JANUARY 6 2020 RESPONSE

RESPONSE TO THE EVENTS OF JANUARY 6, 2020

In response to the events that occurred at our Nation's Capitol Building on January 6th, 2021, the members of AKINE have come up with a list of demands to our city officials.

They were emailed to Mayor LaChapelle, Police Chief Alberti, and the City Council on Sunday, January 10th, 2021.

Click here to sign the petition on Change.org:

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EASTHAMPTON CITY COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRACY

AND THE REMOVAL OF THE "THIN BLUE LINE"

Given the white supremacist insurrection that occurred at our nations Capitol on Wednesday January 6, 2021, we as residents of Easthampton demand the following:

A public statement by Easthampton Police Department Chief Alberti condemning the actions of the Capitol Police on January 6, 2021 that supported white supremacist and fascist violence.
The Chief, Mayor LaChapelle and the Easthampton City Council release a statement condemning the thin blue line—the flag that rioters displayed at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and that is currently displayed at the Public Safety building and on the Easthampton Police Union jacket.
The EPD will also commit to immediately remove this symbol from municipal buildings and disallow this symbol to be worn by any municipal employee while on duty or acting in an official capacity.
Chief Alberti and EPD will apologize publicly for participating in the “Back the Blue” rallies during the summer and on November 1, 2020 with the Pioneer Valley Massachusetts for Trump 2020 group that actively participated in events which led to insurrection and the brutal violence on January 6, 2021.
Chief Alberti will publicly acknowledge that public alignment with such groups is reprehensible and is not in keeping with developing trust and esteem within the community of Easthampton and will commit to not using law enforcement officers or any municipal staff or public funds in such capacity in the future.
A public statement from Mayor LaChapelle, Chief Alberti, and the Easthampton City Council certifying that no EPD officers were present at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The same group who was escorted by the EPD through Easthampton on November 1, 2020 led a caravan from West Springfield to Washington DC to participate in the insurrection. We would like to be assured that no members of the EPD were involved and upon finding any evidence of participation or abetting participation will move to investigate.

As Easthampton residents, we ask for our elected officials to ensure democracy is protected and racism is condemned.