Author: Christen Hill

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Memphis City Council Members Approve CARES Act Funding

Memphis City Council reallocated $9.9 million of the city’s remaining CARES Act funding Tuesday but some disagreed on a residency requirement for some business owners.

The Trump Administration issued an extension on the funding, which was supposed to end December 2020, to the end of 2021. So, the city has more time to distribute the money to businesses, first responders, education, and more.

Shirley Ford, chief financial officer for the city of Memphis, asked to approve reallocation of that $9.9 million. Some of this money would be used for testing and administering the COVID-19 vaccine, while $2 million would go to hazard pay for level one employees from January through March.

An additional $1.2 million would be set for a stabilization grant for 78 business applications that includes some restaurants and other small businesses. She also asked for approval for $1 million to be added for an emergency relief program to be allocated through the vendor of council members’ choice.

“We approved $500,000 of the CARES Act funding that was allocated to businesses that may be located in Memphis but their owners reside outside of the city,” said council member Martavius Jones. “Of this $1.2 million and of the 78 applicants, are there any restrictions as to where the business owner lives?”

Ken Moody, special assistant to Mayor Jim Strickland, said the grant was for anyone who owned a business in the city of Memphis, no matter where they live. The previous CARES Act allocation to businesses limited grants to $120,000 for business owners who lived outside Memphis. Jones wanted to keep it that way in the current round of grant-making.

Only a total of 10 percent of the Memphis City CARES Act funding could go to counties outside of the city limits. This would mean that business owners who live in Shelby County would receive a fraction of that which those who live within Memphis city limits would. However, Shelby County received its own CARES Act funding for which they can apply.

Council member Chase Carlisle said this logic sounded “arbitrary.”

“The idea is to keep businesses open … it’s like we’re gonna punish someone because they don’t live here,” Carlisle said. “This program isn’t enriching somebody, it’s literally allowing them to keep their doors open so they can employ people in Memphis. So, where the owner resides has no impact on the restaurant operations for the retail operations in which we may employ people.”

Jones rebutted, “I was not elected by anybody outside of the city of Memphis. “So, my first priority will always be — and I will never make any apologies for advocating for — Memphis.”

Council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas supported Jones, noting it was a move to continue the process the council had already approved. Council member Dr. Jeff Warren worried it may hurt businesses and that “what was good for us then may not be good for us now.”

“It just makes sense to give it to them because we don’t have data … if that’s 40 percent people living outside of Memphis or 5 percent,” Warren said. “But we do know that they’re employing Memphians who are paying taxes.”

The committee voted against Jones’ grant-making procedure and the full council approved the overall reallocation of the $9.9 million in CARES Act funding.

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Memphis City Council Hears From MPD on Gang Violence

CREDIT: Memphis Police Department/Facebook

The Memphis City Council met with Memphis Police Department leaders today to discuss gang violence and crime prevention in the city. Deputy Chief Michael Hardy and Major Frank Winston gave a presentation that outlined where local gang activity is concentrated and demonstrated their expertise on the subject.

Memphis Police Department/Facebook

Hardy and Wilson said gangs in the Memphis area are generally managed under three major umbrella organizations: Folk Nation, People Nation, and Latino Gangs. Commonly known as Black Disciple Gangsters, Disciple Gangsters, and Playboy Surenos, these are the most prevalent in Memphis. They recruit young teens in their neighborhoods then send them off to commit a plethora of crimes, including grand theft auto, robbery, and obtaining illegal guns.         

There are 13,400 gang members on record in Memphis, and MPD says there are countless more juveniles who face little to no penalty for their criminal actions. MPD is working diligently to dismantle gang violence. Currently there are multiple federally funded programs that aid in this effort. 

“So what we’re saying now is that they’re coming together. And we call those local hybrid gangs now,” said Winston. A hybrid gang may be made up of childhood friends from differing gangs that collude to commit crimes. 

Last fall, MPD participated in “Operation Relentless Pursuit,” a federal effort to reduce gang violence in multiple cities, including Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, and Milwaukee.

“Every year, at every peak season we get a directive to target a certain neighborhood. The last one we completed was in Ridgeway Station and was very successful,” said Winston. The MPD, and the homicide Bureau, brought in over 28 individuals who committed homicides in Memphis and Shelby County.

