Highland Council chief executive steps in to quell outrage at threats to remove Black Lives Matter signs
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Highland Council's chief executive has stepped in to try and calm community outrage at the threatened removal of Black Lives Matter posters from an Inverness bridge.
After a council spokesman initially threatened that posters would be removed from Ness Bridge this morning if they were not taken down yesterday, chief executive Donna Manson wrote to all councillors to tell them the posters would be removed in negotiation with organisers.
A variety of messages appeared in the city centre over the weekend, prompted by the death of African-American George Floyd (46), while in police custody in the United States last month.
In an email sent to councillors and shared on social media by Inverness South councillor Duncan Macpherson, Ms Manson said: "Thank you for your emails of concern today regarding the posters that have been displayed across the Highlands in response to the tragic events in the USA.
"I can confirm that the Highland Council have not and will not remove these posters e.g. on the Ness Bridge in Inverness.
"We are in discussions with the organisers who have offered to remove the posters at a respectful time still to be confirmed.
"We will release a corporate communications [sic] on this matter to clarify the council’s position."
Last night, after speaking to a council official, Inverness Central councillor Emma Roddick told the Courier that the local authority had changed its initial position and wanted the signs to be collected by 6pm today. She said there had been confusion over who had organised for the signs to be placed there.
