Olympia Community Speaks to City Council About Police Shooting of Two Men

Above: Outside Olympia City Hall tonight, many expressed their support for Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin and their families.

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

The Thursday night police shooting of two young African American men, Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin, has created an unprecedented outpouring of emotions, perspectives and demands that were heard this evening at tonight's council meeting at Olympia City Hall.  

“We need to take this wake up call very seriously and not sleep through it,” Neil Peck said as he concluded his comments in front of Olympia city councilmembers and the community tonight.

Peck lives 100 yards from where he heard the shots fired by Olympia police officer Ryan Donald last Thursday. Peck was the speaker who provided an account of what he heard that night at a community gathering that same evening at Temple Beth Hatfiloh.

Peck was the first of over 30 passionate, articulate speakers tonight who voiced their feelings, perspectives, and concerns to council members. The council dispensed with most of the evening’s agenda to accommodate the speakers, who spoke for about two hours straight. An overflow crowd sat in chairs and on the floor in the lobby, watching and listening to speakers on television monitors.

Several facilitators with the Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center met with individuals and groups as needed to record their thoughts. Regional television news staff and cameras stayed for most of the evening.

Above: Neil Peck speaks to the Olympia City Council tonight. He lives 100 yards from where Office Ryan Donald shot two men, and heard the shots.  

 

“….I don’t want Olympia to be one of those places where young black men get shot…where people just shrug it off….This needs to be a wake up call for Olympia…for our police…for all of us….I know the investigation is just getting started…but I don’t think we need to wait to say that this is simply the wrong outcome….,” said Peck.

Five speakers later, it was local attorney Jim Johnson who made the audience collectively gasp when he announced that, as a neighbor of Peck’s, he too heard the shots, but neither he nor Peck have been interviewed by the police.

“I’m Jim Johnson. I’m a witness. I live on the corner of Langridge and Cooper Point. My wife heard the first four shots. She woke me up. We checked on our kids. She called the police and she was on the phone with the police when the next three shots rang out. She and I debated about whether it was three or four. I was standing next to her when I heard the next four shots. That, those last four shots, I was able to count. You talk about being open and all this stuff, it’s like, nobody’s even said how many shots were fired. And there are witnesses who know how many shots were fired. Mr. Peck heard them. His wife heard them. I heard them. My wife heard them. My name was in the paper. My wife was on King 5. Mr. Peck spoke at the Thursday night gathering. None of us have been interviewed by the police. None of us have been interviewed by the police. That undermines the credibility of the investigation. I know you guys aren’t in charge, I know you’re not in charge, but somebody hearing this better straighten that out, because if this investigation is going to have any credibility, it has to have credibility in the people, and if there are witnesses around – I live – I had to talk to police officers to leave my house three times that day because they were blocking the road and nobody asked me my name, nobody asked me whether I had heard or seen anything, they’re not asking the witnesses anything….”

Regarding the purchase and use of body cameras, Johnson said he has advised a state agency on the legalities of recordings in public contexts.

“….I know the complexities of the area. This is not hard. This is not expensive. You just need to do it. I looked on Amazon. You can get a body camera for $46.18…and it will be here Thursday….(cheers were heard from the lobby at this point)…You need to buy body cameras, you need to require their use, you need to have discipline in place so that if officers don’t turn them on when they should, they’ll get in trouble….”

Regarding the potential lawsuits that may arise from the shootings, Johnson said, “….This is going to cost the City of Olympia an amazing amount of money. Body cameras are cheap.”

Mayor Stephen Buxbaum said that there will be many more opportunities for the community to express its thoughts about the topics discussed this evening.

Councilmember Nathaniel Jones agreed.

“We don't need to wait to begin the healing. Tonight's comments are part of that...I think we'll be mending for some time....”

One local non-profit, Media Island, will be hosting a meeting on Monday, June 1, 7:00 p.m., at 816 Adams Street SE, Olympia to discuss the formation of a police accountability civilian review board. For more information, call (360) 352-8526 or email mediaisland@gmail.com.

Above: Local attorney Jim Johnson provides his account to Olympia city council members of what he heard Thursday night during the police shooting of two men. He said he has not yet been interviewed by police.

