Justice for Taylor Lowery's Family
Topeka City Councilmembers: Karen Hiller, Sylvia Ortiz, Brett Kell, David Banks, Spencer Duncan, Marcus Miller, Neil Dobler, Christina Valdivia-Alcala, Mayor Mike Padilla, City Manager Dr. Robert Perez, Assistant City Manager Avery Moore, Chief of Police
Taylor Lowery was fatally shot by Topeka Police officers in October 2022. The body camera footage, which the family fought for two years to make public, reveals troubling contradictions of the official narrative presented by the Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
The body camera footage directly challenges the public statements made by officials, including claims that Lowery lunged at officers with a knife. Instead, the video shows that the knife was on the ground by an officer's foot throughout much of the encounter. The wrench he briefly held was also discarded and lying between an officer’s feet, making him unarmed for a period of time. Body camera footage reveals that as Lowery picked up a wrench, multiple officers opened fire, shooting him 34 times.
“The video evidence is profoundly disturbing,” said Attorney LaRonna Laussiter Saunders, legal representative for the Lowery family. “It makes one thing abundantly clear: Taylor Lowery should still be alive today.”
We are left asking, ‘What crime did Taylor commit that warranted a death sentence?’” said Lassiter Saunders. “Taylor was a man suffering from a mental health crisis. He was in distress —the very reason his family sought help. Yet the system that exists to protect and serve, tragically failed him and his family."
Furthermore, the family and the public's attempts to seek answers were blocked by Topeka’s city attorney Amanda Stanley. Ms. Stanley has shown a pattern of injustices. The city is in constant litigation for internal conflict. Instead of working on policies and procedures to improve the environment for employees, Ms. Stanley has wasted taxpayer dollars on counter suits and dragging victims through more trauma. Most egregiously, Ms. Stanley was named in a recent lawsuit, which the city lost, as one of the very people who was creating the illegal, toxic workplace environment for the employee. That in itself should constitute immediate removal from the office that is intended to protect the interest of the city and its employees.
The body camera footage can be found here. (Kansas Reflector) *Warning: the video is graphic and only edits out moments that include minor children and 3rd-party witness information.
Dr. Rashad Richey and Yasmin Aliya Khan breakdown the event on Indisputable here.
Petition by
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Sponsored by
To:
Topeka City Councilmembers: Karen Hiller, Sylvia Ortiz, Brett Kell, David Banks, Spencer Duncan, Marcus Miller, Neil Dobler, Christina Valdivia-Alcala, Mayor Mike Padilla, City Manager Dr. Robert Perez, Assistant City Manager Avery Moore, Chief of Police
From:
[Your Name]
As a tax-paying constituent, we demand transparency and accountability of the City of Topeka. There has been a pattern of misuse of power and of our taxpayer dollars. It must stop. We want the city to act on the following immediately:
1. Provide compensation to Taylor Lowery’s family to care for his daughter.
2. Take steps to ensure the officers involved are held accountable. This includes opening negotiations with the FOP to remove contract language that shields officers from adequate disciplinary actions.
3. Call on the city attorney, Amanda Stanley to voluntarily resign or take the necessary steps to remove her from her role if she chooses not to. Ms. Stanley has a history of misguiding the city council and the public. Her recommendations to the city council and the city manager appear to be based on her personal vendettas and feelings and not on what is best for the city of Topeka.
We are following your next steps and what actions you take to repair the harm that the lack of accountability and transparency has caused.