On Wednesday, August 20th, a meeting was held of the City Administration Committee of Ithaca Common Council.

Before lawmakers discussed their agenda items, they discussed an August 9th incident that has led to claims of racial bias, as police attempted to stop a group of teens during an investigation into arson cases in the city.

The families of the teens have expressed concerns that racial bias was a motivating factor in the teens being detained, that a sergeant drew his weapon during the incident, and that the sergeant could not easily be identified.

WHCU has taken comments made by city council members during the August 20th meeting at city hall. Comments relate to the August 9th incident, and concerns over a $100,000 federal homeland security grant to provide equipment for the Ithaca Police Department’s SWAT team.