GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich says he’s glad the protests against the death of George Floyd have sparked a dialogue.
Genrich appeared Friday on WTAQ’s ‘The Morning News with Matt and Earl’.
“I’m looking forward to some really full-throated conversations about racial injustice in this community, in this state, and in this country,” Genrich told hosts Matt Z and Earl Brooker. “We have a history to be proud of… but we also have a history of oppression.”
“I think it’s an important conversation for us to be having as a community,” Genrich added. “I think everybody needs to take a hard look in the mirror and make sure that Green Bay is a community that is open to everybody.”
The first-term Mayor decried the violent protests that broke out on Sunday. Genrich set a curfew for the city in response to those demonstrations, in which looting and gunfire broke out at a Marathon gas station on the city’s east side. Police wound up clashing with demonstrators while trying to respond to that shooting.
Genrich said extending the city’s curfew wasn’t an easy decision to make.
“I just want people to understand that this was not something that council took lightly,” “It was not something that I, or Chief Smith, or Chief Litton, would have taken lightly.”
The curfew order is in place until Monday morning and lasts between 9pm and 6am. More protests are planned for this weekend.
