The Austin Police Department has been accused of faking thank you letters, following heavy criticism of force used on protesters amid the Black Lives Matter movement.
On Saturday afternoon they shared a picture collage of cards and envelopes reading ‘thank you’, ‘u r appreciated’ and ‘we are so thankful for all you do’.
‘We can’t express enough how grateful we are to serve you, Austin,’ the captioned the post. ‘Our officers have been working around the clock during these unprecedented times and thank everyone who took the time to write and make our day a little brighter.
In the Twitter post, a black officer and a white officer are seen smiling as they look at the cards.
On Saturday afternoon the Austin Police Department shared a picture collage of cards and envelopes reading ‘thank you’, ‘u r appreciated’ and ‘we are so thankful for all you do’
However some people pointed out similarities between the handwriting style on many notes
Dozens of envelopes are also seen spread across the counter at a precinct.
They used to hashtags ‘one Austin safer together’ and ‘thankful’.
However some people pointed out similarities between the handwriting style on many of the notes.
‘Damn. Everyone in Austin has the same handwriting. Public schools must be amazing out there,’ one man tweeted.
A woman added: ‘And why no postage? How did they even get them…?’
Another wrote: ‘A few dozen thank you cards apparently written by 4-5 people won’t cover up the fact that your department murdered Michael Ramos and almost killed several peaceful protesters last weekend as well.’
Twitter users pointed out the striking similarities in handwriting on many of the letters
Another social media users called out the police department for death of unarmed black Latinx man Michael Ramos last month
Ramos – who was black Latinx – died April 24 after neighbors called the Austin Police Department (APD) claiming to see a man and his girlfriend in a car doing drugs. When cops arrived to the scene officer Christopher Taylor fired a ‘non-lethal’ round into Ramos’ side despite him having his hands in the air and stating he was unarmed.
Many APD followers criticized the department after numerous protesters have been seriously injured.
Brad Levi Ayala, 16, has been hospitalized after he was ‘standing quietly on a hill’ in Austin, Texas when he was hit in the head and left in pain.
Austin college student Justin Howell, 20, was hit with projectile, causing brain damage.
‘How many cards has @Austin_Police sent to Justin Howell in the hospital? You know, the kid that took a “less-lethal” round to the head,’ one man asked.
Austin’s chief of police, Brian Manley, said police shot the wrong person after officers who were guarding the department’s headquarters building were pelted with rocks, water bottles and a backpack.
Instead of hitting the person who threw the bottle and backpack, it hit the head of a nearby protester who was recording on his cell phone, KVUE-TV reported.
But some people who were seen on video trying to get him away from the scene have claimed cops told them not to help Howell, and threatened to shoot them too.
Howell, a political science student at Texas State University, suffered serious head injuries, including a fractured skull and brain damage.
‘[Justin] has a fractured skull,’ his older brother, Joshua Howell, a student at Texas A&M University, wrote in his student newspaper, The Battalion.
‘He has brain damage. Doctors anticipate that when he wakes up, he will have difficulty telling his left from his right.’
Manley has vowed to investigate.
Brad Levi Ayala, 16, has been hospitalized after he was ‘standing quietly on a hill’ in Austin, Texas when he was hit in the head and left in pain
Justin Howell (left) has suffered brain damage after he was hit in the head at a protest by the police department’s ‘non-lethal rounds’. Cops also allegedly shot at those trying to help (right)
Protesters decry the death of George Floyd, Michael Ramos and police brutality against black Americans in front of the Austin Police Department headquarters in Austin on Friday
While it remains unclear exactly which kind of non-lethal projectile was used to injure Howell, the Austin Police Association, a local police union, posted images of used bean bag rounds.
A bean bag round, also known as a flexible baton round, is usually fired from a 12-gauge shotgun. Each round holds a small fabric ‘pillow’ that is filled with lead pellets weighing about 40 grams.
When it is shot, the bean bag bursts out of the shotgun at a speed of between 70 and 90 meters per second – or between 230 and 300ft per second.
The bag spreads out in flight and distributes its impact over an area of about 6 square centimeters – or 1 square inch.
The purpose of using bean bag rounds is to render an individual who does not pose a deadly threat to law enforcement temporarily immobile by causing muscle spasm or some other physical injury.
According to the website of one bean bag manufacturer, the effective range for firing the munition is 82ft.