NAACP: 'They picked a fight last night'

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Nelson Linder, president of Austin's NAACP sums up his feelings about the Austin City Council with just one sentence.

"The city council is really a joke," Linder said.

Linder is furious with the council's decision not to approve a $750,000 settlement with the family of Nathaniel Sanders.

He says last night's decision is a huge step backward for race relations in the city of Austin.

"We can't heal because our elected body is based on a false premise," Linder said. "We can't heal, because when you treat folks like slaves and you practice the master plan of 1928, you don't want to heal, you want to keep things going."

See the full statement of Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

To see the full statements of Linder and police union president Wayne Vincent, click here.

To understand Linder's furor, understand that he and other critics of the Austin Police Department believe there either was no gun on Sanders that night, or that he never touched it.

They believe APD covered up the facts to protect their own officers.

Linder said he will also focus his energy on working with the Austin Police Association to keep the kids of East Austin safe.

That's something APA President Wayne Vincent said he is also committed to doing - even though tensions are high right now.

"I think this was a very emotional thing. I'm sorry if people feel like people's safety is threatened, but we're still committed to move on and see what we can do to build bridges between us and any segment of the community," Vincent said.

After Thursday's council meeting, Linder called the Mayor a coward and has not backed down from that statement.

"They picked a fight last night, and we're going to give them one on every level," Linder said Friday. "They should feel very uncomfortable when they come around black people, especially in East Austin. We're not going forget this now. This is a much more serious fight. It's very serious right now, it's very explosive."