Nearly three dozen people rallied for racial equality in Belmont’s Waverley Square Sunday evening, more than three months after a man of color was allegedly killed by a white man in a road rage incident in the town.
Joanna K. Tzouvelis/Wicked Local
The No Override Now campaign celebrated a victory with 56% of voters in Belmont s annual town election voting no on the $6.4 million override. Newcomers Jamal Saeh and Meghan Moriarty were the winners in the School Committee race. Incumbent Anne Mahon won the Housing Authority seat and newcomer Dr. Adrienne Allen won the Board of Health seat.
The voter turn out was 47%. The no vote won in every precinct except Precinct 6 with 61 to 65% of the votes in Precincts 2, 4 and 8 and 51 to 57% of the votes in Precincts 1, 3, 5 and 7. The restults in Precict 6 were 56% in favor and 44% against the override.
Hundreds gathered in Cushing Square in Belmont to honor the memory of Henry Tapia, two days after he had an altercation with a man who reportedly yelled racial slurs and then drove over him, ultimately killing Tapia. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
In an ideal world, 34-year-old Henry Tapia, a father of three, would have spent Thursday night playing video games with his friends or his kids.
Instead, this Thursday, Tapia s kids held a sign that read I miss my Dad! Mommy won t let me forget you! while dozens coped with the cold in Belmont s Cushing Square and sang Amazing Grace.
They gathered to hold a vigil for Tapia, a Black man, who witnesses say was run over and killed by Dean Kapsalis, who called Tapia the n-word.