City councilors in Barre, VT, approved a proposal Tuesday evening that authorizes the raising of the Black Lives Matter flag on city property for the month of the December, the resolution also calls for the flag to be lowered on New Year’s Day and replaced with the pro-police “Thin Blue Line” flag.
February will belong to a flag for the Green Mountain Boys. March is the Irish heritage flag. Among the flags that will be flown in Barre over the next 22 months are the flags of England, Italy, France, U.S. Marines, Autism Acceptance and the Star of David.
City Councilor John Steinman said Wednesday that the “compromise” resolution, which calls for 22 different flags to be flown over the next two years, was an attempt to quell outcry from opponents of the Black Lives Matter proposal, Vermont Public Radio reports.
“I was trying to diffuse a contentious, divisive council, and to be responsive to all the citizens of the City of Barre,” Steinman said.
Teddy Waszazak, one of three city councilors who opposed Steinman’s resolution, said the modified proposal undercuts the message that Black Lives Matter advocates were hoping to advance.
