In a series of tweets sent Tuesday morning, Kriseman emphasized that peaceful protesters from both sides of the political spectrum are welcome in St. Pete, but violence and destruction of property will not be tolerated.
“Let me be very clear about this – we are not a city that permits violence or destruction of property. If you do either, you will be arrested. Our police are fully empowered to keep our residents safe and they will continue to do so to the best of their ability,” said Kriseman.
Kriseman also added that, "St. Pete has not had the kinds of violence and vandalism we’ve seen elsewhere."
The mayor also said that "cursing at diners," and giving someone the finger is “not advancing your cause,” in an apparent reference to a viral video from the Tampa Bay Times showing an altercation between Black Lives Matter protesters and diners on Beach Drive NE.
Kriseman also stated that labeling all protesters as “part of a mob, anarchists, or enemies of this country,” because of “a few bad protestors” is not acceptable, while also pointing out that citizens need to actually file police reports and press charges if police are to be effective.
“If you're a victim of unlawful behavior, of a crime, you must call the police and be willing to press charges, to prosecute," said Kriseman. "If you are a business and someone is doing something illegal on your property, you must call the police and you, too, must be willing to press charges.”
There is clearly an effort throughout the country to fan the flames and stoke fears, to paint a picture of lawlessness in American cities. That’s not going to work here.
— Rick Kriseman (@Kriseman) September 29, 2020
Last week, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay requested the 911 calls made from people dining at the restaurant where the confrontation with protesters occurred. A total of three calls were made to dispatchers on Sept. 23, and none of the callers pressed charges or were willing to file a police report.
Lastly, Kriseman also called for out-of-town agitators to stay away. “Those coming from out of town to cause trouble here, whether on the left or right, are not welcome here,” said Kriseman. “If you intend to peacefully protest or counter protest, have at it, but keep your guns and knives or any other weapon at home.”
Kriseman's Twitter thread comes as multiple pro-police counter-protests are planned for this weekend in downtown St. Petersburg.
This Saturday, Oct., 3, a “Take Back DTSP” event is planned in St. Petersburg. According to the Facebook event page, the event is organized by the Tampa-based “Blue Thunder” motorcycle group, who say it's “taking downtown St Pete back from a group of Snowflake Sheep and some lawless thugs that have been increasingly disrespectful of citizens enjoying their evenings.”
As of now, over 200 bikers have RSVP’d for the event, including the “Pasco County Trumpetts.”
Also, a separate “Patriotic MAGA Rally” to “save” downtown St. Petersburg is planned for this Saturday. The event has been promoted by local troll Jonathan Riches, who also was marching/live-streaming with the counter-protesters last Sunday who pulled a gun on BLM activists.
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This article appears in Oct 8-15, 2020.