The mother of a man fatally shot by St. Paul police officers last month addressed the city’s police chief directly at a community meeting Thursday night, asking where is “accountability for these policemen?”
Kimberly Handy-Jones, the mother of Cordale Handy, also asked Police Chief Todd Axtell to put himself in her shoes.
“As a father, I can’t imagine what you’re feeling,” Axtell said. ” … I’m just incredibly sorry for the pain that you must be going through and I’m here to listen to you tonight.”
More than 100 people attended the emotional meeting organized by community members in the wake of Handy’s killing last month. They were asking for videos to be released in the Handy case, along with the name of a third officer who was at the scene.
People at the meeting also said officer-involved shootings should be independently investigated — not by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension — and grand juries should not be used to make decisions about charging officers.
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“The police decided that they wanted to play the judge, the jury and the executioners,” Handy-Jones said at the meeting at the High School for Recording Arts in St. Paul. ” … I am here to interrupt the pattern.”
Police say on March 15, St. Paul officers encountered Cordale Handy with a gun, repeatedly told him to drop it, and he pointed it twice at the officers before they shot him. A gun was recovered at the scene, the BCA said.
The BCA continues to investigate the case, but Handy-Jones’ attorney has said the law enforcement account “is inconsistent and contradictory with eyewitness reports.” Handy-Jones filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against St. Paul and the officers involved. The lawsuit alleges Handy “presented no threat to” officers or anyone else and was shot “without legal justification.”
At Thursday’s meeting, students at the school on a panel addressed questions to Axtell, Mayor Chris Coleman and the three city council members who were in attendance — Rebecca Noecker, Russ Stark and Dai Thao.
Abrianna Milligan, a 12th grader, asked about releasing videos in the Handy case, citing a Minnesota law that says law enforcement can release data that would otherwise be confidential or nonpublic “if the agency determines that the access will aid the law enforcement process, promote public safety, or dispel widespread rumor or unrest.”
Handy-Jones’ attorney, Andrew M. Stroth, has said it’s his understanding that officers seized cellphones from two eyewitnesses who were taking videos of the incident. A spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, of which the BCA is a part, said last month that “any evidence collected for this investigation is currently confidential under Minnesota law and, as such, cannot be shared at this time.”
Axtell responded to Milligan’s question, saying the police department “heard loud and clear” from the community that they wanted outside investigations in officer-involved shootings and the department began last year to ask outside law enforcement agencies to conduct them. After an investigation is taken on by another agency, the St. Paul police department is “removed from the investigation for transparency purposes” and any decision about releasing videos would have to be made by the BCA, Axtell said.
Milligan addressed Axtell again, to applause from the audience: “I already told you what the statute said and it stated that the videos could be released.” If the officers “didn’t do anything wrong, then releasing that video helps build community trust and the longer you hold onto it, the less people will trust you,” she continued.
Another student asked Mayor Coleman what he would do if his child was shot.
“A parent is owed the truth, the community is owed the truth and there’s only one way for us to get there,” Coleman said, referencing the ongoing investigation.
People also cited a record $2 million settlement that the St. Paul City Council approved this month to Frank Baker, who was seriously injured when he was bitten by a St. Paul police K-9 and kicked by an officer after he was mistaken for suspect in a case. Axtell fired the officer who kicked Baker, but an arbitrator reinstated him.
A student asked the elected officials if they would agree to make changes to the collective bargaining agreement for officers to strengthen the ability to hold them accountable for misconduct.
Noecker said, in her time as a council member, she didn’t think she had been more frustrated than when she heard the officer in the Baker case had to get his job back. “I’m absolutely committed to looking into what those terms are that allowed him to be reinstated,” she said.
Relatives of other men who were killed by St. Paul officers in recent years and Handy-Jones also raised concerns about media coverage of their loved ones.
Handy-Jones addressed a Pioneer Press reporter at the meeting, saying, “The media had a lot to say about who my child was,” but she said he “was a loving young man” who was loved by many who packed the church for his funeral.
“When you report, you need to report with integrity,” Handy-Jones told the reporter from the front of the room. “You need to report knowing that you are reporting the truth and nothing but the truth. … There’s a fine line. There’s a police story, there’s the witness story and then there’s your story and then there’s the truth.”
IF YOU GO
What: Community meeting to discuss the police shooting of Cordale Handy.
When: Thursday, April 20, 6-8 p.m.
Where: Progressive Baptist Church, 1505 Burns Ave., St. Paul
Hosted by: African American Leaership Council, St. Paul NAACP and St. Paul Black Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance
Kimberly Handy-Jones speaks directly to St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell. pic.twitter.com/84M16Bs3tY
— Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) April 14, 2017
Community members organized meeting in wake of police shooting of Cordale Handy. This sheet was handed out at door. pic.twitter.com/bhEJAA86oE
— Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) April 13, 2017