In 2020, MPD entered 339 people to their Tracking Active Gang-members (TAG) database, including 661 felony arrests, 183 misdemeanor arrests, and 91 homicides recovered. Officers gave 37 gang presentations in schools and community meetings but said that COVID has made it difficult to do outreach. 

‘We need resources and tougher sentences on multi-offense violent criminals in the state, but we also have to look at the fact that we’ve got first-time juvenile offenders that desperately, desperately need resources,” said Councilman Chase Carlisle “And if there’s still an opportunity to save them, we’ve really got to figure out how to partner with the county commission and the state government on how to figure out a way to prevent a repeat offenders.” 

The MPD Gang Unit strongly suggested mentoring, community outreach, and local support of community policing to combat gang violence in the area.




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Mariposas Extends Holiday Toy Drive

Mariposas Collective is extending collection for their annual toy drive until the end of the year. They are working in conjunction with the Cooper-Young Community Association and Memphis Made to serve about 150 kids and 30 babies. The group wants to ensure they collect enough toys for all of the children to receive a gift for Three Kings Day, on Jan 6, 2021.

The gang’s all here!

Mariposas is a grassroots organization that provides relief for asylum seekers passing through Memphis via Greyhound buses. They provide shoes, toiletries and non-perishable foods throughout the year to those traveling.

People can bring unwrapped gifts for children ages 1-12 and drop them off at Memphis Made or Mariposas during the days/times listed below.

Memphis Made is at 761 Cooper Street, and Mariposas Collective is located in First Congregational Church at 1000 Cooper. 

Memphis Made (business hours):

Wednesday, 4-7 p.m.

Thursday, 4-7 p.m.

Friday, 4-10 p.m.

Saturday, 1-10 p.m.

Sunday, 1-7 p.m.



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City Council Supports Tougher Measures on COVID Restrictions

The Memphis City Council met virtually today to discuss the recent mandates on local business owners. The Shelby County Health Department has been vigilant about making businesses safer through health directives, and has cracked down on those who refuse to comply with the social distancing mandates.

As it stands, all non-essential businesses are strongly encouraged to stay closed from Dec 26th, 2020 – Jan 22nd, 2021. Retail business are to operate at 50 percent, and food businesses should operate at 25 percent capacity.

Council members seriously considered the issue of leaving many of the city’s restaurant and small business owners out of work, versus creating safer business environments through enforcing stricter mandates.

Shelby County Health Director Alisa Haushalter was an integral part of the conversation. “In an ideal world, given the amount of transmission nationwide, a national strategy is what’s needed. If there isn’t a national strategy, we need a state strategy,” said Haushalter. “And unfortunately we don’t have a state strategy and that’s in part because of a fundamental belief that local municipalities should make their own decisions,” she said.

City of Memphis/Facebook

Shelby County Health Department director Dr. Alisa Haushalter at COVID-19 Task Force briefing.


“If we put down a 25 percent on the restaurant, people are going to gather in their homes, and the odds of them not masking and socially distancing increases dramatically,” said Council Chair Frank Colvet. “Why can’t we consider 50 percent, if for no other reason that if people are still going to party, at least they will do it in a fairly safer environment.”

“Honestly, we’ve got people in the community that aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do,” said Councilman Worth Morgan. “They’re not asymptomatic; they’re having symptoms and continuing to go about their normal lives.”

“It’s not just where we are today, it’s where we anticipate being in January and February if we don’t reduce transmission,” continued Haushalter. She recommends sheltering in place for two incubation cycles, with fears that opening businesses where people can continue to socialize with their masks off will further delay the city’s progress. She said that the health department will take a look at the numbers in two weeks to see if the rate of exposure has decreased. If so, they will consider opening restaurants back up at 50 percent capacity.

The council weighed all of the options available, and when it came down to it, Councilmember Martavious Jones reiterated the severity of what could happen if the city doesn’t act. “Based on the information that [infectious disease specialist] Dr. Jain has presented us, we could have 100 percent more deaths. I’m going to ask you: which one of your loved ones do you want to sacrifice? There’s not a damn one that I want to sacrifice,” he said.

CDC

While many businesses have complied with the mandates, Morgan stated that the orders are simply an act of solidarity, and that the Council has no real say in what actually gets enforced.

