You may also be aware that same JCTA-endorsed candidate is now chairing an committee to impeach our public school friendly governor. He also voted for charter schools and the infamous “sewer bill.”
But terrible endorsements are nothing new for McKim’s closely controlled political action committee. For the 20 years prior to McKim taking over the role of President, there had been 7 presidents, the most recent being Laura Kirchner. Laura and others have been paying attention. Here are some opinions of BSK endorsements we came across recently:
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In 2016, according to a post made by JCTA member and candidate for JCTA Vice President, Randy Wieck,
JCTA blocked transparency of the private money (equity) contracts, so-called “proprietary”, in 2016 (see bottom of Action from 2016). The private money firms divulge what they choose, and charge what they like, and this cannot be revealed to JCTA/KEA members. (See Beau Barnes, open records request 2014)
According to the Feb. 2016 ACTION newsletter distributed by JCTA, SB2 would have required KTRS to publicly disclose information on secret, no bid private equity contracts. Claiming disclosure would prevent these types of investment opportunities in the future, JCTA supported keeping the information private, and applauded the removal of these transparency provisions in the revised legislation. (See bottom of newsletter.)
Legislators request review of pension investments flowing to Wall Street firms whose execs funded groups boosting Republicans who tried to overturn the election.
JCTA officer elections quietly come around every three years. Tomorrow will kick off the next triennial 8-day popularity contest. Their long-standing President, Brent McKim, has a Black female challenger. Incumbent Vice President, Tammy Berlin, seeking her third term, has a Black male challenger. The Treasurer slot is being sought by a vocal critic of McKim’s handling of the pension crisis. Despite promises to the contrary, Brent has remained in power for 20 years, after removing term limits shortly after becoming elected in 2001.
Their entrenched white leadership continues to abuse their power to suppress members’ votes, restrict access to information that impacts members’ financial security and representation, sow discord, and spread confusion and fear in order to prevent non-white stakeholders and their allies from sharing in the decision making that affects their union, their district and their community.
Unfortunately, their latest efforts appear to be working, based on the number of teachers who have told me to stop poking the bear, a tried-and-failed strategy that continues to leave me vulnerable and exposed, while their harmful and dangerous behaviors grow rampant and remain unchecked.
The gaslighting and manipulation in a recent message from JCTA Executive Director DeeAnn Flaherty (a McConnell Scholar) regarding a recent email I sent to candidates is complex, but let me break down a few things I noticed:
Their first implication is that I did not send the email to all candidates, or provide them with equal opportunity to participate.
Click to enlarge.
This assumption is not factual and easily proven as such. I sent the email to more than two dozen candidates in contested downballot races, specifically so that everyone WOULD have the same opportunity to be aware and apply. When my email tracking software showed ZERO opens after some time had passed, I called or messaged a few candidates that I knew to make sure it had not been blocked, as has been done previously. (See image.)
Candidates “K,” “G,” “I” and “S1” located and opened their emails after I notified them to look for it. Most of them told me it was buried in some kind of spam folder. After that outreach, I could finally see some “opens” but other than the initial three or four that I contacted, the reporting became stagnate again. So I prepared another email to send to the same candidates from a different address to instruct them to check their spam folder, because I wanted to make sure they saw it before the deadline we had given them. Unfortunately, members of our planning group instructed me not to send that email because they feared it would create even more distractions. So I waited.
In the meantime, candidate “S2” found and opened her email and completed the form within, providing her home address, phone number and tshirt size. Was it a setup?
Because we had already been working with the other candidate on that ticket, Jenna Fracasso, I sent follow up questions to “S2” to try to differentiate between the two of them, so the nominating committed could make an informed decision. She did not respond before the deadline. Jenna had already been attending People’s Agenda meetings and confirmed to us that she supported the shared vision of the Coalition, so the nomination for the endorsement went to Jenna instead of candidate “S2.”
They indicated someone received an unsolicited late night unannounced visit.
Despite not receiving our nomination, I still wanted “S2” to have the tshirt she had ordered. Since time was of the essence, I didn’t want to risk mail time delaying the receipt of the tshirts. (Ironically, Tammy Berlin condemned me on her personal FB page, and specifically criticized the estimated 2-3 week delivery time I had posted regarding the tshirts. She did not realize I had a batch in the works that I was planning to deliver to those who ordered early. Seems like no matter what I do, it is a no-win situation with her.) In addition to dropping off “S2’s” tshirt, I made several other contactless deliveries to candidates that Friday evening with no “incident.”
