Mayor Violates Officer’s Right to Due Process
Via KVUE.com:
The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) is charging that the mayor of Austin, Steve Adler, violated Austin Officer Geoffrey Freeman’s rights to due process when they fired him after a fatal shooting of a naked and unarmed man last February. CLEAT has subpoenaed the Mayor to testify at an arbitration hearing for Officer Freeman who is trying to get his job back.
CLEAT went for the subpoena after the Mayor issued a press release announcing the creation of an anti-racism task force insinuating that the David Joseph and Breaion King incidents were one of the main reasons that a task force was needed.
CLEAT Executive Director Charley Wilkison and Austin Police Association President, Ken Casaday, said when political leaders at all levels making disparaging remarks against law enforcement adds to the current hate climate against police.
The Mayor denied the allegation.
“I’ve never said the police department is a racist institution but what I will say is that there are institutional barriers to minorities in our community as there are in every community,” said Mayor Adler.
This past July Texas Lt. Governor, Dan Patrick talked to President Barack Obama directly about the problem.
“I would ask you to be careful when there is an incident of not being too quick to condemn the police without due process,” the Lt. Governor told the president.
Casaday also pointed out that Councilman Greg Casar sent out a press release the day after Donald Trump calling for civil disobedience. Casaday called the release inappropriate.
“When you ask for people to rebel and be disobedient, the people that end up suffering from that are local businesses and the police department who have to go out there and quell those issues,” said Casaday.