The mother of a Black Olympia man killed by police confronted City Council. They responded
More than three weeks after Timothy Green was fatally shot by Olympia police, his mother, Millie Green, took the podium at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to address her son’s killing.
Green spoke to the City Council following a public comment period where several people raised concerns about the investigation into the shooting and police violence against people of color. Her son, 37, died on Aug. 22 after police responded to reports of a disturbance in east Olympia.
Green told the council she knew her son had mental illness and a violent part about him when he was without his medication. But any other time, he was the most loving, kind person. She said she has worked closely with officers in the community over the years and thought her son was safe with them when he was on the streets.
She referenced House Bill 1310, which was approved by the state Legislature following protests for racial justice and police reform in 2020. Its goal was to lower the chances of police using force unnecessarily by limiting its use to cases where probable cause has been established or there is a threat of injury.
But Millie Green said the law has failed her and her family.
“All officers are not bad, and I know this,” Green said. “But the ones that are not for the humanity of safety, I’m asking for any of them to step down for the safety of our community. All lives matter, but do our lives really matter today?”
During the public comment period, Talauna Reed stood with Green’s family and said the family wants the council to respond to early reports from police that they were being treated for injuries following the Aug. 22 incident. According to previous reporting from The Olympian, officers attempted to use tasers on Timothy Green, who walked toward them with a knife, before an officer shot him.
Another public commenter, Alice Rosewater, said 25% of police killings are of people with mental illness, and that Black people in mental health crises are targeted most.
“The killing of Timothy Green, a Black man in a mental health crisis, is an appalling reminder of the stranglehold the police hold over Olympia, and an indictment of the council’s budget priorities,” Rosewater said.
Rosewater demanded that the Capital Metro Independent Investigations Team be disbanded and replaced with a truly independent team, such as the state’s new Office of Independent Investigations.
Public commenter Sarah DeStasio agreed and said the Office of Independent Investigations will be fed all daily use of force cases by next summer. She said there are two appointees from a use of force board that are shadowing the investigation, but it isn’t enough.
“Those two citizen representatives will not ensure that the possibility for conflict of interest and bias that are always present when police investigate police, even in another city, is not present,” DeStasio said. “The people will not unquestionably accept the findings of this investigation, and neither should you.”
Council members respond
Council member Dontae Payne said Green’s death was personal to him as a Black man.
“I share his skin, I share your skin,” Payne said.
Payne said he believes they have to let the investigation play out, but that there’s merit to criticism against police investigating police. He said he himself had a run-in with Washington State Patrol that led to an investigation into one of its troopers. It didn’t turn out in Payne’s favor.
“I have personal experience with knowing that officers investigating other officers do tend to lean in favor of the police,” Payne said.
He said there are things the city can do, though, such as establishing a civilian oversight process. But he said conducting an investigation is a profession, one that is dominated by police and not driven by civilians. Either way, he said the council is continuing conversations with the state to figure out how to make it work.
Payne said there were some questions regarding the use of body cameras during the incident. Olympia police officers haven’t been outfitted with them yet, though that was supposed to have happened by now. He said it’s due to supply chain issues, but officers will have them in October.
He also encouraged people to get involved in the remainder of the city’s Reimagining Public Safety process, which includes a listening session on Sept. 19 for Black community members.
Mayor Pro Tem Clark Gilman said he knew Timothy Green’s smile from seeing him around town. He said he had a friend reach out recently, a Black man who has a twitch and can get “steamed up” now and then. He said his friend is afraid he’ll be killed for his behavior.
“It’s a legitimate concern,” Gilman said. “I would ask that while we respect this investigation — it has to happen before we figure out justice for the loss of Timothy Green — that we can respond and try to make it right now, safer for a person who’s having a mental health crisis and may look dangerous to law enforcement, to be held safe.”
Council member Jim Cooper said one of his biggest frustrations is that there isn’t an automatic channel for the governing body to see what the investigating team sees in real time. He requested either an executive session or a memo from the city attorney outlining exactly what the city can do.
He said a city the size of Olympia should consider its own independent investigations team parallel to the police’s team or consider having the police auditor conduct a separate investigation.
Council member Yến Huỳnh echoed Cooper’s frustrations about the lack of information from that day and said that no matter what happened, it will never justify what the result was.
“I don’t have any good answers,” she said. “I know we need to let this investigation carry out, but I will be asking from this night on what more we can do.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 2:15 PM.
.jpg)