The union for Mount Diablo Unified School District teachers is going public in its support of Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton and her decision to prosecute two people recorded defacing the downtown Martinez "Black Lives Matter" mural.
The Mount Diablo Education Association told its members in an email that Becton has received "very threatening calls and emails from folks around the country" trying to intimidate her from prosecuting Nicole Claudia Anderson, 42, and David Richard Nelson, 53.
Both were charged with three misdemeanors - violation of civil rights, vandalism and possession of tools to commit vandalism or graffiti - for brazenly trying to paint over the mural the same day it was painted, on July 4. Video of Anderson painting over the mural's letters, and of Nelson telling mural defenders that "racism is a lie." Each faces up to a year in county jail if convicted.
"MDEA knows that Black Lives Matter �. Our Black members matter and our Black students matter and we stand in support of the Movement for Black Lives," according to a resolution passed by the union's executive board on July 13.
