š¹ Does an unreleased video change anything?
Should a unreleased video impact whether or not we investigate the night police teargassed residents?
August 19, 2020 | Letter No.Ā 7
Thereās a video. And whether they release it or not, it shows that transparency in decision making is as important now as ever.
Last night, Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague and Mayor Pro Tem Mazahir Salih claimed city staff showed the pair some video and now they are prepared to reverse course on the independent investigation of June 3, the night Iowa City Police assissting Iowa State Patrol deployed tear gas against demonstrators near Foster Road.
Much of the smoke still surrrounding the incident in June resulted from it immediately becoming the object of investigation. First, it was police reviewing conduct, etc. Then Iowa City City Council said they wanted a full investigation, an independent investigation. Throughout this time, information about June 3 was opaque to the public because it was, as ICPD spokesperson Doug Hart keeps reminding me, under investigation.
āAs you may know the City Council has directed the City Manager to have an independent review of the June 3rd protest incident near Foster Road.Ā The answers to the majority of your questions will presumably be answered by the independent investigation when it is shared with the City Council,ā Hart wrote in a statement.
From the beginning, City Manager Geoff Fruin saidĀ he wanted an independent investigation into the events that night, arguing that he, too, was part of the city's chain of command and didn't want the report's findings to be thrown into question by any appearance of a conflict of interest on his part.Ā After theĀ Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation declined to take on that role, Fruin told the council in early July thatĀ procuring a contractor to complete the investigation would miss the Aug.Ā 1 deadline.
This week city staff released a contract with California-based Office of Independent Review or OIR Group. The contract gives OIR 90 days to conduct the investigation with an hourly rate of $200, not to exceed $50,000.Ā But Councilās interest in its results seems to have wanned as deadlines have been pushed and pushed again. With OIR contract, it could be December before we have information on an incident that happened half a year before.
And while the city is refusing access to information on the incident because it is āunder investigation,ā the mayor, mayor pro tem, as well as Council members John Thomas and Pauline Taylor seem to think price is to high and the results not worth it.
"The benefit, if you will, of the event was it triggered a number of changes to our policies regarding police behavior," Thomas said.Ā "Frankly, you know, now what has also changed is now we are seeing the financial consequences of pursuing thisĀ and I'm kind of inclined to think that we did change our policies, I'm kind of have that more looking forwardĀ inclination myself."
Itās true that this week brought the first cost estimate of the investigation, and we are in the middle of responding to not just a pandemic but the aftermath of the dercho.
But the only material change since the councilās unanimous vote to pursue the investigation is Teague and Salih have seen this video.
What video you ask? I donāt know. They say the video answers the questions they had about ICPDās involvement in June 3. While both are still open to the investigation, they suggested during the meeting that releasing this video would ammount to full disclosure of the incident to the public.
We have seen protester video and journalist video of the incident, but none of it was revalatory of the incident. I speculate when I say it is probably a body cam or dashboard cam giving them a closer vantage point on the incident. There could be audio. There could be good lighting. Maybe some solid dialogue.
But we donāt know any of that. And I donāt know why the public being asked to take the mayor and mayor pro tem at their word that video is sufficent. If the video is revelatory ā and maybe it is ā then maybe the city should release it. But that debate is separate from the same subject as the investigation already agreed to by Council.
We have had answers withheld for months now. Iowa City either needs to fund this contract with an investigator or it needs begin answering the publicās questions about June 3. Obscuring the night behind the guise investigation, only to suddenly yank that investigation out from under is a betrayal of trust and lack of transparency.
I should note here that three from Council agree. Council members Laura Bergus, Susan Mims, and Janice Weiner each supported the independent investigation.
Late after the Council meeting, I followed up with Mayor Pro Tem Salih who clarified that she is not against the investigation but feels that this video answers the questions people are asking. She said so long as the public are interested in the investigation, she will vote to approve the contract at their Sept. 1 meeting.
The cost of the investigation is high during a hard time. Itās analysis will not come back until December. And we may not like what we find. Itās very likely that the result will be that police followed their protocol, a protocol that we may want to change. But having that starting point, understanding what points led to police teargassing residents seems like a good place as any start.
While Iām no huge fan calls to action, it appears full disclosure on June 3 is reliant on those who contact council. Iām contacting City Council, requesting the investigation is pursued or they at least begin releasing information on the incident. If you want to join me, you can contact the entire council via emailĀ council@iowa-city.org.
Frustratingly and lovingly your friendly neighborhood reporter,
Zachary Oren Smith
Asshat of the Weekā¦
(YES, ANOTHER ONE. IāLL STOP, WHEN THEY STOP.)
goes to Tevin Wooten a meteorologist with The Weather Channel. Iowans dealing with poweroutages, communication network failures, trouble with food access, shelter access ā the list goes on ā have invoked the word āhurricaneā to help communicate the level devestation seen in areas like Cedar Rapids hoping to gain attention from a national media uninterested in our pain since the caucus ended (or didnāt I canāt remember). While here are some ways you Wooten could have helped, he chose instead to mock the language used to communicate our pain.
Donāt be like Tevin.
Thanks to A.J. for pointing this stellar candidate out to me. Please submit your ideas to @ZacharyOS on twitter or email zsmith@press-citizen.com
Take 5
āļø Tuesday, night Coralville City Council voted to fill the vacancy left by Tom Gill with a special election. More details are forthcoming, but already the first candidate has announced, Hai Huį»³nh, a coordinator at Coralville Food Pantry, is running for council.
āļø On Tuesday, President Donald Trump calimed āfull supportā was coming to help folks in Cedar Rapids impact by the huricane-force winds (fight me). This despite Reynolds request for $83 million for home damage, 3.7 billion for ag damage, and $100 million for private utility repair not being approved. It could be another week before individual assistance is approved, the acting secretary of Homeland Security,Ā Chad Wolf, said at a roundtable with Trump in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday.Ā
š³ļø The week Trump was in town, his campaign sued another Iowa county seeking to invalidate ballot request forms issued by their auditor including more information the Iowa Secretary Paul Pate and the Republic-controled Iowa Legislative Council would like. Now Woodbury, Johnson, and Linn counties are all being sued for it.
š¦ Of the 301 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Iowa as of Monday morning, nearly 15% were in Johnson County.
š The Iowa City Community School District will start fall classes on Sept. 8 withĀ 50% in-person instruction, in addition to offering parents the ability to opt in to anĀ online learning programĀ for their child. The also voted unanimously to join the Iowa State Education Association in a lawsuit officials said the association plans to file this week challenging the legality ofĀ Reynolds' interpretationĀ of a law she says requires schools to hold at least 50% of instruction in person.
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Zachary Oren Smith writes about government, growth and development for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach him atĀ zsmith@press-citizen.com,Ā at 319 -339-7354 or onĀ Twitter via @Zacharyos.