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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Mass. politicians react to proposed renaming of Navy ships honoring gay, civil rights icons
Advertisement Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a memo that the move aligns with President Trump's objectives to 're-establish the warrior culture.' The ship garnered the most attention was the USNS Harvey Milk, which was named after the first openly gay elected official in California. The proposed renaming of the ships comes at the start of Pride Month in June. Before Milk made history with his election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he had been pushed out of the Navy. He had been appointed as a Naval Reserve officer in May 1952 during the Korean War, but in 1955, he was forced out like other gay officers at the time. He resigned and accepted 'Other Than Honorable' discharge which meant that he wasn't entitled to any military benefits. Milk was killed in 1978 by a fellow member of the board of supervisors. Advertisement 'If you ask the average straight person in Boston who Harvey Milk was, they would really be scratching their head for a while,' said Byron Rushing, a former Massachusetts state representative. Other ships in the John Lewis-class of replenishment oilers that are on the list to be renamed are ones honoring prominent civil rights figures and abolitionists such as Thurgood Marshall, Tubman, and Medgar Evans. The USNS Lucy Stone, which honors the Massachusetts women's rights and antislavery advocate, is also on the list. The ships were originally named after gay and civil rights leaders in 2016 by Ray Mabus, then-U.S. Navy Secretary who was a teenager in Mississippi during the Civil Rights movement. Current Navy Secretary John Phelan has organized a team to decide new names for the ships. It's unclear when the names will be officially changed. Rushing Rushing said that he was not surprised by the Trump administration's tactics to rename ships honoring people such as Evers. 'I have no idea what Trump's personal prejudices are,' Rushing said, 'but he does know that he has a significant number of supporters who agree with any anti-gay, anti-Black,' sentiments. Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Newton Democrat and former Marine who served in Afghanistan and Panama, said that by renaming the ship, the Trump administration was neglecting economic priorities. Advertisement 'One Chinese shipyard constructed more tonnage last year than America has built since World War II,' Auchincloss said in a statement. 'But instead of building more ships, the Secretary is renaming them.' U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley said that the administration's plan to rename USNS Thurgood Marshall and USNS Harriet Tubman was 'disrespectful.' Marshall was the first Black Supreme Court justice and argued cases that helped end racial segregation in public schools in the 1950s. Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and subsequently worked to promote abolition and helped rescue around 'The Trump Administration continues to whitewash our history but they cannot and will not erase the contributions of civil rights leaders who fought for our most vulnerable,' Pressley said. Angela Mathew can be reached at
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Hegseth orders oil ship USNS Harvey Milk be renamed in pursuit of "warrior ethos"
The Brief Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered the USNS Harvey Milk be renamed. The vessel is named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978. The move is part of a broader campaign to "return to OAKLAND, Calif. - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered that a naval oiler ship named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk be renamed. The news was first published by which reported that the order was specifically made by Hegseth, and the timing of the announcement — during Pride month — was intentional, and part of the administration's move toward "reestablishing the warrior ethos." The USNS Harvey Milk is not a combat vessel, and is part of the John Lewis class of oiler ships named for civil rights leaders. Other vessels in that class include the USNS Earl Warren, USNS Robert F. Kennedy, and the USNS Sojourner Truth. State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) called the move "absolutely shameful." "Harvey Milk was a hero. He was a veteran who served our country. He died for our community," Wiener said in a statement. "Brave LGBTQ veterans worked for years to achieve the naming of a ship for Harvey. Now Trump and Hegseth are wiping it away due to straight-up bigotry. They're determined to erase LGBTQ people from all aspects of public life." The backstory The USNS Harvey Milk was christened in November 2021. The ship was co-sponsored by then-Senator Diane Feinstein, who served as president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors during Harvey Milk's term in office. Milk enlisted in the Navy in 1951 and served as a diving officer during the Korean War. He left the service in 1955 with a "less than honorable discharge" after he was questioned about his sexuality. Milk was the first openly gay man elected to office, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. During his time in office, he enacted legislation to protect the gay community, including a 1978 ordinance to ban discrimination against the LGBTQ community in housing and employment. He was assassinated in 1978 by former supervisor Dan White, who was sentenced to seven years for the crime. Big picture view This is not the first time Hegseth, a former co-host of Fox and Friends and veteran of the Minnesota National Guard, has moved to rename a military asset. He made headlines in February for renaming North Carolina's Fort Liberty as Fort Bragg, the name it has carried since it was established in 2018. The original name was a reference to Confederate General Braxton Bragg, whom historians have called one of the worst generals of the civil war. The fort was renamed in 2022 after Congress determined that individuals who sided with the Confederate Army to fight against the United States were unworthy of being namesakes. Hegseth renamed the installation as Fort Bragg, but his order said the name pays tribute to Pfc. Roland Bragg, a recipient of the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War 2. The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club was among the many to react to this development. "Harvey Milk's legacy will live on with or without a military ship bearing his name, but the Trump administration's decision to remove his name from the USNS Harvey Milk clearly shows why we cannot give an inch on LGBTQ rights to this or any other far right government: they will not stop until they erase us. We won't let them," their statement read in part. U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) condemned the defense secretary's decision. He said Milk's legacy would not be erased by the Trump administration. He called the move part of "Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth's petty culture wars and attempts to undermine the tremendous contributions and service of the LGBTQ+ community to our country." He added, "Price Month is a time for celebrating and honoring the LGBTQ+ community. Attempting to rename the USNS Harvey Milk only deepens the divides Trump has forged across our country."
