This past week local Escanaba councilman Ralph Blasier made inflammatory remarks about the peaceful protests happening in every corner of our nation in the wake of the death of George Floyd. This includes the city of Escanaba, which had its own peaceful protest over the weekend where 200+ people showed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The quote in question was in our local newspaper The Daily Press, and goes as follows:

     “Any person throwing objects at police, shooting at anyone, looting, and setting fires will be shot in both legs and left lying there till dawn, and at dawn, each person will need to crawl to the hospital.” Blasier continued his comment by saying, “I mean, this text for your public announcement, people might want to alter it some. This is just the first draft. If I were alone in charge of the city, this is what I would publish.”

     Ralph Blasier and his comments do NOT speak for the entirety of Escanaba, which is why we must remove him from our city council. This is a position that is supposed to serve the citizens of Escanaba, and we cannot have any of its members making comments such as this, in any capacity. We must collectively come together to show our city leaders that we will not tolerate this type of behavior from Ralph Blasier or any other public official.