City council to vote on review of protests

City council to vote on review of protests

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Happening now -- the huntsville city council meeting is still going on almost five hours after it began tonight.

Part of their agenda is to vote on a third-party review of huntsville police actions taken leading up to and during the early june protests.

Waay 31's will robinson-smith has been inside the meeting all night.

He joins us live with what members of the public came out to say about the police department and the city.

More than 40 people signed up to speak tonight about both the protests earlier this month and the confederate monument at the courthouse.

The city council considered three proposals: two from councilwoman francis akridge and one from councilman bill kling.

Both proposals call for the huntsville police citizens advisory council to conduct a thorough and independent investigation.

Several people who spoke tonight criticized last week's report on the june third protest by huntsville police chief mark mcmurray.

Speakers not only called for a re-evaluation of the police, but some went a step further.

To this end, mayor battle, i call for the removal of chief mcmurray and if you're unable to perform your duty in finding a competent replacement, i call for your resignation as well.

We are concerned the chief's perception appears to be driven by biases, false assumptions, group think and fear, which led to unnecessary escalation."

Part of tonight's city council was also to reappoint two members of the citizens advisory council and appoint a new member to the 10 person board.

We're still monitoring the meeting tonight to see which, if any, of the three resolutions are adopted and when the work on the report will begin.

Reporting live in huntsville, will robinson-smith, waay 31 news.