Boston Globe
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump wants to reopen Alcatraz. Californians are deeply skeptical.
Advertisement But on 'The Rock' - the nickname for this craggy piece of land a mile from the San Francisco waterfront - the president's proposal looked like a longshot. Visitors to the site, now a popular tourist attraction, said it seemed like an outlandish idea as they surveyed the prison's remaining buildings, all in varying states of disrepair. Locals took it as yet another attack on the legendarily liberal city, long one of Trump's favorite punching bags. And elected officials treated it as both dangerous and distracting, vowing to either impede or ignore the plan. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The chances of Alcatraz being repurposed as a prison are about as large as landing a man on Pluto,' said Aaron Peskin, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who regularly swims in the frigid bay waters surrounding the island. 'If I had my way, there would only be one prisoner in that place, and it would be Donald Trump.' Advertisement Trump, continuing to claim that the country is overrun by violent crime despite evidence to the contrary, first said he would direct his administration to 'reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt' Alcatraz to house America's 'most ruthless and violent' offenders. He has sent mixed signals about the plan since, appearing to walk it back as 'just an idea I've had' in one set of comments before doubling down in another. William K. Marshall III, the director of the Bureau of Prisons, said in a statement that he had 'ordered an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps' to reopen Alcatraz. But much remains unclear about the project, which would be astronomically expensive and extraordinarily difficult to enact. As Trump worked to finesse his plan, tourists continued flocking to the island, lining up to take the 15-minute ferry ride from San Francisco's Pier 33 to the decommissioned prison, which is now managed by the National Park Service. Nearly all were skeptical of Trump's proposal. 'He's not going to get it approved,' said Ashley Macey, a 27-year-old Brit and true crime devotee who said a chance to visit Alcatraz was the main motivation for her transatlantic trip. Trump's statements, she said, were 'wishy-washy.' Others, like 29-year-old Kevin Sumlin, worried about the message such a move would send. 'I think it would put a dirt cloud back over the prison,' said Sumlin, in town from Connecticut, as he waited to board the ferry. Yesenia Valencia, an 18-year-old from California's Central Valley, was visiting the prison on a high school class field trip. She and her fellow students left home before sunrise Monday to make the journey and saw Trump's comments while en route. Advertisement 'We watched it on the way to San Francisco and thought, 'What the heck?'' she said. 'It's crazy. I feel like he shouldn't be doing that.' Another visitor, a 46-year-old from Iowa, said reopening Alcatraz would be 'a waste of money.' She spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid a dispute with her husband, a Trump voter. And several international tourists - from Argentina, Poland, and the Netherlands - declined to speak on the record out of fear that they would not be allowed to travel freely in the United States or obtain visas to live here if they were quoted disagreeing with the president. 'It's like a horror movie,' a 70-year-old Dutch traveler said of Alcatraz, adding that it would be 'insane' to reopen it. One visitor interviewed, Marivic Hammari, a 43-year-old from nearby Sausalito, said she agreed with Trump's mission, despite the cost, because 'it would be nice to use the building.' Several state and local Democrats issued muted reactions, dismissing Trump's plan as a lark meant to divert attention from other negative headlines, including the ongoing ripple effects of his tariff regime. A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom said, 'Looks like it's distraction day again in Washington, D.C.' And San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said it was 'not a serious proposal.' But state Senator Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, said Trump in his second term has shown more follow-through than in his first and leaders cannot afford to write off even his far-out musings. Advertisement 'It's a combination of ridiculously stupid and scary,' Wiener said. 'If he does this, he's literally setting taxpayer money on fire.' A constellation of local small businesses relies on revenue generated by the nearly 1.5 million tourists who visit Alcatraz each year, from tour guides to ferry companies and restaurants along the water. The island, along with the Golden Gate Bridge, is one of San Francisco's biggest draws, a boon especially as the city looks to recover from a pandemic-induced malaise. This week marks the second time this year Trump has targeted an iconic San Francisco property under federal jurisdiction. In February, the president moved to make cuts to the Presidio Trust, which oversees Presidio National Park, a beloved swath of green space at the city's northernmost tip. 