Jacksonville City Hall emails reveal discussions before guideline signs went up

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4Jax I-TEAM has obtained interior emails showing what was happening down the scenes astatine Jacksonville City Hall before signs were posted successful the building, telling visitors they cannot spell to definite areas without permission.

Public records amusement that connected Sept. 9, Mayor Lenny Curry’s main administrative serviceman scheduled a gathering astir “public property” successful his bureau with metropolis attorneys.

A fewer days later, records show, an lawyer for the metropolis texted his workfellow asking for a gathering Monday, saying, “We person a task assigned.” Also included with that substance is simply a screenshot of a paper missive to the exertion criticizing a protestation that took spot extracurricular City Hall a fewer weeks back. The Northside Coalition of Jacksonville had gone to the mayor’s office, demanding helium travel done with a committedness to region the city’s remaining Confederate monuments.

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The writer of the paper missive is Seber Newsome, who’s a predominant antagonistic protester astatine Confederate demonstrations. In the letter, Newsome suggested the protesters who went into City Hall should person been arrested, going connected to say, “I deliberation maine and immoderate friends volition bash this with a megaphone and with Confederate flags and sing ‘Dixie.’ If arrested, we volition writer for discrimination.”

The adjacent morning, 1 of those metropolis attorneys got an email saying from a workfellow saying they had learned the Northside Coalition was readying to protestation astatine City Hall again connected Tuesday.

He forwarded the email to different metropolis attorney, saying, “Ok present it is an emergency. Please spot maine asap.”

Ben Frazier, president of the Northside Coalition, said helium feels targeted.

“It says that they were directing these signs astatine a Black-led enactment and astatine a Black assemblage organizer,” helium said.

In an email thread with the taxable enactment “Signs (city hallway protests)” that was marked “high” importance, metropolis attorneys traded notes connected drafts of signs, which pass radical not to spell upstairs.

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“It’s conscionable wrong,” Frazier said. “These signs are successful effect a vicious and vile effort to forestall the citizens from exercising their rights.”

In an email, the city’s manager of nationalist works directs the main of nationalist buildings to person the signs up by noon connected Tuesday -- the day of the astir caller protest.

News4Jax requested a remark from the city. A spokesperson said determination was an speech betwixt members of the medication and OGC to find what existing options were disposable to forestall the disruption of metropolis business.

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