to vote on whether to hire police officers who do not live in the city. It was a stunning endorsement of the historic lawlessness that has gripped the Bluff City.
“The ordinance strips the right of the Citizens of Memphis to decide on the issues of public safety and crime prevention … Let the public vote,” Strickland wrote in his notice to council announcing the veto. It was his first veto since taking office in 2016.The Memphis 7 voted 7-6 to overturn the mayor’s veto.
That means there will not be any vote and the people of Memphis will not be allowed to have a say on public safety.
“A council majority stripped the public of its right to vote,” the mayor said in a statement to the Commercial Appeal.Robyn Walensky, the host of KWAM’s Wake Up Memphis, blasted the city council for putting politics ahead of protecting city residents.
“I don’t agree with every single thing this mayor has done, but he’s on the right side of this issue,” Walensky said. “And now the safety of the people here is definitely at stake. Cutting through the garbage that’s the bottom line.”
Councilman Chase Carlisle voted against overriding the mayor’s veto.“It’s a shame the voice of the people continues to be silenced by the very same individuals who ran on platforms of ensuring the voices of the people would be heard,” he told the newspaper. “There is no greater survey of the citizens than a vote.”
The radical anti-cop leftists who overturned the veto included Michalyn Easter-Thomas, JB, Smiley Jr., Rhonda Logan, Jamita Swearengen, Patrice Robinson, Martavius Jones, and Cheyenne Johnson.
The council members voting against: J. Ford Canale, Chase Carlisle, Frank Colvett. Edmund Ford Sr, Worth Morgan and Jeff Warren.
