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Vol. 20 No. 31
JUlY 30 - AUGUST 5, 2020
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District holds socially distant graduations By BRIAN STIEGlITZ bstieglitz@liherald.com
Brian Stieglitz/Herald
W.T. ClARkE HIGH School graduate Brian Sullivan accepted his diploma before heading back to his seat with his mother on July 25, at one of five graduation ceremonies.
Although graduating seniors in the East Meadow School District have not been in the classroom together since March because of the coronavirus pandemic, they were able to don their caps and gowns and graduate with some of their peers. To comply with social-distancing requirements, the district divided students into 14 ceremonies over three days. W.T. Clarke High School seniors attended one of five
ceremonies on July 24 and 25. And East Meadow High School, which has a larger student body, hosted nine ceremonies on July 26. Each was outside on the respective school’s football field, and the audience was capped at 150, in accordance with state protocols.
W.T. Clarke students honored
Students at W.T. Clarke High School’s g raduation were allowed to bring their parents or two guests to sit with them in the audience while they waited to receive their diplo-
Christina Daly/Herald
RYAN SCHNEEBAUM WITH his parents at one of nine ceremonies at East Meadow High School on July 26.
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Over 1,000 rally for law enforcement in Eisenhower Park By BRIAN STIEGlITZ bstieglitz@liherald.com
More than 1,000 people gathered in East Meadow’s Eisenhower Park last Saturday for a Back the Blue demonstration hosted by the nonprofit Law Enforcement Officers Weekend. About an hour into the rally, counterprotesters clashed with the pro-police demonstrators, and a counterprotester was arrested after he left a “free speech” area set up by Nassau County police. He was handcuffed and led to a police car as members of the crowd cheered and chanted “Blue Lives Matter.”
The mostly masked crowd was dotted with American flags, “Thin Blue Line” flags and signs with messages in support of law enforcement. The rally was among a series of demonstrations pushing back against efforts to reduce law enforcement budgets or to redirect funding toward preventive resources and social services. One of the speakers was Darrin Porcher, a former New York City police lieutenant and an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Pace University. “We have elected officials and violent demonstrators driving the narrative that police are out here to kill citizens,” Porcher said.
“They think social workers who parachute into our community could do the job of the police.” The crowd broke into laughter, and Porcher continued, encouraging people to vote for l e a d e r s wh o s u p p o r t l aw enforcement. “This November could be a referendum on law enforcement if we let it happen,” he said. After his speech, and many other times during the rally, the crowd chanted, “Four more years!” Another speaker was retired NYPD Chief Joseph Fox. “We carry those crime scenes, those victims, those officers we lost with us forever,” he said. “They
never leave us.” East Meadow native Susan Richard Kirby read a poem she wrote called, “Back the Blue,” which she dedicated to law enforcement officials. “They only pick the finest. They only pick the best,” she read. James McDermott, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, told the
crowd that police officers all deserve a “pat on the back” and thanks for working nights and holidays and putting themselves in harm’s way to serve the public. McDermott criticized Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder for what he described Continued on page 3