Using the address and phone number provided by “S2” on the form, I placed a package containing the tshirt she requested on her doorstep. Due to concerns that she may mix it up with some trash and other packaging that was also on her doorstep, I called her (again using the phone number she provided to me for this purpose) to let her know it was there, after I drove away. We had a great conversation. I explained why she didn’t get the nomination and she indicated she understood. She told me her reasons for running, which sounded in alignment with our work, and I invited her to come to the next Zoom call. And that was that. Or so I thought.
Upon checking the campaign software again, I discover that Candidate “S2’s” email has been shared over 40 times, making it clear that it is her email that was forwarded to JCTA.
Since that time, only two other candidates have opened the email, one of whom has since withdrawn from the race. JCTA not only falsely claims this email was not sent to all candidates, but in fact prior emails I have sent to teachers have successfully been BLOCKED by JCPS’s Chief Information Officer at the request of JCTA. Could this have something to do with emails from me continuing to be buried in teachers’ spam folders?
Inflammatory language
The language in their email is right in line with their other historical tactics of suppression, using words like solicitation, security, security, personal information, “undo what has been done” etc. They imply that our endorsements and support are somehow shady and put their favored candidates at a disadvantage, when in fact their white incumbents are arranging drop-in visits at PR meetings, sending rah rah emails to members with their faces and names all over them, and hosting zoom calls with high profile legislators like Morgan McGarvey, indicating that he has endorsed their lily-white slate. In fact, Ivonne brought this misstep to Morgan’s attention and he indicated he was mortified. We have invited him to join our next call, but as of yet, the time has not been confirmed.
Hypocrisy and false narratives
Regardless, and this is important, there is NO REQUIREMENT, and in fact it is incredibly HYPOCRITICAL, for them to assert that all candidates deserve equal opportunity to apply for an endorsement from our committee. LOOK AT BSK, for Heaven’s sakes! Are they practicing what they preach? No! We sent the email in an attempt to be as inclusive as possible and model what democratic and fair elections should look like. It should alarm everyone reading this post that they are acknowledging that this is something they condemn.
Endorsements can and have been made based upon the endorsing entity’s knowledge of a candidate’s work, platform, and presence at our meetings. Our endorsements require candidates share our vision for third-party organizations in JCPS. We are an anti-racist organization. Therefore, individuals who have been enablers of white supremacy would be problematic to endorse, regardless of their completion of any forms or “agreement” to support our vision. Our meetings are open to the public and have been advertised as such repeatedly (including on the “controversial” email). Our coalition works as a consensus and anyone is welcome to bring their ideas and opinions, but at the end of the day, we have an elected committee and we vote on who to endorse. This is a structure that was created and has been followed since the tax increase endorsement in November, with no objections.
The real reason this is happening.
We are exposing things they don’t want people to see. We are presenting, for the first time in 20 years, a threat to Brent McKim’s dynasty that he has so carefully built, orchestrated and protected. He’s conducting elections using 15-year-old software that he commissioned and controls. There is no reason to believe he is not able to monitor votes in real time, see who is voting for and against his picks, and adjust tactics and messaging to his benefit.
We have received numerous testimonies from people who have had their President’s power and support dangled in front of them to intimidate them into voting for him and/or not speaking out against him. Members have repeatedly requested paper ballots, and in the Fall of 2019, another motion was passed by the PRs to go to paper ballots so there would be a paper trail and a way to validate results, but magically, electronic ballots keep resurfacing. When one man ultimately controls the software used to gather and tabulate ballots, would he not be able to report whatever election results he wants? Members are given no choice but to trust the winners and losers announced at the end of the election. And as we saw with the botched BSK election, without a paper trail, there is no way for “losers” to challenge the results and request a recount.
It is my belief that members’ demands for transparency and democracy ahead of tomorrow’s JCTA elections is why these entrenched leaders are trying to discredit and dismantle our Coalition’s rich history and important work. Fear that they could have their power taken away is causing them to lash out at those seeking truth and accountability. Their actions are intended to cause confusion for members, making them want to distance themselves from the controversy and discomfort.
