Former Mayoral Candidate D'Antonio Gives Counterpoint to Mayor Lungo-Koehn's Nonsense on Police Rally - in Medford News Weekly

Mr. William Tauro
Somerville/Medford News Weekly

https://medfordnewsweekly.wordpress.com/2020/07/27/letter-to-the-editor-rebuttal-to-medford-mayors-letter-re-recent-police-rally/

Dear Bill,

My name is Anthony “Tony” D’Antonio and I have been a long time resident of Medford with the exception of several moves for business which brought me out of state.

I have been reading your newspaper and am happy to see that some news about Medford is being published. For the record, we really do not have a newspaper here in Medford, with the exception of the Transcript which is really not dedicated to Medford issues in the way it should be.

I recently read a letter in your newspaper from the mayor of Medford regarding a recently held rally to show support for the police. Her statements fall under the category of disingenuous and she is guilty of turning her back on those who got her elected.

I would like to write a rebuttal to her letter and have it published in your newspaper, if possible.

I ran for mayor of Medford two times against Mayor McGlynn and most recently for city council this past election. My campaign was cut short as I went through unexpected open heart surgery and simultaneously was diagnosed with cancer; which as of yesterday, completed my radiation treatments.

I would appreciate the possibility of being able to write an opinion piece or two over time regarding the goings on in Medford politics and to have them published.

Thank you and regards,

Letter:

Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Medford, MA. Mayor

Madame Mayor,

I read your article published in the July 21st edition of the Somerville/Medford News Weekly, where you stated your desire and insistence to share your thoughts relating to the recent “Support the Police Rally” held at Medford City Hall, July 15th, Wednesday.

You stated that you wanted to be very clear about where you stand.

Well yes, you certainly were very clear. And, it was not with the hardworking, decent citizens of Medford, who, I may add, pushed you over the top to become the Mayor. For the third time, you threw the citizens of Medford “under the bus”. Try as you may, you cannot slither out of this one with a smile, cupcakes and fruit punch.

Where has your dignity and integrity gone?

Let me put the truthful facts forward, not the “facts” you were mentored to proffer by your staff.

The rally was held to show support for our police and police everywhere, not a rally for BLM’s lives, minds and voices as you tried to infer. The attendees showing support for the police were very orderly, sang patriotic songs, family oriented and peaceful! It was like a family reunion. There were no speeches.

You stated that you met with the organizers of the rally to make sure that it could be handled safely. That was an insult to us all; making it sound as if we were a group of trouble makers.

How dare you twist the facts to make it seem that we used disgusting, abhorrent language and directed it towards the agitators who showed up at the end of the rally to cause a disturbance? Your admonishment should have been directed towards the BLM group who used such foul language and tried their best to create conflict… It’s on video for all to see; you can’t hide from the truth. They failed at disrupting the peaceful rally as they were ignored. Why did you not make mention of this?

Another fact you twisted was that you refused, along with the police chief to speak at the rally; truth is we did not want you to talk.

Your article centered more on another rally held at Hormel Stadium by BLM, Mobilize Medford and Our Revolution and how wonderful it was to be there. Who were you trying to placate?

To show your disdain for the police rally, you stated that you felt this rally would not be helpful to further the important discussions that are ongoing in Medford about systemic racism, equity and policing. Shame on you for making such a callous statement. You capitulated and signed a letter, along with several other cities and towns, declaring a health emergency due to systemic racism in our city. Again, Medford citizens get tossed under the bus. In one fell swoop you called every resident in Medford a racist. This is so wrong!

What is really ironic is that you were a councilor for many years and bragged about the cohesiveness, the diversity and how well we all got along in the city. You also mentioned how we accommodated students who spoke 37 different languages in the city. And now we’re all racists?

You have some nerve, and yes, you have been exposed for what you are and it certainly declares that you are not qualified to be running a city of 58,000 people if you cannot stand up to a group whose intent is to bring Medford down!

Anthony D’Antonio

Medford