Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder is not backing off of his name calling. In fact, he stepped up the rhetoric from Thursday night, when he called Mayor Lee Leffingwell a snake and saying that council member Chris Riley “cares more about bicycles than black people.”
He called on black voters to oust City Council members Riley, Randi Shade, and Mike Martinez. Linder’s comments came after the City Council voted 4-3 against a settlement for the family of 18-year-old Nathaniel Sanders, who Austin Police Officer Leonardo Quintana shot and killed on May 11, 2009 during a struggle over a gun.
Friday, Linder kept the comments coming, this time taking aim at Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez.
“I have an additional comment,” Linder told KVUE Friday. “I think that (Mayor Pro Tem Mike) Martinez is a skunk.”
Martinez did not respond to Linder’s name calling or allegations.
Linder says the NAACP is now launching a major campaign in the city's predominantly African-American churches and organizations to make sure that the four council members who voted against the settlement are not re-elected.
Linder said, “I mean every word of it. Right now I'm saying that their policy is so hostile to black people, we're getting hostile back. This is a new day in Austin, Texas. The gloves are off now. They should be uncomfortable in East Austin. These city officials should be very uncomfortable. Right now, it is that intense. By one vote, they have shown no respect to African-Americans, including one on city council.”
He is referring to council member Sheryl Cole, who voted for the $750 million settlement with the Sanders family.
Cole says while she does not share Linder's feelings, she believes that the case needed to be put to rest. “This case was the first true challenge of this council,” Cole says. “It occurred, I think, 31 hours after we were elected. I think it is a signature, of what we will be known for as a council. I do not think our handling of the case has been stellar from not only the lawyers, but from management, the council. These things played into my decision that we needed to put it to rest.”
Councilman Chris Riley says he is not bothered by Linder's allegation that he cares more about bicycles than black people, or Linder's statement that it was an insult when Riley proposed lowering the settlement to $500,000. He says he was attempting to present a compromise that would not be construed as a victory for either side.
“There are real costs associated with this thing going to trial,” Riley said. “Lawyers, there's just the cost of putting the community through a trial, so I think it would make sense to settle the case if we can, do that in a way that doesn't represent victory for either side, because there are difficult issues pending in that litigation. There was clearly a gun inside of the car.”
The difference, Linder alleges, is that if Sanders had not been black, he might have lived. Sanders' attorney and the Sanders family are still not commenting on the council's rejection of the settlement.
Council member Shade was unavailable to comment.
Mayor Leffingwell issued a statement. He did not address the comments made by Nelson Linder. It reads, in part, "I also understood the emotional appeal of settling. Some have argued passionately that this settlement would have helped to heal the sanders family, and I do not discount the importance of that. My heart goes out to this family. If there was something meaningful that I could do to make this situation better for them, I would do it."
The Sanders case is now destined for the courts. The Sanders family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Officer Leonardo Quintana. That case will likely go to trial next year.