History is chock full of racist, white supremacist acts like this. Once we recognize them for what they are, we must honor the work of those who founded an alliance that is specifically against racist and political repression, by continuing to stand against these heinous acts! NOW MORE THAN EVER! It’s time!
I’ve sent messages to the superintendent and the commissioner letting them know what is happening. We’ve also reached out to the League of Women Voters to ask for their assistance in certifying the election results. Whatever they are saying about “outside influencers” is a distraction. This election has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with entrenched, white JCTA Members staying in power.
Teachers, I’m not asking you to take my word for any of these claims. I’m attempting to provide you with information they don’t want you to have, and encouraging you to do your own research. After all, it’s your pension and profession, not mine, that hangs in the balance. But it’s all Louisvillian’s whose tax dollars will be left footing the bill when your pension fails and vouchers siphon resources away from our public schools. And it’s future generations of vulnerable students who will suffer the consequences.
There’s an election going on. A very important election. For the first time in 20 years, ever since the sitting president removed term limits for himself and his loyal accomplices so they could remain in power, he and his white incumbents face a very a real threat from dissatisfied rank-and-file members
A Black, female educator, with 13 years recent and relevant classroom experience, not to mention private sector leadership experience — and who spent her lifetime in Black skin — is challenging the controversial white, male incumbent for the top leadership position.
The Jefferson County Teachers Association is one of just a handful of teachers unions in Kentucky that has a treasured collective bargaining agreement. They represent over 6,000 certified teachers, working in 150 plus schools, which range from 9% Black to 92% Black. And while the student population is around 50% white overall, some schools are 78% white, while others are just 2% white.1
Unfortunately, only about 24% of JCPS teachers are Black, leading to disconnects not only between students and their teachers, but also between Black teachers and their white peers. Many Black educators have told us they frequently experience hostility, have had grievances filed against them, and even experienced demotions after simply drawing attention to harmful behaviors or advocating for racial justice on behalf of their students or peers. They also have told us that their union has been at best, MIA and at worst, complicit, in the pursuit of justice in these matters.
One of the bills that has already passed the House and Senate and was vetoed by the Governor sits precariously waiting for the super majority GOP session to resume on Feb. 2, 2021. McConnell-like predators who remain in office have passed bills to strip the governor of his powers, including his ability to reorganize boards and committees, like he did with Education. That’s why House Bill 5 is dangerous for teachers’ pensions.
Couple that with House Bill 258, which is the new pension plan that the union has endorsed, puts new teachers in a hybrid plan, cutting off funding to the current plan. It’s sponsored by none other than Jerry Miller, of “sewer bill fame.”
Watch Kentucky Teacher Pension Swan Song to learn why financial experts believe these bills, if passed, will be the final blow to the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System.
But that’s not all. The teachers’ union holds lots of seats at lots of tables, and has run roughshod over delicate coalition-building work around racial justice for some time now. Efforts by Dear JCPS and others to elevate impacted community voices have been derailed on numerous occasions, when union leadership disagreed with the opinions of those in consensus. It’s what led to Dear JCPS’s resignation from AROS last July.
I believe today’s events regarding implications that an email we sent to candidates was somehow improper or unethical, are another example of the same. One of the members of The People’s Agenda’s 17-person decision making council, who voted on our slate of candidates, also currently serves on the JCTA Board alongside some of the candidates our nominees are challenging.
When she did not agree with some of the nominating committee’s recommendations, she made her concerns known on every call that she attended and in chat conversations. She even made numerous calls between meetings to try to express her concerns about being on the same slate with another candidate she did not like. When pressed, her only rationale had nothing to do with his platform, track record or credentials, but only that she “never liked him” and when she met him years ago her “spirit was uneasy.”
Due to her continued grandstanding, we decided to take additional steps to attempt to reach out to all downballot candidates who had challengers and give them another opportunity to seek endorsement. An email was sent to more than two dozen candidates. When none of the emails showed on the campaign reporting software to have ever been opened, I reached out to a few of them and asked them to look for it to make sure it hadn’t been blocked like it was last time. Only those who I told about it opened it. That changed Thursday and one of the candidates actually filled out our request. As requested, she willingly provided her home email address, phone number and t-shirt size. Additional questions were sent for follow up, which she did not reply to. The nominating committee sent around its first round of downballot endorsements, and due to lack of differentiating information, her challenger was nominated instead.
