About a dozen members of the advocacy group formed in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Osaze Osagie lay on the plaza outside the State College Municipal Building Friday afternoon as part of a “die-in” protest that called for the resignation of three borough officials.
It marked the start of what the 3/20 Coalition says will be “10 Days of Action,” leading up to the second anniversary of Osagie’s death.
On March 20, 2019, one of three State College officers who responded to Osagie’s Old Boalsburg Road apartment to serve a mental health warrant shot and killed the 29-year-old after he charged at them with a knife in a basement narrow hallway.
Following an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna cleared the three officers involved, saying they were in a “life-or-death” situation after one officer’s Taser failed to subdue Osagie.
Reading from a prepared statement, coalition member Gabriel Green reiterated the coalition’s call for the resignations of Mayor Ron Filippelli, Borough Manager Tom Fountaine and Police Chief John Gardner.
The three officials “[hid] key information about the facts of the investigation, including the identity of the officers involved and details regarding their fitness for duty,” Green said. “Public demands for transparency and accountability have been met with either hostility or obstinate silence.”
Last week, the coalition held a similar protest outside of Cantorna’s office in Bellefonte calling for his resignation.
In a joint statement issued in January, Fountaine and Filippelli said that the borough has been forthcoming about the case.
“The Borough of State College and its leadership have not withheld any information and have been transparent in addressing this incident,” Filippelli and Fountaine said. “We will continue this practice moving forward.
“The borough had outside agencies conduct the investigation of the incident, held post-incident meetings open to the public, answered questions, and made available on its website many reports and resources for all to see.”
While the borough has taken some measures to address demands from the coalition and others in the community — such as moving toward the formation of a Community Oversight Board and a Civilian Response Team and several diversity and equity initiatives — Friday’s protest aired grievances both longstanding and more recent.
The borough did not reveal the names of the officers involved — long a point of contention for the coalition — until this January, in a response to the initial complaint in the Osagie family’s lawsuit against State College and the officers.
Green said “there was nothing holding the borough back legally from doing so,” at any time since the state police investigation of the shooting.
The coalition also has called for reallocation of some police funds toward community services. The 2021 budget approved by a 4-3 vote of council in December did not reduce police funding and allocates the combined $400,000 for the oversight board and response team from reserves.
Allegations contained in an amended complaint in the lawsuit have sparked new dismay.
The now former officer who shot Osagie, M. Jordan Pieniazek, was allegedly “unfit for duty,” according to the amended complaint. It also claims that a now-retired police captain, who oversaw the department’s internal review of the shooting, had received information about Pieniazek’s alleged “excessive drinking and domestic abuse” and did not take steps to ensure Pieniazek was fit for duty in the days leading up to the shooting.
According to the complaint, Pieniazek entered rehab after a family friend notified the department of his alleged drinking and domestic violence. Pieniazek allegedly returned to work just days before the shooting.
Capt. Chris Fishel, the lawsuit claims, “continued to receive troubling information from an eyewitness relating to Pieniazek’s mental state while he was in rehab.” After the shooting, a witness contacted Fishel to express “concern regarding… Pieniazek’s increasingly dangerous behavior,” according to the amended complaint. Fishel allegedly told the witness not to take any action, because it would “complicate things.”
The internal review board’s report, which was written by Fishel, contained no witness information related to Pieniazek.
After the amended complaint was made public, Filippelli and Fountaine pushed back in their joint statement.
“This amended complaint, like the original complaint before, contains false claims, and half-truths, while also leaving out critical facts and context to understanding the incident, the background and the persons involved,” Filippelli and Fountaine said.
“We have not at any time placed any officer on duty, including those who were involved in the Osaze Osagie incident, who was not fit to provide the highest level of police services and professionalism in which the State College Police Department prides itself.”
They said the borough and the officers will respond “in detail to the inaccuracies contained in the amended complaint,” when they file an answer in the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania. The defendants have until March 26 to file the response.
In a statement read by borough council president Jesse Barlow on Feb. 1, “council and administration” supported Cantorna’s decision to ask state police investigate the new allegations, of which, like Cantorna, all seven council members said they previously had been unaware.
The coalition claims Filippelli has “moderated meetings in a biased manner” and pushed for police to be funded at a higher level than originally proposed for 2021; that Fountaine “insisted upon not releasing the names of the officers for over a year and a half;” and that Gardner ultimately bears responsibility for allowing Pieniazek to continue on the job despite his alleged issues.
The “10 Days of Action” include online and in-person events, culminating next weekend with a protest and march on Friday, community festival on Saturday and healing circle on Sunday.