“We’ve been getting a lot of emails, calls about the issues and because we’re voting on it, I think a lot of the public think we have a direct say in what’s in this directive. Whatever action we take this day is a support measure. It means absolutely nothing, to be perfectly honest in terms of what gets enacted and what doesn’t,” he said.

“As legislators as elected officials, we have to turn our attention to how we can help,” said Councilmember Rhonda Logan. “What can we do? What funds are available? What agencies are in place to help these business owners who may have to close or may have to pivot?”

As a show of solidarity and to support the restaurant industry, The Memphis City Council agreed to forego 75 percent of their council pay for the duration of this mandate, potentially as a gift to charity, or back to the city as grants to the restaurants. Their salary is about $30,000 a year, so one month of that is $2,500. 75 percent of that that would be $1,800, totaling to a little over $24,000 from all 13 members. They are prepared to continue giving for months if they must.



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Lawmakers Urge Lee for Mask Mandate

Tennessee General Assembly

Clockwise from top left Rep. London Lamar, Rep. Vincent Dixie, Senator Brenda Gilmore, and Rep. Yusuf Hakeem.

Governor Bill Lee

A group of Democratic Tennessee lawmakers urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to issue a mask mandate immediately.

Lee announced Sunday that new social gathering restrictions would be put in place for the state of Tennessee. He signed an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 people. However, places of worship, weddings, some sporting events, and funerals are exempt from the order.

Lee has still not implemented a mask mandate despite pleas from healthcare workers and local lawmakers. Though Tennessee is a hotspot for virus growth, Lee has refused to order a mask mandate and refused again on Sunday, calling such mandates a “heavily politicized issue.”


In a virtual news conference Monday, Tennessee state Senator Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) spoke about how COVID-19 has hit Black and brown communities hardest. 

Gilmore

“COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate but institutionalized bias toward Black and brown people is causing a high rate for African Americans and Latinos, not only in Tennessee but across this country,” she said. “It’s ravaging people of color. Approximately 60 percent of the people who have died are African Americans and Latinas. It doesn’t mean that we’re more susceptible to get this virus. It just means that when we’re infected, we are most likely to die from it.”

State Rep. London Lamar (D- Memphis) said, ”[Lee] made this a political issue when he decided not to implement a mask mandate and further our ability to kill more Tennesseans by not putting in his mandate and forcing us to protect one another. 

Lamar

On the executive order, Lamar stated, “that’s not enough, we wouldn’t have to do that if we would have implemented a mass mandate, a long time ago,” she went on to say that she is tired of going to funerals during the holidays.

“I’ve never been in the shoes of our governor, Governor Lee,” said State Rep. Yussuf Hakim (D-Chattanooga), “but I believe it’s been laid out clearly that there’s great harm being done to the average citizen in the state of Tennessee. When you talk about us being the worst in the world, that means to me that you have to take exceptional actions to mitigate such circumstances.”

Hakim

Legislators on the call said that the Tennessee economy would not have been threatened if Lee had acted sooner.

”It is our fault that the Tennessee economy is suffering?” Lamar said. “Because businesses wouldn’t have to limit operations businesses and could still be functioning the way they’re functioning in other states if we implement simple tactics like mask mandates,” said Lamar. “We are killing our own economy, because we are not acting with leadership and courage and responsibility. We have over $1 billion in a fund that would be could be used to help families during this difficult time.”

They cited several republican politicians who also supported stronger measures to protect Tennesseans, like Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, and former U.S. Senator Bill Frist.

Dixie

“Let’s take the power; let’s lead by example,” said state Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville). “I would like for us to increase testing even though we have a vaccine. I think the approach that Governor Lee seems to be taking is the survival of the fittest.”

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City Council Hopes Small Area Redevelopment Will Spark Growth

The Memphis City Council met on Tuesday, December 15th, to discuss more development in small areas that they hope will revitalize the city. The Small Community Planning and Development committee will target seven areas. Neighborhoods that will be focused on at the beginning of 2021 will be Klondike, South City, Orange Mound, White Haven Plaza, and Raleigh Town Center.

The topic was brought up because Councilwoman Easter-Thomas received some questions from her constituents asking about the benefits to the upgrades to their communities. John Zeanah, director of the Division of Planning and Development, was the primary point of contact, and presented a guidebook for the city planning process. Development will begin with smaller community changes in order to kick start the Memphis 3.0 plan. He referenced the Memphis 3.0 annual update, which was made available on December 2nd.