When it was time to call for the vote, the above-mentioned vocal objector to the slate was the only “no.” Having been unsuccessful in her lobbying efforts on behalf of status quo candidates, one of whom was her cousin, she appears to have decided to go around the council to try to have our work derailed using other channels. For example, in an attempt to sully the candidates on our slate, confidential information only 17 of us would on the Council would have had access to was shared with JCTA leadership, who then forwarded this and another email to all of the candidates, implying our Coalition was doing something wrong, although we were not.
This is not new. Many folks doing this work alongside me can tell you the same thing happened when the majority of organizations in AROS came to a consensus last May to conduct a campaign around a pledge to support the tax increase, only to have it vetoed by one member group that had not even been in attendance during that meeting.
Others will tell you about the time when an attempted state takeover of JCPS was announced, white JCTA leaders abandoned the structure and working relationships that had been cultivated in AROS, only to form “Our JCPS” and pick and choose whose voice was heard at the table. I continued to witness Black teachers, parents and students pushed out of decision making, denied and delayed justice and be attacked and discredited. For speaking up, I was similarly “uninvited” from the conversations, maligned, and attacked by white leaders and their white peers from other unions.
So, for those concerned about “outside influences” and whether it’s any of our business to interfere with teachers’ unions elections, hopefully this history provides a little bit of insight as to the ways the entrenched union leadership has interfered with attempts to bring justice to Black, Brown, poor, and marginalized JCPS students, teachers and families, and in particular those living in West Louisville. But if not, the voices of the current and former members who have asked us to intervene on their behalf, should not be dismissed.
One final note: At the request of some candidates who may have been endorsed but have been poisoned against the idea of candidates running as a slate (although that is what the white incumbents are currently doing), I want to make one thing abundantly clear. Although support and resources, including a $400 marketing budget, are available to endorsed candidates, at this time, none of them have accepted our offer. We will continue our work supporting and elevating candidates who share the vision of the People’s Agenda Education Committee, which includes:
Democratic and transparent elections and endorsements;
Fight privatization of public education, including protecting and funding pensions, and preventing vouchers;
Racial Justice for Students and Teachers, including plans for a safe return to school for EVERYONE!
Supporting documentation for all of the claims made above will be published here or at www.thepeoplesagenda.net as soon as possible.
Stay tuned to this blog for more information about the JCTA election, which runs from 6 AM Wednesday, Jan. 27 through 5 PM Wednesday, Feb. 3.
The recent election for Better Schools Kentucky, a political action committee within the teacher’s union, which endorses candidates and directs member dues money to candidates for key legislative and school board seats, uncovered numerous anomalies and programming concerns with the union’s antiquated electronic ballot system. Candidates asking too many questions created an avalanche of more and more questionable outcomes, some of which are explained in the 9-minute video below. The video is excerpts taken from the January 4, 2021 People’s Agenda meeting, which are held every Monday at 4:00 PM on Zoom.
Instead of explaining the anomalies, the initial winner was eventually overturned, legal challenges were issued, while the tightly controlled decision makers held a closed-door emergency meeting to invent policies that had never before been written, because apparently no one had ever asked this many questions before.
The BSK election committee determined, after the fact, that a run-off election was indeed necessary when there in no majority winner for the only member-elected position on this year’s PAC board. So it was scheduled for 3 days in January.
The run-off election was an even less transparent and more tightly controlled race, in which the original winner’s victory was restored by 11 votes. These run-off results have to be taken at the committee’s word, because very few people truly know what is going on behind the curtain. Although our supported candidate, Kenyata Dean-Bacon may have only lost by 11 votes, but the run-off elections generated more than double the voter turnout than the first election. This tells us we’re no longer the only ones paying attention.
More important elections to the top positions are coming up January 27 – Feb 3. Be sure to support the candidates who support democratic and transparent elections, including reinstatement of term limits; fully funding pensions including for new hires; and a commitment to racial justice for teachers, students and their families. More information about these candidates and their shared vision can be found at www.thepeoplesagenda.net.
Join the team that wants to bring transparency, democracy and member representation back to JCTA. Join the team that wants to bring better endorsements, fully funded pensions and racial justice to JCPS. JCTA Members, learn how you can get a free campaign t-shirt and/or yard sign for joining the team. (Allow 2-3 weeks for shipment.)
Last month’s election for JCTA’s political action committee (PAC), better known as Better Schools Kentucky, was not devoid of excitement and intrigue, that’s for sure.
