Birmingham City Council debates closing gas station where murders took place

Screenshot from the Birmingham City Council’s Facebook live stream.

A proposal to revoke the business license of a Shell Station where three murders have taken place caused tempers to flare during Tuesday’s meeting of the Birmingham City Council, BirminghamWatch reports. District 8 Councilor Steven Hoyt, whose district includes the station, chastised his fellow councilors — particularly District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams, who heads the council’s public safety committee — for allowing the business to stay open for a probationary period.

“Y’all are saying it’s okay that folks are getting killed,” Hoyt said during an impassioned monologue from the daïs, in which he argued that the matter had not received a public hearing.

Williams responded that there had been a public hearing during July 17’s public safety committee meeting, which Hoyt did not attend. Williams maintained that the Shell station — which presented a plan to the committee on how it planned to prevent further violence, including installing cameras and hiring off-duty police officers as security guards — had been treated according to procedure. The item was referred back to committee.

Read the full report at BirminghamWatch.