“This is supposed to be a framework for the future growth of the city,” said Zeanah.

Raleigh Town Center, Elvis Presley Blvd., and Raines were completed late last year. They have been working with the developers from HED and the Binghampton Development Corporation.

They consider whether a place needs an anchor business to help attract new residents. An anchor business in the Orange Mound Historic Melrose district, for example, can have a larger impact on the surrounding area.

Public involvement is recommended and encouraged. Council member Rhonda Logan stressed the need for oversight after the development has completed.

Caritas Village in Binghampton offers multiple programs for residents.

“Are there meetings to come back and look at where we are and continue to maximize the opportunity? Can we build that into the plan?,” asked Logan.

“We did not have a designation plan in the Raleigh Town Center but that is now a part of the guide,” said Zeanah. “When there is a regulatory measure, like a a change in the land use or change in zoning to be made obviously, that’s something that the follow up is on the collective us,” he said.



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Q&A: A Sit Down with Co-Owner of Slim and Husky’s

CREDIT: Christen Hill

We had an opportunity to attend the soft opening of Slim and Husky’s, a new build-your-own-style pizzeria in downtown Memphis. The owners, Derrick Moore, Emanuel Reed, and Clint Gray started as high school buddies. Now they’ve become wildly successful business tycoons. What started out as a dream in a garage making their favorite pizza concoctions has snowballed into seven stores and counting. They are largely community focused and believe that supporting those they serve is paramount. 

Christen Hill

Slim and Husky’s staff presents Nashville Hot pizza

Memphis Flyer: So you say you had an executive chef, to help build your initial recipes?

Clint Gray: We brought in an executive chef, Chef Jason Williams, to, you know, kind of help us hone our craft and get the pieces together and the flavor profiles right. So we worked on that for like two years. In the process, North Nashville was going through gentrification, the early stages. And so we use our product to, basically, unite different neighbors that had issues with each other, at like community organization events or like clean-up events or just neighborhood meetings and things like that.

Did y’all have a storefront at the time?

No, we didn’t. We made it out of the garage. It was just a commercial garage. I’m not gonna say we outfitted it, but we made it happen. It was basically empty.


Did people pay?

No, no, we were giving it all away for free.


So how did you afford to give pizza away?

Yeah, so we had our own company running at the time. A transportation business, moving and storage, and expediting. So we were still doing that in the process of figuring out how to make a pizza.


So pizza was your big dream?

It was just… hospitality was like some that we really wanted to get into. Pizza historically is low-cost startup. However, we wanted to create a pizza product that was fitting for the neighborhood, but also gave you a lot of culture. And that’s where pizza, art, and music came in.

Christen Hill

Slim and Husky’s Owners Clint Gray, Emauel Reedy and Derrick Moore pose for a photo

Oh, okay. Tell me about it.

So our theme is pizza art and music. So, you know, we want our spaces to feel like mini art galleries. So like even in this space, you know, we’ve got about five or six art pieces that haven’t gone up yet but that wall behind you will be full of art. And then we’ve got an art gallery that’s going upstairs.

How long has Slim & Husky’s been in Nashville?

We opened march of 2017. And we opened our second store in July  — I’m sorry — in June of 2017, and then another six months later we opened the third. And then we went to Atlanta a year after that. And then, six months after that, we opened another one in Atlanta. And then we opened our sixth location in Sacramento, California,

Sactown! What do you think has been the cause of the success of your store? I mean, it’s just pizza.

It’s just been a combination of a few things, I think. You know, starting off, I would say pizza — our product is really good. Then, just, we’re very authentic and how we do things not just on the pizza side but just our brand in general. We are a very active community-based business. So for example, I guess today we fed over 600 teachers here. You know, our social impact initiatives revolves around education. So, we always feed teachers first in our restaurants. We just do tons of community work. On the 21st of December in Nashville, we’re feeding an entire housing project. We provide frozen pizza for them to have throughout the holidays. We’re always looking to give back and engage the community, the same way we engage customers.

Whatever happened to the transportation company?

We sold it.

How do you keep up now with all of the demand of the restaurants?

