{"id":72059,"date":"2025-12-05T04:53:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T04:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/72059\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T04:53:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T04:53:10","slug":"former-jacksonville-mayor-says-trump-ousted-him-from-ntsb-over-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/72059\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Jacksonville mayor says Trump ousted him from NTSB over race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown contends President Donald Trump forced him off the National Transportation Safety Board as part of a broader ouster of Black leaders from independent federal agencies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Brown leveled the race discrimination claim Dec. 4 in an ongoing federal case that seeks his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/president-biden-nominates-former-jacksonville-122629980.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:return to the National Transportation Safety Board;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">return to the National Transportation Safety Board <\/a>that he says Trump illegally fired him from in May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Trump administration has countered the president has full authority to dismiss board members without having to show cause for the removal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Brown, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacksonville.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2015\/06\/29\/how-will-history-judge-mayor-brown-pension-reform-downtown-appear-top\/15669333007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:served as mayor from 2011 to 2015;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">served as mayor from 2011 to 2015<\/a>, was appointed by President Joe Biden to the National Transportation Safety Board and confirmed by the Senate in 2024 for a term running through Dec. 31, 2026. Trump forced Brown off the board in May.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Jennifer Homendy (center), Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaks at a press conference on Mar 27, 2024 with lead investigator Marcel Muise (left) and NTSB member Alvin Brown, to give updates on the investigation into the crash of a container ship into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major span over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, collapsed after it was struck by a large container ship, prompting a massive emergency response for multiple people in the water.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/13c24be8c40ff2dc7494aca4b29ef3ba.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Jennifer Homendy (center), Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaks at a press conference on Mar 27, 2024 with lead investigator Marcel Muise (left) and NTSB member Alvin Brown, to give updates on the investigation into the crash of a container ship into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major span over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, collapsed after it was struck by a large container ship, prompting a massive emergency response for multiple people in the water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;When you look at who has been removed without cause and who has been left in place, the pattern is impossible to ignore,&#8221; Brown said in as statement. &#8220;Black commissioners across the federal government have been summarily fired.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He said his &#8220;abrupt removal was unlawful, and it was discriminatory. I&#8217;m taking this step to ensure what happened to me does not happen in the shadows.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Robert Primus, who was ousted from the Surface Transportation Board, also added a racial discrimination claim to <a href=\"https:\/\/democracyforward.org\/updates\/primus-lawsuit\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:his federal lawsuit;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">his federal lawsuit<\/a> over his removal by the Trump administation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I was removed abruptly, without cause and without any legal justification,&#8221; Primus said. &#8220;It&#8217;s clear this removal fits a larger pattern within this administration of targeting Black officials.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Brown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacksonville.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/06\/06\/fired-ntsb-vice-chairman-alvin-brown-sues-trump-administration\/84077137007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:filed a lawsuit in June;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">filed a lawsuit in June<\/a> contending federal law spells out that board members can only be removed for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. Brown&#8217;s lawsuit said Trump did not show any cause for removing him so it was illegal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Stimulus payment 2025: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridatoday.com\/story\/news\/2025\/12\/04\/when-trump-check-2000-stimulus-payment-tariffs\/87600783007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Am I eligible for $2,000 Trump check?;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"> Am I eligible for $2,000 Trump check?<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Amnesty International: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/12\/04\/amnesty-international-report-alleges-torture-at-alligator-alcatraz\/87604273007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Alligator Alcatraz &#039;torture&#039; puts detainees &#039;in the box&#039;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Alligator Alcatraz &#8216;torture&#8217; puts detainees &#8216;in the box&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Trump administration has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the law requiring a president to show cause for a removal is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Democracy Forward and Justice Legal Strategies represent both Brown and Primus in their federal lawsuits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacksonville.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/12\/04\/alvin-brown-adds-race-discrimination-to-lawsuit-against-trump\/87611010007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Alvin Brown adds race discrimination to lawsuit against Trump;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Alvin Brown adds race discrimination to lawsuit against Trump<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown contends President Donald Trump forced him off the National Transportation Safety Board as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[41309,41310,409,41308,116,118,117,2573,41311],"class_list":["post-72059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-alvin-brown","tag-discrimination-claim","tag-donald-trump","tag-independent-federal-agencies","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-president-joe-biden","tag-the-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}