Thread by @tacoma_action

So let's talk about how the city isn't taking "tangible steps" and instead perpetuating the same cycles of violence, and using our money to do so.

It's kind of hard to figure out where to start, but let's start here, and we'll go back and clarify things later if necessary.

So last week, 3 of the 6 officers who killed Manuel Ellis were charged. But they were quickly bailed out.

We found out it was the owner of Integrity Construction Group who put up his own personal money to bail all 3 of them out.

https://twitter.com/tacoma_action/status/1398460310185418753

Took a closer look, and what do you know? He's pals with Ed Troyer. Yes, the same Ed Troyer who said the following about the Manuel Ellis case last June:

https://twitter.com/tacoma_action/status/1398516681346060293

"There was no heads on knees. There was no cutting off of circulation, none of that. He was handcuffed. He was talking. He was breathing. Then throughout the process, he had trouble breathing and he told people, 'I can’t breathe.'”

We knew it was a lie then, on June 3rd 2020.

And now after reading the charging document, everyone knows it was a lie.
(Charging document is below. Be warned that it is very disturbing and contains police violence).

linxonline.co.pierce.wa.us/linxweb/Case/C…

Okay, so why would Josh Harris even care? To the point where he bails them out? Especially when he has pending lawsuits against him, and all types of other claims of bad business. Even someone claiming he hit their car and never paid for the damages.

Well, this is his brother, Ben Harris.

Ben is...an organizer, and his brother Josh is very proud of him.

Ben Harris is also the executive director of the Tacoma Pierce County Chaplaincy where the mission is "to provide crisis support services to First Responders and the community."

You can look at their website for yourself, but this is what their team looks like 🙂

tacomapiercechaplaincy.com

So why does any of this matter? Well remember yesterday, one of the "tangible steps" the city bragged about was their Community Trauma Response Team. It was a direct response to a community need.

That community need was to have services from people that are not the police. Someone who can respond to a murder scene, a car accident, or any other type of trauma.

Sounds great, right? We keep seeing alternatives to 911 infographics for other cities, but in Tacoma, we don't have too many alternatives. This is supposed to be one of them.

The issue with that is the city contracts with a community organization to provide these services. And that contract is with....you guessed it! The Tacoma Pierce County Chaplaincy.

So our alternative to calling the police, is calling the police! AND WE PAY FOR BOTH 🥳

Guess what else we're paying for? Their salaries while they're on paid administrative leave. The administrative part is misleading because they're not actually working. Just collecting a paycheck while being investigated for murder.

So, like we said, the city isn't doing shit. They are paying cops to murder, and contracting with their friends to re-traumatize our community. Imagine calling the CTRT expecting to get resources and a cop shows up.

When we said it was lip service, we meant that. When we they haven't taken a single tangible step, we meant that. They continue to ply in our faces like we're dumb.

Feel free to email the Community's Police Advisory Committee and ask why they're contracting with Ben Harris.
[e-mail]

Last thing, Ben Harris owns the Dickey's BBQ Pit in Tacoma. Don't eat there 🙂

And here's part two: In short, Ben setup an account to support the officer's who were charged, his organization is being paid over $126,000 for their work, and none of this is what the community asked for.

https://twitter.com/tacoma_action/status/1402080896551903237