We’re very big on scaling and systems. Going into our business, we took a lot from the movie The Founder, and how McDonald’s was built. So every process that we started out doing we would document, from day one. We still document that day — like changes that we make. We create SOPs and systems and checklists, like a lot of new restaurants starting off won’t have ready until about three or four years. We did those things on day one.

Was hiring all-black staff, building laborers and skilled workers intentional?

Very Intentional. We believe in ownership, as well as keeping the dollars in our communities. So we purchased this building, and we developed it with Fifer and Associates, spending the development of dollars with other black-owned companies. Because we want to build our communities and build our culture and show people that we can do things on our own. That was very important to us. I think we’re responsible for the inclusion process before anybody else. America has never really done a great job of including us. We’re not the type of businessman and not gonna sit back and wait. We want to make things happen for ourselves in our community.


How did you come across the builders for the space?

So, Fifer and Associates is an awesome company. First and foremost, but we’ve had a great a lot of different friends and family. Through friends from Tennessee State University. Somebody we reached out to initially, And I believe Moe met Carlos through Anderson contractors. We were all roommates in college at TSU. Moe and I both signed with my football at TSU. And so we became teammates, friends, and we just kind of stuck with each other since college and, you know, kind of worked on building our dreams together.

Christen Hill

Slim and Husky’s employee taking an order.

Do you have a passion for cooking, or do you have a passion for eating?

Moe and I both have passions for cooking. I’m a pro-amateur chef, not quite, all the way pro but we’re not all the way amateur. And then EJ is like a taste tester.

You have six stores. Why is Memphis number seven?

Memphis was initially supposed to be the third store we have. We bought this building and it was a really big project from a renovation standpoint. It’s a 95-year-old building. COVID really slowed it down, so it ended up taking about a year and a half, two years.


What’s your next plan, taking over the whole world?

We’ve got two more openings. Pretty soon we got downtown Nashville, on Broadway. it’s gonna be real big for us. And it sits right in the same complex of the new National Museum of African American Music. And then we’ve got another one in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We’ve hired a super strong team here in Memphis. And we’re really excited because we’ve been able to recruit people with restaurant experience; managers, assistant managers, as well as just our core talent in this store. We are really confident in, and prepared to provide Memphis with a top-notch product.

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Free Mental Health Services for Kids at Le Bonheur

CREDIT: Jeanne Seagle

The University of Memphis (U of M) has been awarded a new grant to assist in the mental health of children who are seen at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. The program focuses on patients who have endured trauma of any kind. 

Jeanne Seagle

‘I Can Fly,’ glass tile mosaics, design by Jeanne Seagle, fabrication by Lea Holland, Jeanne Seagle and Pomegrante Studio

Dr. Erin Schauss, who oversees the Brain Center at the University of Memphis, was awarded a grant from the Urban Child Institute to help children affected by COVID-19. But Schauss says the services offered are not just for those affected by COVID-19. 

“COVID impacts different people, differently. It could be someone who lost both parents in a car accident or the victim of a gunshot wound,” said Schauss.

The pandemic has brought about new challenges to the city. With city and county schools being virtual, many children are cut off from the valuable mental health services offered through the school counselors and teachers. This program is another avenue for children who need the added emotional support. 

The grant is slated to begin January 4, 2021, and will offer free behavioral health therapy to patients being seen at Le Bonheur. 

Schauss’ entire career has been devoted to helping everyone overcome their mental health challenges. 

“At the U of M, our work is focused on resilience. The neuroplasticity of the brain is amazing. You’ve got your genes and you’ve got your experiences,” Schauss said. “The more we can intervene for somebody who may be having slight symptoms earlier in life, the longer the longevity of their mental health.”

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Alliance Healthcare Recognized for Work with Memphis First Responders

The Alliance Healthcare Services has been awarded an Innovation Award for their partnership in creating the Crisis Assessment Response to Emergencies (CARE) with Memphis first responders. 

The award, which was presented to them by the Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organization (TAMHO), highlights their work in preventing unnecessary jail time for those with mental illness. 

Specially trained police officers and firefighters named the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) are dispatched based upon 911 call received in the area. (They talk people off of bridges — literally.) They are accompanied with a behavioral health expert, to handle the situation. 

“We noticed that we had a certain subset of people who would frequently called 911. From our research, we identified 111 people that called 911 at least 3 times a week,” said Laurie Powell, CEO of Alliance Healthcare Services. 

