The Many Reasons Manley Must Resign

Today the Austin City Council crafted historical resolutions, all passing unanimously, calling for a serious shift in policing in Austin - something activists have been begging for FOR YEARS.

It took the trigger of the horrific murder of George Floyd, coupled with our own police-murder of an unarmed man of color in late April - Mike Ramos; then people taking to the streets for 13 days straight, where APD committed countless atrocities to suppress dissent. Police violence perpetrated on people protesting police violence...cuz cops. :-(

The images of the injured were splashed EVERYWHERE and forced the hand of our mayor and council, while the city manager and police chief are pretending to care. If they actually did, a whole lot of people would have been fired by now.

APD has drawn a line in the sand and cannot be surprised that the vast majority of people, privileged and oppressed alike, are finally banding together to say "no more!" Liberal Austin, which usually lets Austin Police Association's outrageous lies seep in as some measure of truth for comfort's sake, just isn't buying their current hype that defunding APD will be the end of civilization as we know it.

“Reform is no longer enough: What is needed is liberation…but the forces that would hold back a tsunami of transformational change – be it removing APD leadership, whacking $100 million or more from its bloated budget, or more – are probably, right now, not strong enough to do so.” – Mike Clark Madison

But this transformational change CAN NOT / WILL NOT happen with Manley at the helm. I seriously doubt it can with Cronk at the helm since he's shown no leadership in booting him out, TX Local Government Code be damned. 

One of the resolutions passed today included a full-council vote of 'no confidence' in Manley. Yet he's seemingly still wanting to keep the top cop spot. (Shame much?)

REASONS MANLEY MUST GO:

• Christopher Taylor, who murdered an unarmed Mike Ramos, has not been fired - it's been 48 days. See other cities' chiefs in the past two weeks firing officers within hours of an incident.
• We know he won't fire him because he LIED on the report to the TX AG about what happened. He checks "unknown...unknown...unknown" in the boxes, yet in the press he admitted Ramos didn't have a gun...didn't have drugs...didn't threaten the officers.
• He didn't fire Taylor nine months earlier for shooting Dr. Mauris De Silva, where his two partners thought Tasering would do.
• He didn't fire Eduardo Pineda or Spencer Hanna for their Tasering to death Enrique Quiroz in March of this year for the crime of trespassing, yet it looks like he had permission to be there. The family held a press conference describing how he was beaten and tazed, then dragged down the stairs in handcuffs 'like an animal.'

• He didn't fire Matthew Judd, who shot an unarmed Hugo Alvarez in March of 2018.

• He didn't fire Hugh Butler & William Bertelson for what may well be lying about Carlos Dodero having a gun/attempting to shoot them, as witnesses say otherwise. But he did DEMOTE another officer at the scene, but won't say why. Was it for telling the truth?

• He hasn't fired Thomas Brown for shooting/killing, instead of using less lethal force, Leslie Yolanda Salazar.
• He didn't fire Ivan Wall who it simply cannot be disputed violated policy in not properly searching Zachary Anam, who had a gun, and shot himself in the back of Wall's squad car. Wall also teased Anam when he admitted his suicidal state, video the Chief has seen, but not us. < This is as much an APD murder as a cop pulling the trigger himself.
• He didn't fire Benjamin Rogers for the shooting/killing of Morgan Rankin, when less lethal force would have obviously been the better option - she had just been in a car accident (that he caused by laying down spikes) and hit a utility pole - how could she possibly been a physical threat even with a knife, stumbling out of the car, disoriented?
• He didn't fire Richard Egal and Max Johnson for likely lying about Landon Nobles having a gun/firing at them (many witnesses said no gun). Lying on a police report is an immediately fireable offense.
• He didn't fire Bianchi, Johnson, O'Neill and Wagstaff for lying about Lawrence Parish firing on them before they shot and killed him. 
• All of the above are detailed here.
• New info just came in; it also may be that Paul Cantu didn't have a gun either...so more officers there in question
• ALL THE OFFICERS who shot people running away during the protests, all unarmed, the medics rending aid (violation of Geneva Conventions, as was the tear gas)...he has NO intention of firing them, much less any hand-slaps. Guaranteed. (He said in the Monday press conference following that even though it looked bad, it was by the book: "there were no policy violations that I know of.")
• By not firing any, much less, all of the above, he is complicit in these murders & assaults & actively covering them up...which would actually be a crime, or a multitude of them.

AND SO MUCH MORE...

