Mayor Andy Berke spoke before Chattanooga City Council on Tuesday on the shooting massacre that left five service members dead, taking time to celebrate the valor of the Chattanooga Police Department and the larger community’s response in a time of crisis.
He said, “This attacker tried to tear at the very fabric of our community, but our city is too resilient to be ripped apart. Instead, Chattanoogans have responded with compassion, spirit, and unity.”
With reference to the men who died, he said, “They leave behind wives, children, parents, each of whom is aching from this terrible event, we owe each of these heroes and their families, a deep debt of gratitude.”
But despite the bloodshed and grief that the city has had to bear this week, Mayor Berke was able to point to the moments of strength, courage, and kindness that have been demonstrated time and again in whatever capacity community members are capable of.
From the bravery of the officers who responded that day, to the city that has gathered around the victims and their families, he said that the community is “determined to heal not as individuals, but together.”
Speaking about the bravery shown by police officers that day, he said that they “Raced into heavy fire to take down the perpetrator of this deadly rampage, chasing down the vehicle on amnicola, advancing despite a lack of cover and heavy artillery fire, pulling people to safety.”
He went on, “These were not the actions of unknown idealized superheros from faraway, they were done by our colleagues. Officers who sit in this very chamber. People who pal around with us in the hallway.”
“Who are our friends.”
He said, that a marine sergeant who addressed members of the police department with Mayor Berke at a previous meeting this week said, “Mayor, if I were headed into a firefight I would want the Chattanooga Police Department to have my back. You should be proud.”
Though Chattanooga has enjoyed national coverage on so many happier topics about the city’s successes before the tragedy, and that “those accolades now seem hollow,” he said, “Over the last few days, the nation has seen our character.”
After the council meeting, the floor was opened for public comments and one woman, Mary Staggs, requested that a 60-day ordinance be put in place to prevent picketers, potentially Westboro Baptist Church, from demonstrating at the funeral services of the slain military personnel.
She presented the proposal with a copy of a similar ordinance that the city of Charleston passed after the mass-shooting that took place there.
The council agreed that the city should work to prevent that, but the city attorney, Phil Noblett, pointed out that a federal statute already prohibits any such activity within 150 feet of the funeral site and further demands that the protest be limited to end an hour before the service starts and begin again an hour after the service has concluded.
He also said that a Tennessee state statute goes even further and prohibits demonstrators from picketing within 500 feet of the funeral service.