If you missed it, you are probably not alone. Only those who are familiar with JCTA bylaws would be aware that one would have to call the JCTA office to get the results. So we wanted to make it easier for you.
At one point, candidates asked for a recount and they were told that there was “no opportunity for human error,” only to find out later that an errant letter “e” in one of the write-in candidate’s names caused everything to shift. Instead of explaining all of the anomalies that the candidates inquired about, JCTA’s response was to declare a different winner than was originally reported.
You don’t say?
In fact, of the four candidates on the ballot, none of them won by majority — either time — so the BSK election committee had to hold a special meeting to determine if a run-off election between the two top vote-getters would be necessary.
They decided it was. The run-off starts Monday, January 11 at 6 AM and ends Wednesday, January 13 at 4 PM. JCTA members should keep a eye out for the link to vote.
After all of these anomalies, how can JCTA members be assured that the election results are reliable? What’s different this time? Imagine how Americans would feel if Trump and his people were the ones conducting the Presidential election and reporting the results.
Why not give BOTH of these winners a seat at the table? Of the 12-person committee, 10 of the seats are nominated by President Brent McKim. We couldn’t help but notice that 8 or 9 of the 10 individuals put there by him are white. Instead of using his nominating power to ensure a diverse committee, he’s forcing these two exceptional Black women to duke it out in a run-off for the only member-elected seat in this year’s BSK election.
Since a run-off is likely to expose more embarrassing glitches to the union’s archaic electronic voting system, why not just add another seat to the committee and make it 13? It’s still not quite representative of the district as a whole, but it’s a start.
Rank and file teachers who demand better endorsements and more democratic representation are circulating a petition encouraging JCTA President Brent McKim to step down. After his election in 2001, he was instrumental in removing term limits, enabling his staying power. According to the petition,
The 20-year tenure of current leadership is based on the undemocratic elimination of term limits by this leadership in the early 2000s.
RaShauna Tyson, a math teacher at Frost 6th Grade Academy, has filed to challenge McKim in the upcoming election. Kumar Rashad, Breckinridge Metro teacher, has filed to run for Vice President against long-time incumbent Tammy Berlin. Tyra Walker, a teacher at Roosevelt Perry, is running unopposed in her bid to retain her seat as JCTA Secretary. Manual history teacher Randy Wieck has filed to challenge incumbent Maddie Shepard for JCTA Treasurer. You may recognize Dr. Wieck’s name, as he has been an outspoken critic of McKim for his failure to act on addressing pension mismanagement.
The BSK run-off elections start Jan. 11 and end Jan. 13. The general election begins January 27, at 6 AM, where numerous regional positions are also on the ballot.
My friends call it “spilling the tea.” My family used to call it “spilling the beans.” Although I think the expressions came from two completely different origins, they mean roughly the same thing in this situation.
Not sure where the expression came from, but I can picture some well-dressed Southern ladies sitting together at their bridge table, and when one of them starts to tell a juicy story about one of their “friends,” it causes another to knock over her cup of tea, causing a commotion for all.
Welcome to my tea party. I’m about to spill some tea.
Let’s begin in the present, so I can show you what to look for while it’s still happening. Right now, JCPS teachers are in the midst of a silent coup by the current regime. The fewer teachers who even know this election is happening, the greater the chances they can keep their current dear leader in power.
Up for grabs is the At-large BSK position. The election was held during a 3-day window: Nov. 30 – Dec. 2. What happened during that time could fill an entire season on Netflix, but we’ll sum it up here.
At first, Natalie Rashad was declared the winner. But when the election committee couldn’t explain the irregularities on their infallible software’s tabulation sheet, they went back to their programmer. He magically discovered an error and running tabulations a second time resulted in Kenyata Dean-Bacon becoming the winner. (Maybe they thought it would just be easier to give in than to explain the myriad of errors.)
However, when not a single one of them noticed there had not been a majority winner until Kenyata asked about it, the election committee held a séance, I mean special meeting, and decided that a run-,off would be necessary, putting Kenyata’s narrow victory at risk, and pitting both worthy candidates against one another at a future date.
Third time’s a charm, right?!
But why the mystery? Why wouldn’t the timeline they are organizing just follow the bylaws? Is it really that “unprecedented?” Or is it “going according to plan?”