• Rolling back progressive policy: Acevedo, in 2012, said "no more shooting at fleeing vehicles," but Manley decided that was okay, hence allowing Taylor to get away with murder (if you ignore the fact Ramos wasn't fleeing, because it was a dead end he was turning into)
• Refusing to institute training reforms long called on by the public, with city council backing via a resolution.
• Ignoring racism allegations among top brass and the entire department and obstructing the independent investigation looking into it (which DID turn up quite a bit, despite local media coverage presenting it as otherwise).
• Blaming sexual assault survivors when APD was caught fudging sexual assault stats ("teargaslighting" - when cops gaslight)
• Undermining transparency, the complaint process and reforms in the police contract
• Downgrading bodycam vioations/hiding them from the public despite policy
• Snubbing the Office of the Police Oversight
• DNA-Lab-Gate: bungling any chance at fixing it
• Returning medication that was ordered to counter effects of overdosing victims
• His harmful drug war policies/thumbing his nose at local policy to cease arrests on low level marijuana charges
• All of the above are detailed here.
• 2015/16's APD budget was $390M...this year it's $440M - under Manley, it's increased $50M - and FOR WHAT? We have NO more accountability than we ever did, since he's chipped away at what little we did get. 
• Hasn't issued the 2018 or 2019 Use of Force Reports ("Response to Resistance" they call it, assuming all use of force only occurs due to resistance); hasn't issued the 2019 Racial Profiling Report. AND CHECK OUT THE 3 YEAR OLD BUDGET NUMBER ON THE FRONT PAGE OF APD's WEBSITE!
• According to the recent Community Policing audit, between 2016 and 2018, resident satisfaction with police services decreased, even though crime went down - Manley took the helm in Jan., 2017. (Staying stagnant/not improving would have been bad enough).
• Besides the racism allegations, there was an internal complaint filed that Asst. Chief Troy Gay was forcing his family member into "conversion therapy" with Chief Manley's support. This was one of the many parts of the Tatum investigation that Manley blocked, so the investigator couldn't interview/corroborate with the complaintant. (BLOCKING AN INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE CAUSE ENOUGH FOR DISMISSAL)
• Forced out the head of the Sex Crimes Unit because she wouldn't fudge statistics as ordered. 
• While Acevedo promoted the truly abhorrent Jason Dusterhoft to Assistant Chief, he would have done so with then-Assistant Chief Manley's approval as he oversaw promotions/human resources, despite Dusterhoft's despicable past and reputation. Manley also didn't arrest/charge him for what he said were crimes. 
• Fanning the flames of discontent nearly as vigorously as Gov. Abbott, around council's softening of the city "quality of life" ordinances to lessen the criminality of being transient. Testified that crime was going up downtown after this happened, but couldn't offer statistics to prove it was due to an increase in the transient population. He took advantage of the chaos, of the focus being on those in visible spaces to crack down on those living in the shadows (private empty commercial lots, woods and greenbelts) to arrest them and confiscate what little they had.
• For 15 months, covering up/not investigating WilCo Sheriff Deputies Zach Camden & JJ Johnson's murder of Javier Ambler. APD was on the scene where he was apprehended (as it was then in Austin city limits) and a live tv crew was filming it and somehow media/the public never heard about it? Williamson County Sheriff Chody says they gave their body camera footage to APD/DA in April 2019 and they never were contacted again. Live PD says they never got a single request for the footage from anyone, and now says they can't find the footage? (*cough*) Now Sen. Whitmire has to step in to call for an actual investigation.
• Increased militarization and the Bloody Weekend...where from Friday night to early Sunday morning, after ordering they get out ALL their riot gear, tanks, weaponry, ammunition..then over and over giving the orders to attack protestors, seeing the results in media, social media and straight up reports from EMS and Fire, continues to give those orders to press on...and has the GALL to say Monday afternoon, "We didn't set out to do that."  (see the "TIMELINE")
• THEN, Monday, after getting a spanking from Mayor and Council, instructs his officers to kill us protestors with kindness instead; which is a whole police psy-ops tactic in and of itself..."engaging" them at HQ...passing out cookies...throwing up ASL "love" hand signs for pics. Cuz that whole past weekend? NEVER HAPPENED. Teargaslighting
• THEN...omg...THEN has the GALL to say at the end of that completely disingenuous speech, "Now is the time to come together."  Now? Really? NOW?
• Then the desperate measures to buy public sympathy by writing their own thank you cards and touting them as being from the some kindergarten kids.

"Regardless of the origin of these cards, it speaks volumes that whoever runs APD’s social media outreach thought this was a positive moment worth highlighting rather than an incredibly tone-deaf reaction to a moment in history when the necessity of police as an institution is on referendum." 

- Gizmodo

• Then, today, in further desperation, having a press conference on top of the council meeting talking about him and his department (VERY bad form), posing with some group that may well be their own infiltrators into our protests (they just created their FB and Twitter accounts earlier this week), as if they are their "community backing."
• Veteran activist Kathy Mitchell described the press conference message as: "...a threat to City Council: 'with respect to all those use of force reforms you've passed today, I will do what I want and then I will tell you about it. Within 24 hours. I promise.'"
• THEN, APD performed a chokehold/knee on throat hold on a protestor Friday night (6/12) after, ONE DAY EARLIER, the Chief said, "we never do those/we won't do those," and council passing a resolution banning them.  NO ONE FIRED.
• Then we find out a long time 'bad apple' who's had his share of discipline, including for assaulting a protestor in 2012, causing her to have a seizure, Shane Housmans, #6083, tell three black female activists "white power!"  NO ONE FIRED.
• LYING during the first Public Safety Committee meeting on June 18, when he said he he hadn't gotten any reports from EMS about injuries during the (that) weekend. If that BS is true, EVERYONE needs to be fired. 
• AND...violating policy by withholding APD's video of the shooting death of Mike Ramos from the Office of Police Oversight, and while Cronk FINALLY ordered Manley to do this at the 11th hour the video was to be released, this violation further delays its release to the public.   

Despite throwing some random reformist lingo around in council meetings and in the press to feign acceptance of the new order of things, it's obvious he's just not up to the task of what's ahead, since he couldn't handle the baby step-changes asked of him in the past.

Meanwhile, councilmembers say they've gotten well more than 10,000 unique emails each-- calling for Manley's head; more than 300 speakers today calling for Manley's head; nearly 20,000* people showing up for the march last Sunday, when they are scared to be in crowds because of COVID19 -- a CLEAR sign of support for the #BLM movement, the calls the organizers, Austin Justice Coalition, have put forth including firing Manley, and for a new dawn in public safety.

Photo by: Christopher Neely

It's never easy to cede power, but there comes a time when you have to quit while you're behind.  

RESIGN, Manley...do yourself, and us ALL, a favor.  And take Assistant Chief Troy Gay and Assistant City Manager Ray Arrellano with you. 

*Based on my experience in organizing large marches and because the march reached the Capital before the last of the marchers left Huston-Tillotsen!

YOU CAN WATCH THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNAL ON MANLEY NEEDING TO GO HERE.