 

Little Hollywood will continue to provide more information about this evening as time allows.

For more information about the Olympia Police Department and this case, including an account of the community meeting at Temple Beth Hatfiloh, go to past articles on Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com, and use the search button to type in key words.

Olympia City Council meetings are televised by Thurston Community Television. Go to the City of Olympia website for more information at www.olympiawa.gov.

Olympia Community Comes Together After Police Shooting of Two Men

Above: Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts gives an overview of the day's events regarding the shooting of two African American men at a forum tonight at Temple Beth Hatfiloh in downtown Olympia.

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Hundreds attended a public forum held tonight at Temple Beth Hatfiloh in downtown Olympia in response to the police shooting incident of two young African American men on Olympia’s westside early Thursday morning.

The forum provided an opportunity for community members to share their feelings about the incident and engage in dialogue. About 15 clergy members from various faith communities and City of Olympia officials, including Chief of Police Ronnie Roberts, Mayor Stephen Buxbaum and other councilmembers, and city staff were in attendance.

Over 30 speakers spoke for an hour and a half, voicing feelings of sorrow, fear, hurt, disappointment, anger and many other emotions. Reiko Callner, a local attorney, human rights activist, and member of the City of Olympia’s Civil Service Commission, facilitated the open mic session. Speakers had at least three minutes each to speak.

Rabbi Seth Goldstein welcomed everyone, saying that the purpose for the evening was to come together to hear diverse points of view in unity…with intention…open hearts, open hands, and prayers for peace, justice and healing.”

Speakers were eloquent, passionate, and spoke from the heart. Many called for an independent citizen advisory review board, police dashboard and body cameras, better training of police officers, and transparency and openness in the investigation process.

Below are some people’s thoughts:

“Police don’t get a chance to apologize because it would bring lawsuits like fleas on a dog…I wish we could include that without tearing them down…They’re just human….” said a man.

“I do support law enforcement…hindsight is 20/20, we all don’t know what happened last night…I believe we all need to stand together as a community…it’s sad when lives are lost and people are hurt….God be with us….” said a woman.

A man who heard the incident said, “This shooting incident happened about 100 yards from my house. I was awakened by the first three shots and…the shooting was all over in about 10 seconds. There were three quick, evenly spaced shots, then an interval of perhaps five to 10 seconds, and then four more shots again, evenly spaced. And, in between, I could hear shouting. I couldn’t hear voices or what was being said but there was audible shouting between the shots and after the shots. I certainly don’t know anything about the officer’s state of mind or to what degree he was threatened or felt threatened but I do feel that…there wouldn’t have been any time before that…it was swift and it was over. And, well, what that means to the investigation or anything, I don’t know. That is what happened, that is what I heard.” [Editor's Note, 5-22-2015: This reporter was in the back of the room. The man was questioning the police version of events. The ellipsis means the speaker went on to say more important information that I have not included here. This man's quote as included here is not to be used as fact in a court of law or to be used as evidence.]

A man said, “It was wrong to have those boys get shot, in my opinion…because they stole some beer….There’s a pattern going on in this country where the cops do these kinds of things and they walk away from it…and that bothers me a lot…The racial question cannot be avoided….It’s so clear…I don’t understand…I look at you (Ronnie Roberts) as the chief, what’s going on? People are getting shot, particularly black people and Hispanic people….This cannot be handed over to the police to investigate….”

Another man said, “My primary concern is that the process work for as many people as possible. The ideal process should find out the truth, a sense of fairness for all…and an outcome of compassion, justice, accountability…and a plan for moving forward….I want an investigative body besides Thurston County…I don’t know what that would look like…I am struggling with the issue of process going forward….”

A social worker said he is highly concerned that officers are not being held accountable when in his profession, he is held highly accountable to state standards.

One man admitted that he had shoplifted when he was young.

“…I was never in fear that I was going to be shot…I have one daughter who is perceived to be white, and one who is perceived to be black. I suspect that if they were caught shoplifting, they would be treated differently…I don’t trust the police after what I’ve seen in the last six months….” He lamented that he has not heard our local police say a word about the incidents that have occurred nationwide. '“Where are the police?'” he asked.