Alliance offers services for things like drug and alcohol treatment, child abuse, medication assistance, and intensive outpatient services. Therefore, they wanted to design a solution to arresting people who simply needed mental healthcare. 

This significantly cuts down on excessive 911 calls and frees up more resources for the city’s first responders. 

“The cost of taking them to a hospital setting is so much more than bringing them to a state-run crisis center; there’s also a cost of being in the ER and the cost of holding them in jail,” Powell said. 

In fact, mental illness has affect so many Americans this year. According to the latest TAMHO newsletter in June of this year:

A June 2020 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of 5412 US adults found that 40.9% of respondents reported “at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition,” including depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress, and substance abuse, with rates that were 3 to 4 times the rates 1 year earlier. Remarkably, 10.7% of respondents reported seriously considering suicide in the last 30 days.

In 2017, they were awarded a grant by the department of mental health. Their crisis center serves more than 500 people per month. “We talked to the community; we met with both mayors’ offices and we said ‘What do you think this community needs to divert people more from jail?’” she said. 

Some question the need for officers being on the scene of a behavioral health situation, yet because the officers are responding to a 911 emergency call, they must go. The 911 dispatcher can assess if they need the CIT, then CIT officers can assure the scene is safe.

“Our care team, which we won the award for, is able to get to know these individuals and come up with a specific treatment plan for them. There are certain individuals who are arrested that never make it to a clinic. Part of our success is that we have seen individuals gain access to much needed follow up care to try to create long term stability,” Powell said.

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Local Leaders Oppose TN ‘Stand Your Ground’ Bill

CREDIT: Tn.gov

Local civil rights leaders are opposing a new bill that will allow the use of deadly force to prevent personal — or personal property crimes. 

House Bill 11 would allow citizens to take matters into their own hands if their personal property is being violated. At first glance, the bill seems reasonable, but local civil rights leaders fear that it will put innocent people in direct danger.

“Similar to what happened to Ahmad Arbery in Georgia, they perceived him to have stolen something in that house then they chased him down and killed him,” said Rev. Walter Womack of the Southern Christian Leadership Council. That incident turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, where neighbors thought a man jogging in their neighborhood was a criminal. 

ShelbyCountyTn.gov

Van Turner

Van Turner, president of the Memphis chapter of the NAACP, raised the same concerns.
“This is a piece of legislation that comes from nowhere in the midst of a pandemic,” he said. “Every day, for the last two weeks, I’ve gotten a report of someone that I know who has passed from COVID-19. In the midst of all this death and despair, the efforts of our Tennessee General Assembly should focus on relieving folks from this.” 

The Tennessee bill seems much like the Castle Doctrine Law better known as the ‘Stand Your Ground law,’ where individuals have the right to use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect themselves against an intruder in their home. 

The difference in the House Bill 11 and the Castle Doctrine is that the language states  “When and to the degree the person reasonably believes deadly force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other from committing or attempting to commit the following offenses …” This means that the person being violated would not have to be in immediate danger, themselves. 

Under current law, if a suspect is running away from the scene of the crime, you cannot legally shoot at them. If this bill is passed, a citizen can do so without penalty. 

Tn.gov

Jay Reedy

Rep. Jay Reedy, who sponsored the bill, argues that citizens should have the right to protect their possessions. “I would like to understand why people should not be able to protect their property, and I’m waiting for a returned phone call from the NAACP.” 

As soon as the NAACP posted their grievance about the law, Reedy says his office tried to to call and set up a meeting to hash out the language in the bill. Turner said that he has not received a call from Reedy’s office. 

“The bill is so vague that if you thought that someone stole from you, then you can kill them,” said Vickie Terry, Executive Director of NAACP, Memphis. “It’s racially based and since it is a statewide law, it’s a kind of loophole for shooting unarmed people.” 
    

The law raises the case of Trayvon Martin, where George Zimmerman took it upon himself to profile and shoot the unarmed teen because of his perceived threat against the community. “You can’t allow people to just go and deputize themselves and take the law into their own hands,” said Womack.

The timing isn’t appropriate. Plus, the focus should be on people and not things” said Turner. “The measure would promote even more violence in the city.” 

The bill, which was filed several weeks ago, is slated to go to the state house floor in early 2021. The session starts January 12th and probably won’t be heard in committee until the end of January or early February.