Does this botched election remind anyone of the recent Bar Exam debacle? When several would-be lawyers had their joy stolen from them because after they had celebrated passing the BAR exam, they later learned they had failed? Many were saying “just give it to them.” After all, these tests are barriers; ways to discriminate. And judging by the makeup of the organization, it’s working just as it’s intended!
Tell JCTA to give BOTH of their BSK winners a seat at the table. Lord knows they’ve earned it! Take a look at the barriers and hurdles they’ve had to face to get to this moment to even be considered for the ONLY position on the BSK this election cycle that is put before the members. Could JCTA make it any less equitable and democratic? I don’t think so!
Kumar Rashad for President!
Come on, JCTA. Especially you, JCTA President Brent McKim. All eyes are on you. Do the right thing. Give up your seat that’s been controlled by mediocre white blood for decades. It’s time for new blood. Be the hero. Endorse Kumar Rashad for president. Allow members to bring back the term limits you removed, so this type of stagnation doesn’t continue to happen. It’s his time. If not now, when?
Let’s all get behind #KumarForJCTAPresident, and follow a path that will allow JCTA to award BOTH of these two fierce advocates for black, brown and poor JCPS students a seat at the BSK table. Let’s quit manipulating results and moving goal posts and get back to supporting our students and teachers. (Sorry for the shade toward McKim, but he’s been given every opportunity and we’ve reached this point where the members have some decisions to make. They deserve to finally see what’s been going on behind the curtain all these years.)
Teachers, get organized! They still plan to move forward with a run-off BSK election. So, unless they are planning to violate their own bylaws, it would happen this Wednesday (Dec. 16). Also, start preparing for the general election starting on January 27, where several key positions are up for grabs.
Moments before Nagdy was shot twice — once in the head and once in the abdomen — and left for dead in the middle of a busy Louisville street, an LMPD officer shot and killed another innocent-until-proven-guilty Louisville resident whose offense appears to be nothing more than driving with his headlights off on the “wrong side of town.” I am quite certain if this officer was working the beat in another part of town, like mine, the officer’s first response after pulling a car over to alert them their headlights were off, would not be with gun drawn in a “kill-shot” position. But in looking at the officer’s body cam footage, the only video released so far, that’s how it looks.
Anyway, I will share a link to the video in a moment. I need to provide you with more context, first. The video KSP released contains an explainer that runs almost as long as the less than three minutes of footage they shared with us so far. It provides some assumptions that the public is expected to take their word for, I guess. I have some questions about the video, and so far, no one has been able to answer them.
So, let’s set the stage:
At 12:30 am, Travis Nagdy was gunned down, shortly after making what would become Travis’ final post on his Facebook page (please read this editorial from the amazing Hannah Drake). You see, Travis had been a vocal critic of LMPD, once calling them an organized gang during a metro council meeting.
He was intent on catching them in the act. And they knew it.
He started listening in on their police scanners. It’s clear he heard the radio call about the police shooting of Brian Thurman, and that’s what prompted the cryptic post. “All hands on deck 22nd & Gilligan”.
But Travis never made it to the scene with his bullhorn. Can you imagine how different things might be if he had? In the city that lost Breonna Taylor to dirty LMPD cops earlier this year? (More on that later.)
Some reports say that Travis told friends he thought he was being followed.
Is it possible that officer Harry Seeder (don’t watch the video yet) shot an innocent man, not the driver of a vehicle that was “reported stolen?” Is it possible that manipulative, corrupt, dirty cops came up with the idea to tell the media and their chief that the car was reported stolen to cover up the fact that one of their partners just shot and killed an innocent man who was merely dropping off a friend in her driveway and didn’t realize his headlights were off?
Can you imagine if a charismatic and outspoken leader had shown up with his bullhorn in hand, and followers arrived at the scene as commanded, just a couple dozen blocks away from the square where protests have continued non-stop for 200 days now, how different might things have turned out? When you look at the map, you can see Travis was on his way to that location just South of the gas stations at the 22nd Street exit in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood. A location that, had things been allowed to play out, might have sparked the largest protest in the history of protests. At least here in Louisville. Can you imagine if people found out that night, while cops were trying to clean up that mess, that the person who had been killed at the hands of police that night was an innocent man and that the cops were covering it up? With that much attention and people watching, would they have even been able to?
Hang onto that possibility while I continue setting up the story.