One woman said that she has felt sad all day, hearing helicopters over the westside neighborhoods all day.

“I watched the press conference and heard the tone of defensiveness (from the police) that maybe this officer was acting appropriately….That scares me that I live in a community that somebody can throw a can of beer and no one is saying, '“Wow, we made a mistake…a mistake was made…”' She expressed that there are too many police with military training.

“Military training is very different from community policing….What are we going to do to make sure this never happens again?” She said she was grateful that this gathering was happening and that, as a grandmother, she knows her blue eyed, Caucasian grandson is privileged, and her heart grieves for African American mothers who fear for the lives of their children.

One woman asked why a Taser couldn’t have been used instead, and expressed her support for the young men’s mother.

Another woman said, “Everyone is human, and racism is foundational to the creation of our country and continuation of systems of power….As a white person…I look at my own racism…It’s hard to sit through this stuff…As white folks we don’t know our own privilege, and we need to call it out, what’s happening.…(if we don’t) it’s the worst kind of racism….”

Another woman said, “I don’t trust the Sheriff’s Department to lead the investigation…listen to the audio recording….The militarization of police forces across the United States is a disease, and now we have this disease in Olympia….”

A man said, “….I have more questions than answers…a shift has occurred in me. I feel like I’m afraid of the police, and I’m not homeless, I’m not mentally ill, and I’m white. Why am I afraid? I don’t know. There is a disconnect and I don’t know how to fix it….”

One woman asked, “Why pursue in the first place? That started the whole sequence of events…What’s the outcome of this?”

A clergy member asked, “How will we heal? This is a good first step…Healing needs to be an intentional thing amongst the media and our community….”

Another clergy member asked, “….I wonder about a community that has trained its police and empowered people in the community to confront two people under suspicion by themselves without backup….”

A woman said she could pick out someone that she loves seated in every row. “We deserve better than this and we are better than this….”

A man who lives in the Goldcrest neighborhood said he was detoured this morning from his usual route to work and just got off work to attend the forum. “….This is hard to imagine in Olympia that unarmed people could be shot by police…I hope we’ll give benefit of the doubt as to motives until we know differently….I hope we’ll look at every way to learn from this….”

“I’m horrified this happened in Olympia…and it did….I have no faith that Thurston County officers are going to say it wasn’t a justified use of force…I want from the city council a clear and specific recognition that implicit racism is at play here…explain it, describe it, and hold people accountable for it…we are now a community that an officer shot two unarmed black boys….” said a woman.

A woman who identified herself as a member of the Christian community at The Evergreen State College said she is frustrated about the call to not rush to judge the police’s actions.

“What’s so frustrating is that these two black boys were not given the opportunity… to defend themselves….Black men are demonized…. I remember reading about...Officer Darren Wilson saying that Michael Brown was like a demon coming after him, and that’s how black lives are viewed…so I think it’s about more than body cams, although that’s a good start…I think it’s about how people with privilege and power choose to view…marginalized communities….What happened this morning is not an isolated incident….We need to model something different….”

A registered nurse with 20 years’ experience said that the young men deserve our prayers. “…Even if they recover, their spiritual and body wounds will be long….” She said the shooting was irresponsible in light of the national climate and oppression, and did not believe that race had nothing to do with the incident. “I don’t believe that…I’m the mother of a teenage boy who is light-skinned…I fear for his safety but I can’t imagine what it’s like for African American mothers who worry about their children….”

That woman’s son also spoke up, saying there is racial inequality at his school, eloquently closing by saying, “A color should not determine whether you live or you die….”

A woman who said she’s lived in Olympia for four years said, “I love Olympia…but I’m not surprised that something like this has happened in our community because people of color are harassed…We’re neck deep in right now….”

Another woman said, “If I accidently hit somebody with my car, I’m held accountable….Everybody is responsible for what they do….”

A clergy member said, “There’s one truth – love is greater than fear…As we embrace and resist fear that is out there and fight the fear and find the treasure of love, people will look at Olympia and say, 'We do things different here….'”

