Woodfin: “My primary goal right now is being a support system for a city that is in immense pain.” (Facebook, Screengrab)
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By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times
Nearly a week after a mass shooting in Five Points South left four dead and 17 wounded and a week of back and forth with a state lawmaker over the shooting, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said in a Facebook post Friday that he “messed up” by posting a dig on social media at state Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham.
The mayor said he took his eye off the ball and the post was “a mistake.”
Last weekend, authorities in Birmingham said “multiple suspects” opened fire in Birmingham’s busy entertainment district, killing four people, injuring 17 and leaving city residents shaken.
“In the middle of all of this, I messed up,” Woodfin said in the 3-minute video. “In a human moment I took my eyes off the 99 percent of our local and state and federal partners and Birmingham residents who have been nothing but supportive and put too much focus on the 1 percent who are not. It was a mistake and I own it.”
Going forward the mayor said the focus will be on “the real work” taking place in the city including support of local police and violence prevention programs.
“We will be rolling out new measures in the coming days to reverse the devasting culture of violence. My primary goal right now is being a support system for a city that is in immense pain,” he said. “… Birmingham’s legacy is rooted in one word ‘resilience.’ Resilience. We have looked terror in the face without flinching. We have demanded justice in our darkest hours, and we’ve achieved it. Birmingham has overcome the odds before. We will overcome this, but we must do it together.”
The mayor said he’s spent “just about every moment” dealing with the tragedy. In addition to meeting with families, city, state and federal officials the mayor on Thursday joined President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the East Room of the White House to address gun violence in America.
After last week’s mass shooting Givan said on Monday that maybe the Alabama National Guard needs to be deployed to help the short-staffed Birmingham Police deal with the city’s violent crime problem.
On his Facebook page, the mayor shared headshots of all the state lawmakers representing Jefferson County to say thanks “for working in partnership with City of Birmingham to address our public safety issues.”
But on Givan’s photo, the mayor added in red text, “not you.”
The move was widely criticized in the media and a number of African American leaders said the focus should be on public safety.
