‘Take a breath right now’ Marty Walsh tells Bostonians as Election Day voting wraps up

Mayor Martin Walsh says that people need to “take a breath right now” as businesses continue to board up in downtown Boston ahead of election results coming in.

“Let the process take its course,” Walsh told reporters when asked about possible protests in the city. “Let’s see what happens. I would ask people to be respectful of each other.”

Businesses on Newbury Street and around other areas over the weekend began to gird for potential unrest, and by Tuesday many had plywood over their windows. No matter who ends up winning the bitterly contested election, many worry about widespread demonstrations in the days to come.

“We’re all Bostonians, and around the country, we’re all Americans,” Walsh said. “We need to take a breath right now, and we need a little peace in this country. Let’s give it a couple of days and see what happens.”

This follows a summer that included many protests in Boston and other parts of the nation, mostly centering around racial issues. Violence was common in several cities, but protests only devolved into rioting and looting once — the night of May 31, one of the first days of the demonstrations following the police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a Black man.

Walsh suggested that night — which including smash-and-grab looting from businesses around downtown — is weighing on the mind of business owners as more demonstrations loom, including at least one scheduled for Wednesday.

“A lot of businesses saw on May 31 a lot of destruction of property. We have not seen that in Boston really since the ’60s, I believe,” Walsh said when asked about owners boarding up shops. He said doing so was a decision that should be left up to the owner.

Walsh said, “It was a night that I took personally — and a lot of us did. I don’t anticipate anything like that in the city of Boston tonight, tomorrow night, the next night — regardless of how the upcoming election goes.”

Boston Police Commissioner William Gross on Monday said officers would be ready throughout the city and would be stationed at polling places, though he stressed there will not be an “overwhelming” police presence.

“I’ll be staying in close contact with the commissioner,” Walsh said, referring to his top cop. “Obviously, we have a plan to handle any different situation that might come up, and we’re going to take this a day at a time.”

The mayor, who voted early Tuesday morning in the Lower Mills Branch of the Boston Public Library near his Dorchester home, said he believes the city feels “hopeful.”

“As of right now we have no complaints at all of any type of incidents at our polls,” Walsh told reporters.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2HSuZhD