A month ago we filed this. It accomplished a lot, but not with respect to the City of New York — whereas in Redmond City, Milwaukee and DC, they got the hint:
De Blasio said he does not believe “Black Lives Matter” is “a political message in the traditional sense.”
“I think it’s a message about human respect and the value of human beings and addressing the fact that one group amongst us in particular has been devalued for centuries and that can’t go on,” Hizzoner said.
But civil liberties lawyer Norman Siegel called the mayor out for claiming his BLM moves have not been political. “De Blasio, once again, doesn’t get it,” said Siegel. “He got it wrong.
“He’s putting something out there that isn’t valid. How can you argue that it’s not a political statement? How did he pick the block between 56th and 57th Street,” Siegel said, referring to the location of the BLM mural in front of Trump Tower.
The former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union said the mayor’s argument wouldn’t hold up in court.
“Once you open the door and allow Black Lives Matter murals to be on the streets of New York, you can’t now turn down Blue Lives Matter. That would be a violation of the free speech provision of the Constitution,” Siegel said.
“De Blasio says Black Lives Matter matters more than all other groups”
So… here we go::
ECF-Doc_13-2_Memo_Law_ISO_Pltf_Motion_PI