Perhaps Mr. Thurman lost his life due to fear. Perhaps the cop was afraid. Perhaps he was not properly trained to secure the location and de-escalate the situation, and his failure to do so that night on any one of a half a dozen things, could have prevented an innocent man from being shot at least five times. Perhaps he didn’t follow proper protocol. Or perhaps he DID and protocol is what needs to change. We don’t know because they still have not released any additional footage, such as the dash cam, or the radio calls. Or if they are public, people like you and me don’t know how to find them.
Perhaps the officer, in hindsight, knows this man’s death could and should have been avoided, but doesn’t know where to turn because the brotherhood is strong!
The misleading information presented and possible cover-up that follows the night Thurman was killed by LMPD is the part that I need you to see.
Here is a video of the footage from the group Police Overwatch. As of this writing, there are only 176 views. I just made 177. I hope to see that number grow. Be sure to subscribe to their channel while you’re there.
Here’s is another video I recorded with my iphone the night the video was released. I wanted something that started when the actual body cam starts, and not the misleading brotherhood-spun intro. Because bias influences your ability to see the truth. And everyone paying enough attention to form an opinion was hearing misleading information from two “reliable” sources. First, they told us that the car had been reported stolen and second, they told us that the officer was doing his job because the car backed into him. So of course, people are going to say, “the shooting was justified. Of course, it was self defense. The guy was driving a stolen car, for god’s sakes. He had it coming!” You know the drill.
The video begins with bodycam footage but no sound. When the sound finally cuts in, you hear the officer Seeder say, “I’m going to have Kentucky 1-3-2-Zulu-Victor-Bravo.”
If you watch my video, or know what to look for in the video from Police Overwatch, you can see it. Plain as day. In my video, I explain that the video is silent for the first bit. I point out that the car the officer is following appears to have forgotten to turn on their headlights. You can hear my voice a couple of times pointing out the license plate number he calls out over the radio.
“We’re turning onto 22nd and Gilligan right now.”
Throwing the police car door open and immediately pointing the gun at the driver, the officer yells, “HANDS! HANDS! HANDS! HANDS! Let me see your hands.”
He spits on the ground, indicating at a minimum uneasiness, but possibly nervousness, fear or anger. I can’t help but wonder if this is how I would be treated if I forgot to turn on my headlights? Would results vary depending on how close I was to downtown vs. my East End neighborhood? Is there more to this story as to why the driver of a yet to be identified vehicle was approached as a threat instead of someone he was supposed to protect and serve?
The officer yells to the driver, whose car door is still closed, to “Turn off the vehicle now!” Just as the car door opens and the driver complies and shows his hands, the officer simultaneously hears his name called over the radio and answers her call, “2 Adam.”
“Is it a white Mercedes?”
“Negative, this is going to be a Honda CRV.” He spits again.
The driver is still seen showing his hands, but the delay is uncomfortable for everyone, including those watching the video. It’s clear no one knows why this man has been pulled over, including the officer, at this point.
The operator calls back to him the numbers he gave her prior to pulling the car over, “1-3-2-Zulu-Victor-Bravo?”
Wait, it’s not the right number? What car has this officer pulled over? Who is the driver?
As of the moment the officer shoots Brian Thurman, he was still waiting for the dispatcher to run the corrected tags. At no time during the 3-minute video is his car “reported stolen.”
Someone apparently decided it was okay to tell the media and their boss that the car was reported stolen, so she could tell the entire world a version of the story that would take the heat off — of the heat — who was packing heat. You get it.
OK, here’s where I am going to take you on a detour. Once you spot this you’ll know what I’m talking about. But in the psychology of cult leaders, this is not that uncommon. In fact, Scientologists have a name for it. It’s called “Shore Flap.” It’s the practice of allowing a team of people to control the narrative. It may not be the police themselves. It may be their union leadership. How do I know? Because I see the same dynamics in JCPS and the influence a handful of teachers’ union leaders can have over what the public thinks about its own public school district. Again, another detour. We will get to that story later.
Back to the very unfortunate and very unnecessary death of Brian Thurman.
While the uncomfortable delay continues, and while awaiting additional information about the vehicle in question, it looks like Thurman is trying to get out of the vehicle with his hands in view. The officer barks at the man to “Stay in the car. Don’t move,” which he does. Perhaps also panicking, he also closes the door, isolating himself and the passenger from what’s going on outside.
