Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox revealed 19 people were arrested during Saturday's A-Day celebration after people from outside of Tuscaloosa came to town as part of a "takeover." The mayor also addressed a controversial Facebook post by a council member.
Maddox said on "Alabama's Morning Show with JT" on NewsRadio 105.5 that 11 of those arrests were by the Tuscaloosa Police Department and eight were by the University of Alabama Police Department.
He said intelligence units picked up on possible firearms in backpacks, and that's when the decision to shut down The Strip was made.
"In actuality, there were less numbers this year than we've had the last four years in this social media craze of 'Takeover T-Town," Maddox said. "And it's basically being promulgated by an out-of-state party group that likes to invite people to come in mass to communities and take them over. And so, A-Day, for whatever reason, has been identified as that, which, in my opinion, is disheartening because A-Day is such a great event."
After Tuscaloosa City Councilman Kip Tyner went to Facebook, stating most of those causing problems were from out of town, mostly Lipscomb, Bessemer, Ensley and Hale County, some reacted by calling Tyner racist. Maddox said the councilman is not racist, and he was correct in stating that most of those arrested in years past are from those areas.
"We've seen an influx of people who are being driven by this social media app to come in and take over T-Town and I can tell you I've been working with Mr. Tyner for two decades. He is far from being a racist, and frankly, people just need to get past this cancel culture. It is what it is and we are trying to keep this community safe. And for those that want to just try to find, you know, try to find a righteous argument in this. The only righteous argument is keeping people safe."
Maddox said the city is taking a zero-tolerance stance on crime and will continue to work with the University of Alabama during large events. He said the university will decide the future of A-Day.
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