Four City Councilors, Brenda Noel, Bill Humphrey, Alicia Bowman, and Holly Ryan, signed a letter to the Mayor criticizing the Mayor’s summary of the inquest and report from the judge regarding the Michael Conlon shooting in Newton Highlands in January 2021. The Councilors wrote, “The lack of empathy for the victim and his family is stunning, but it is also a troubling message to send to other families and individuals struggling with mental health and addiction challenges.” The Councilors state that “Compassion can exist simultaneously with the acknowledgment that a better choice could have been made which could have prevented the death of Mr. Conlon.” They conclude by stating that “The public relations spin is an injustice to the victim, and the political insistence on “unequivocal” “support” for personnel who made an avoidable bad call in the field with deadly consequences, per the report, does not improve public trust, healing, or future responses to similar crisis situations.” Read the full letter here.