'He clearly doesn't like San Francisco,' Wiener said. Of the Alcatraz plan, he added: 'If there's any way for us to gum this up, we will try to gum it up.' But logistical, financial, and bureaucratic hurdles may be gummy enough on their own. When Alcatraz closed in 1963, it was in such bad shape that the federal government ruled it would be more cost effective to abandon it and open another prison elsewhere. It was nearly three times more expensive to run than the average federal facility, and it needed millions of dollars in renovations. 'It hasn't gotten any better,' said John A. Martini, an Alcatraz historian who worked on the island as a Park Service ranger when the agency took over its operations in the 1970s. 'If this were a TV show, like on Home and Garden, the prison would be a teardown.' The island lacks basic utilities: No running water or sewage system and spotty electricity that relies on fuel shipped in by boat. Advertisement 'It has essentially become a stabilized ruin,' Martini said.
San Francisco Chronicle
03-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. Police Commission sheds another police critic as potential successors line up
Jesus Yáñez only days ago finished his term on the powerful San Francisco Police Commission, and already a host of potential successors are lining up for his job. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has fielded five applications to the commission, including from a Tenderloin community advocate and several prominent local attorneys. The commission, which sets police policy and imposes discipline against officers, is one of the most influential bodies at City Hall. The seven-member panel was until recently controlled by Yáñez and other progressive-aligned members who emphasized the commission's role as an independent check on the police department. But as the pandemic gave way to concerns about crime and street conditions, the commission became a lightning rod for critics who accused it of putting reform over public safety. Voters curtailed its power last March, approving a measure that requires more time and public input for changes to police policy. Then this year, Mayor Daniel Lurie ousted its most prominent adversarial voice, attorney Max Carter-Oberstone, a mayoral appointee who broke off from Mayor London Breed. The board's upcoming decision on Yáñez's successor, which has yet to be scheduled, could give Lurie and his police-friendly allies another reliable vote on the commission. The body is already stacked in favor of the mayor's office, which gets to appoint four of its members. Lurie himself has appointed two members, Mattie Scott and Wilson Leung. Adding another moderate-aligned voice to the commission would only shore up their majority. The balance of power on the commission is especially consequential at a time when the city has a new mayor and its longest serving police chief in decades, Bill Scott. If Scott departs for any reason, the commission will play a key role in choosing his successor. The candidates who applied as of Thursday included Pratibha Tekkey, a community organizer with the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, and Hasib Emran, a California deputy state controller and longtime aide to State Controller Malia Cohen, who previously led the police commission. In her application, Tekkey said she would build trust between police and the community, while Emran, a Bay Area-born son of Afghan refugees, told the Chronicle he wanted to be a 'community ambassador' for the commission. The other applicants so far were Meredith Osborn, a white-collar defense attorney and former chief trial deputy for the city attorney's office, Neil Hallinan, a criminal defense attorney, and Albert Mayer, an artificial intelligence consultant and former senior trial counsel with the U.S. Department of Justice. Osborn wrote in her application that she would be an ally for immigrants and LGBTQ+ people as well as a representative for working families, while Hallinan noted that he had represented many people arrested by San Francisco police, sometimes wrongfully. 'I understand the proper balance between acknowledging the difficulty of being an effective and honorable police officer versus the need to hold police to the high standard,' Hallinan wrote. Mayer told the Chronicle he had successfully prosecuted opioid companies and wanted to help the police department fight to end the 'open-air drug markets and theft rings.' At least one other potential candidate is also considering applying: Marjan Philhour, who was endorsed by the police union in her unsuccessful race for District 1 supervisor last year. 