In an emotional news conference, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren on Monday weighed in amid an increasingly incendiary confrontation between Monroe County legislator Sabrina LaMar and U.S. Representative Joe Morelle over allegations that Morelle pressured LaMar’s employer, the Rochester Institute of Technology, to fire her in retaliation for accusing the congressman’s son of being a racist. Rep. Morelle has denied attempting to use his political influence to have LaMar terminated.
As tension ratchets up during this of time of a national accounting over racism after George Floyd’s death, battle lines have increasingly been drawn along party lines, as racists and partisans seek to frame issues for their own advantage in an America that has grown increasingly divided and everything — including issues of equality, fairness and social justice — has become political.
Here is Mayor Warren’s statement in full: