WOW the Public Comment period of today's @SeatttleCouncil budget starts with bombshell testimony from Howard Gail who reported the May 2020 murder of Terry Caver to OPA, which then lost the report for 2 months. 1/4

Gail testified about two SPD murders that OPA found within policy: Ryan Smith & Terry Caver. "They were Black. They were experiencing a mental health crisis. They shared a trait that made it easy for Seattle politicians and it's police accountability system to ignore them." 2/4

Gail: "They shared a trait that made it easy for Seattle politicians and it's police accountability system to ignore them: their families lived outside of Seattle and mostly out of state. Seattle needs a police accountability system governed by mercy and morality" 3/4

Gail: "Seattle needs a police accountability system governed by mercy and morality and not whether a murder becomes a meme. By empathy and not avoidance of embarrassment. That seeks justice and not justification." 4/end

My apologies for misspellkng Howard Gael's name in this thread. Correct is Gael