By Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com
Joining the committee at the press conference were state Reps. Anthony Daniels and Laura Hall, both Democrats from Huntsville. Daniels is the House minority leader.
The call for McMurray’s removal as chief echoes a call first made earlier this week by the Alabama Democratic Party.
Concerns over McMurray go beyond his support for Darby, according to David Person of the Rosa Parks committee, who traced a loss of confidence in the chief to police brutality protests in June 2020 in Huntsville. Two of the protests ended with police releasing tear gas to disperse the crowd and the police citizens advisory committee issued a critical report last month reviewing police actions at the protests.
McMurray’s statement following Darby’s conviction last Friday firmed the committee’s perspective that the chief needed to be relieved of duty, Person said.
“I think that we began to have certainly very strong feelings after what happened last June,” said Person, a former Huntsville Times columnist. “So that for many of us was probably the first culminating event. And I say first culminating event because there are probably incidents that people can share, and certainly that I’ve heard of, that would suggest there have been concerns even prior to that. But certainly last June was a hallmark. And then his appalling comments after the conviction of officer Darby, I think for many of us, was the ultimate culmination.”
Battle has repeatedly expressed support for McMurray since the protests last June and reiterated that support in Wednesday meeting, Person said.
In 2018, Battle also urged the city council to fund Darby’s legal expenses for his defense and the council ultimately set a budget of $125,000. Battle has declined to comment this week on the Darby verdict, though he is expected to address it at Thursday night’s city council meeting.
In his statement last week following Darby’s conviction, McMurray said in part, “I do not believe Officer Darby is a murderer.” The murder charge was brought against Darby by Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard after Huntsville police cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.
Darby has been placed on paid administrative leave following his conviction. He is free on $100,000 bond. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
“I don’t think that the leadership in the (police) department can continue to take us in a positive direction,” Daniels said. “I don’t think that there can be any corrective action, if leadership has not changed. I’ve sat on the sidelines and really allowed things to play itself out but have come to a point to where it has caused an adversarial relationship between other law enforcement officers and the community.
“We are a smart community. And we should not have to deal with these types of issues in our community. And so for us, it is time to change our leadership structure in the department and move in a direction that’s going to be more inclusive of community and law enforcement.”
According to Person, Battle emailed the committee with an amendment to his statement last week on the Darby verdict. Battle’s amendment, Person said, read “I respect the decision of the jury. I respect Officer Darby’s right to appeal.”
The committee, in a press release Wednesday, called for Battle and McMurray to renounce their statements of support for Darby.
“We accept the mayor’s revised statement as a satisfactory fulfillment of our requests that he recant his previous enthusiastic support of the convicted murderer, Officer William Darby,” Person said.
The mayor’s office confirmed Battle’s comments in the committee meeting.