Dispatch asks his location. “2100 Block of Gilligan.”
“He pulled off on me. I got him stopped.”
“Stay in the car! Do not get out of the car.”
“Stop! Stop! Stop!”
At first you think the officer is barking at the driver again, but after you watch the video a few times you realize that the officer appears to have spotted a passenger, female, getting out on the far side of the vehicle. We also learn she had been instructed by the driver to do so. Probably because they were scared to death and didn’t know what else to do. No one had told them anything, and as far as we know, they had reached their destination and he was dropping her off in that driveway, unaware he was driving a car that had been reported stolen. Remember, that pesky “innocent until proven guilty” thing? That means giving them every benefit of the doubt until there can be a trial. If this had gone to trial. But of course, it can’t. Or can it?
As the lady walks toward the officer, who has been standing in the driver’s blind spot this entire time, gun still drawn, (still nervously awaiting information about who owns that car!), the car begins to back up into the path of the officer. Or should I say the officer begins to cross behind the car to yell to the woman to stay inside. She comes into view and we hear her talking back to the officer just as the car begins to move in reverse.
“Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!” I counted four more times.
Not being able to control the passenger, the driver, the car or his own body, and not being able to decide which of many correct tactical decisions to make first, he appears to panic and make none. Instead he waits until the car is upon him, knocking his body camera go the ground, and the only decision left is to shoot the driver of the car (which if you have watched enough Mission Impossible movies, you know killing the driver isn’t the smartest way to stop a moving car).
You hear him say “fuck.”
You hear five gunshots.
He calls it in. You hear him breathing heavily. Sirens start immediately.
Assistance arrives quickly. He directs them to the victim. He defends his actions by responding to his brother, “He ran over me with the car.”
The video stops.
Two hours later, Travis Nagdy, who put out the “all call” for his own force to oversee the crime scene, is dead, and Yvette Gentry is holding a press conference to inform everyone what happened during the shore flap. Someone either lied to her and she shared it, or she knew it was a lie when she said it. Does she know it’s a lie now?
Notice which story she leads with. The officer is hit by the car and the officer fires. She calls it a traffic stop.
Notice anything else?
She uses inflammatory and biasing words like “the officer is run over by the car.” Someone probably fed that to her with intention, as well. Repeating what is fed to you make a reporter’s job easier.
Right. Anything else?
She says the officer said he noticed the car driving without tail lights. She then went on to repeat the lie that apparently came from the officer’s mouth.
“And when he ran the info on the car, he realized the vehicle was stolen.” ~ Natalia Martinez, WAVE3 News
When? In the two in a half minutes from when he noticed the lights were out, to the moment Brian Thurman lay dead or dying in his vehicle, does the officer “realize the vehicle was reported stolen?”
Does Yvette Gentry know about this? Does Natalia Martinez know about this? Does the lady on the radio who was running the tags for a white Mercedes know about this? I don’t know how to find out without giving the corrupt brotherhood and the dirty cops more opportunities to spin their web. One thing I do know? The cop who pulled the trigger knows. And he knows who fed it to the media. Someone had better come forward with the truth before it gets out to the public. Fix this shit.
Meanwhile, we continue to allow ancestors and protectors of colonizers and white supremacists, who maintain control over their own records, to pick and choose which files to release, which evidence to make public, and which version of the story to tell. I would bet you a million dollars they are working behind the scenes right now to manufacture a plausible story so that by the time someone figures this out and starts to demand #JusticeForBrian, it will have been covered up, or explained away, or forgotten. Or will it?
Watch the evidence. Tell your friends. Help this story go viral.
Demand the police demonstrate when and how the car Brian Thurman was driving the night he was shot by killed by LMPD officer Harry Seeder was reported stolen. I’d do an open records request, but then they would know who was asking and I would become their next target (I probably already just did). Force them to own up to their mistakes, their shortcomings, their biases. Make them show us what’s in their hands and in their pockets without tampering with evidence, without delaying the release of records, come forward.
Tell the truth. The world is watching. It’s time.
WHISTLEBLOWERS: If you would like to confidentially report examples of student abuse or you experienced retaliation for reporting these types of incidents to your employer and/or appropriate agencies, please email us at moderator@dearjcps.com. Use subject #MakeItStop!
Education is not just about learning facts, but about learning how to think.
Angela Y. Davis
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