Another clergy member, Rev. Amy Walters, of First Christian Church, said, “I am troubled and hurt for our city but I’m going to leave here with some hope to continue to take steps forward to have dialog and we’ll work things out together – we are better – and clergy are committed to this process…While my heart is heavy, I’m going to leave with hope.”

For more information about the incident from the City of Olympia, including the 911 audio recording of the incident, go to www.olympiawa.gov

For previous articles about the City of Olympia Police Department on Little Hollywood, go www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and use the search button to type in key words.

Olympia Police Shoot Two African American Men

 

Above: Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts answers questions from the media and the community at a press conference in Olympia City Hall this morning about a police shooting of two African-American men early this morning in Olympia. Mayor Stephen Buxbaum, to his left, also addressed questions.

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Thurston County Critical Incident Team Investigating

A formal Olympia Police press release, below, was issued shortly after 7:00 a.m.:

“At about 1am this morning, Olympia Police responded to a call from the Westside Safeway store at 3215 Harrison Avenue West.  Store employees reported that two black men had attempted to steal beer and, when confronted by employees, threw the stolen items at them then fled.  As police investigated the matter, an officer found two men matching the suspect descriptions a short distance away.  A few minutes later, the officer notified dispatch that he had been involved in a shooting.  Two men were shot by the officer.  Preliminary reports indicate the men were both shot in the chest.  Both men were transported to St. Peter’s Hospital in critical condition.  Both men are in their twenties and believed to be from the Thurston County area.

The officer, who has been an officer for 3 years, has been put on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, following Olympia Police Department policy.  The Thurston County Critical Incident Team is investigating the shooting.  The Critical Incident Team is composed of detectives from five local agencies.

More details will be released as they are available.  An initial briefing for the media will be at 6am at the Olympia City Hall Council Chambers, 601 4th Ave E.  A second briefing is anticipated at 10am this morning.”

For more information, contact Paul Lower, Public Information Officer, 360.753.8410, plower@ci.olympia.wa.us

Press Conference

The 10:00 a.m. press conference in Olympia City Hall lasted about 40 minutes. Several regional television stations and reporters were present, as well as many city staff, Councilmember Cheryl Selby, and members of the public.

Mayor Stephen Buxbaum, City Manager Steve Hall, and Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts answered questions.

Mayor Buxbaum, when asked by a reporter why he was present, and whether or not he thinks this incident is going to “blow up,” responded:

“We don’t experience this every day. Unfortunately, what’s happening across the nation makes these kinds of incidents compelling, to meet in an honest, direct, and forthright way. Olympia is a community that cares deeply about social justice and I think that it’s important that anytime there’s a dramatic incident like this – and I call this a dramatic incident – that we stand together as a community and model respectful, thoughtful, inclusive dialogue, so I’m standing here because I want to represent those values and I think our community, I believe can, learn from events like this and become stronger as a result, so I’m here to support the young men that are in the hospital, to support the police officers involved, and I’m here to support the families that are involved, both directly and indirectly, and I’m here to support our community at large. I think that’s the role of the mayor….”

Buxbaum continued:

“I believe Olympia is going to heed this – honoring the values and principals we hold dear as a community – nonviolence, inclusive dialog, and good, solid relationship building. I believe in this community. We have had challenging times, and certainly this is one of those times. Being proactive in these situations, I think is another way of representing our values as community. I think it’s my responsibility to be here. And I do want to emphasize talking with Interfaith Works and members of our clergy that we are committed to open dialog where people can gather and share their perspectives, feelings, show their compassion and stand up for what I think, again, represents our values, is learning from things that are challenging.”

Copies of CDs of the initial 911 call were made available, as well as copies of the Olympia Police Department policies on use of force, equipment and proficiency, and the Washington State Legislature statute, RCW 9A.16.040, on Justifiable homicide or use of deadly force by public officer, peace officer, person aiding, and RCW 9A.16.020 Use of force - when lawful.

More will be added to this story by Little Hollywood as time allows. For past stories on the Olympia Police Department, go to Little Hollywood at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and use the search button to type in key words.