3 BRONX WEEKLY June 7, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
Diaz, Clark and local offi cials call for
peaceful protests after Fordham Road riots
BY JASON COHEN
After rioters and looters
burned and destroyed Fordham
Road and Burnside Avenue
Monday night, elected
offi cials gathered Tuesday
afternoon to call for an end
to the madness.
On June 2, Borough President
Ruben Diaz Jr. was
joined by District Attorney
Darcel Clark, Speaker Carl
Heastie, elected offi cials,
community groups and
clergy to call for peaceful
protests following a night
of vandalism.
Businesses in the Fordham
Road Shopping District
and the nearby Burnside
Avenue retail corridor
were targeted in the overnight,
the seventh straight
night that protesters faced
off with the police nationwide
since George Floyd
was murdered by Minneapolis
police on May 25.
“Last night was bad,
not just for the Bronx, but
for all of New York City,”
Diaz said. “Last night was a
tough night for law enforcement,
small businesses, for
this community but most of
all, last night was a devastating
blow to our pursuit
of justice.”
The press conference
took place on Grand Concourse
and Fordham Road.
Earlier in the day, Diaz
joined several elected offi -
cials and community leaders
to help clean up debris
at Bronx Optical Center,
an eye-care business on
Burnside Avenue, which
had been looted during the
overnight unrest.
Diaz returned to Burnside
Avenue after the press
conference to tour the area
with Mayor Bill de Blasio
and other elected offi cials.
“I know that people
are angry and scared, but
this cannot be the way forward,”
Diaz said. “What
happened on Fordham Road
and Burnside wasn’t justice
and George Floyd would not
have wanted this done in
his name. We call for peaceful
protest, for everyone to
come together against systemic
racism and inequality
without hurting those
who are right here living in
our own communities.”
BP Diaz holds a a rally after the Fordham Road riots Photo Courtesy of the Offi ce of the BP
Volunteers help to clean
up Fordham Road following
the June 1 protest
Photo by Miriam Quinones
(left) Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz Jr. helps in
the clean up effort after the
Fordham Road protest
Photo Photo by Miriam Quinones
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., District Attorney Darcel Clark and
Councilman Fernando Cabrera call for peaceful protests on June 2
Photo Photo by Miriam Quinones
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