Omaha, NE – Protesters left severed pig heads wearing police hats outside the Omaha Police Officers Association (OPOA) building after holding a “pig roast” event at a nearby park on Saturday evening.
“Everything was beautiful,” ProBLAC Omaha leader and event organizer Alexander “Bear” Matthews told the Beatrice Daily Sun. “We were grilling out, and it was just a typical cookout.”
“We wanted to finish up by dropping off the pig heads and the flyers at the union doors,” Matthews added.
The gathering at Montclair Park was organized in protest of a flyer Omaha Police Sergeant Anthony Conner, president of the OPOA, had distributed labeling former Omaha City Council candidate Cammy Watkins as being anti-police, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
Reece Ristau
Omaha World-Herald
It was Christmas night 2020, and six friends, all underage, were at The Good Life Sports Bar & Grill near 180th and Pacific Streets, snacking on nachos, drinking beer and taking shots of alcohol.
As the night came to a close, at least one of the minors drove away from the bar and got into a high-speed crash in the Millard area, breaking three vertebrae and suffering other injuries.
In the following days, Omaha police officers, armed with a subpoena, attempted to obtain video from the bar to determine whether staff had followed the law in checking the minorsâ identification. But police said they faced resistance from owner Chad McMahon and other employees. By the time the equipment had been seized, video from that night had been deleted, according to police.
Credit Omaha World Herald
The Omaha City Council has passed a resolution brought by newly-reelected Mayor Jean Stothert that condemns discrimination and hate and calls for Omaha leaders to be committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. The resolution is largely symbolic, as it enacted no policy changes. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the resolution drew praise, but also criticism from some who said city leaders need to do more than offer lip service to combating discrimination. Lorraine Chang with the Nebraska Asian American Leadership Alliance supported the resolution, but said words are not enough, adding, “What actions can we take so that these words don’t ring hollow?”