Birmingham Mayor Woodfin Apologizes for Social Media Dig at Lawmaker: ‘I Messed Up’

By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times Nearly a week after a mass shooting in Five Points South left four dead and 17 wounded and a week of back and forth with a state lawmaker over the shooting, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said in a Facebook post Friday that he “messed up” by posting a dig on social media at state Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham. The mayor said he took his eye off the ball and the post was “a mistake.” Last weekend, authorities in Birmingham said “multiple suspects” opened fire in Birmingham’s busy entertainment district, killing four people, injuring 17 and leaving city residents shaken. “In the middle of all of this, I messed up,” Woodfin said in the 3-minute video. “In a human moment I took my eyes off the 99 percent of our local and state and federal partners and Birmingham residents who have been nothing but supportive and put too much focus on the 1 percent who are not. It was a mistake and I own it.” Going forward the mayor said the focus will be on “the real work” taking place in the city including support of local police and violence prevention programs. “We will...