'I have been approached by numerous neighborhood, small business and public safety leaders urging me to apply,' Philhour said. Another rumored candidate, community advocate Betty Louie, said she applied for the role, but withdrew her name from consideration after learning about the other applicants. Yáñez, a juvenile justice advocate and commissioner since early 2022, held one of three seats on the panel appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The other two are currently filled by Cindy Elias and Kevin Benedicto. He said Thursday that he decided not to seek reappointment because he became disillusioned with the commission and what he saw as its lack of urgency for reform and embrace of 'copaganda.' 'I was left being one of the few voices that was not willing to bite my tongue,' Yáñez said. Yáñez said he had struggled to get the commission to hold hearings on issues he viewed as important, including on a police pursuit that led to a stolen vehicle crashing into a parklet in the Mission and injuring multiple people in February. Yáñez was also upset that the San Francisco Police Officers Association had publicly accused him and his wife, a deputy public defender, of obstructing a police investigation — a claim he denied. 'The way that people perceive me has completely shifted,' Yáñez said. 'Why am I going to continue to expose myself to this?' It's unclear that Yáñez would have had the support to remain on the commission, even if he wanted to. To oust Carter-Oberstone, Lurie secured a 9-2 vote at the Board of Supervisors. Yáñez would have had to garner the support of the board to retain his seat. Any applicant for the commission has to appear first before the board's rules committee. Rafael Mandelman, president of the board and a member of the rules committee, said he probably wouldn't have supported Yáñez had he chosen to reapply. Mandelman said it was time for a 'new day' at the police commission and that he wanted the next appointee to signal the board's 'commitment to safety.' "There's an abundance of excellent candidates for this spot,' Mandelman said. 'It's going to be a hard choice to make.' Supervisor Stephen Sherill, another rules committee member, also emphasized the need for candidates focused on public safety. 'Public safety is my number one priority and I want police commissioners who share that priority,' Sherill said. Supervisor Shamann Walton gets to decide when to schedule a hearing to vote on the applicants as chair of the rules committee. He has not set a date yet and did not respond to a request for comment.
San Francisco Chronicle
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
The San Francisco street where Jerry Garcia grew up now bears his name
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted this week to rename a stretch of Harrington Street in the Excelsior District as ' Jerry Garcia Street ' paying tribute to the late Grateful Dead guitarist who spent part of his childhood in a home on the block. The commemorative designation, approved on Tuesday, April 22, applies to the portion of Harrington Street between Alemany Boulevard and Mission Street — where Garcia lived with his grandparents after the death of his father and attended nearby Monroe Elementary School. 'Jerry Garcia's memory brings music, joy, and inspiration to the current residents of the Excelsior and San Francisco,' reads the resolution introduced by Supervisor Chyanne Chen. 'His memory still brings the neighborhood pride and a sense of camaraderie.' The local news outlet SFist was the first to report on the measure. Born on August 1, 1942, Garcia co-founded the Grateful Dead in 1965, helping to shape the sound and spirit of 60s counterculture. The band cultivated one of the most devoted fan bases in music history and remains a cultural touchstone in the Bay Area and beyond. The renaming coincides with this year's 23rd Annual Jerry Day celebration, set for August 2 at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park. The free event will mark several key milestones: the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead, the 30th anniversary of Garcia's passing in 1995, and the 20th anniversary of the amphitheater's naming. This year's lineup includes Melvin Seals and JGB, Grammy-winning fiddler Mads Tolling, and Stu Allen & Mars Hotel. The festivities will continue into the night with 'Jerry Night' after-parties throughout the Excelsior Corridor. 'By uniting the diverse communities of San Francisco through Garcia's music, we are creating something extraordinary for Jerry's childhood neighborhood, the Excelsior District, McLaren Park, and the City and County of San Francisco,' said Tom Murphy, founder of Jerry Day. Meanwhile, Deadheads are preparing for the release of ' Enjoying the Ride,' a 60-disc Grateful Dead box set due out May 30, capturing two decades of live performances from revered venues. David Lemieux, the band's archivist, calls it 'a significant piece of the Grateful Dead's legacy.'
