An Open Letter to the Citizens of Walker County regarding Police Surveillance, Political Intimidation, and Retaliation
Dear Citizens of Walker County,
Franklin D. Roosevelt once said,"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear"and it is in attempt to adhere to my own assessment of what I see as "more important than fear" that I write this open letter to you.
I am writing this open letter because every time I have thought about the incidents I describe below, and the last year and a half of advocating for the Walker County Sheriff's Office to be held accountable, my chest tightens and I find it hard to breathe.
I am writing this open letter because my family has spent countless nights worried sick about the potential backlash and the possibility of retaliation that may ensue as a result of my calls for transparency and accountability from the Walker County Sheriff's Office.
I am writing this open letter so that there is public record of the inappropriate and concerning behavior of deputy Carl Carpenter, and the consistent and habitual refusal by the Walker County Sheriff's Office to practice any semblance of transparency.
But most importantly, I am writing this open letter to the citizens of Walker County because I believe that every one in our community should be able to participate in the political and civic life of our County without being subjected to police surveillance and the threat of political intimidation and retaliation.
Summary/TLDR:
WCSO employee Carl Carpenter, was surveilling the political activity of private citizens critical of their department during a county commission meeting on his cell phone. Carl responded aggressively and inappropriately when I, practicing my legal rights as a citizen, submitted an official open records request to the WCSO for the footage and the records of whom the video was distributed to. Nearly three months have passed and the Walker County Sheriff’s Office has not even acknowledged the request, continuing to model a consistent lack of transparency. It is more than reasonable for the citizens of Walker County to expect to be able to participate in the civic and political life of this County without fear of threat of political intimidation, retaliation, or having their civic activities surveilled by the police.
Full Story:
On May 6, 2024, during the first County Commission of the month, Walker County Sheriff’s Office deputy, and former investigator, Carl Carpenter decided for no apparent reason to secretly surveil and record me and another citizen, during the time allotted for public comments, from where he sat in the row behind us in the chamber of the Walker County Commission. A concerned citizen who was also in attendance witnessed Carl Carpenter filming me. The action distressed this citizen, who informed me of the surveillance/recording when the meeting had adjourned.
Before I go any further, I would like to make note that the State of Alabama is a “one party consent state” which means, based on Alabama’s privacy laws, that only one person that takes part in a secret recording must consent to being recorded. This means that Carl Carpenter, as a private citizen, was perfectly within his legal right to film me, or anyone he wants in a public setting as he is the “consenting party.” While I believe these privacy laws are an essential tool for protecting vulnerable people (say when a spouse records the abusive actions of their partners, when bystanders record the unjust actions of police officers, or when a citizen records conversations with elected officials to ensure they are held accountable) it becomes a point of public concern when used by public servants to surveil the political activity of private citizens by police forces and government officials. With this said, it should be made VERY CLEAR that Carl Carpenter was in attendance at this meeting, not as a private citizen, but rather in his official capacity as an employee of the Walker County Sheriff’s Department. It is this fact that makes his actions so concerning, leaving me to wonder why members of local law enforcement departments would find it necessary, or appropriate, to surveil the political and civic activity of their constituents.
Carl Carpenter’s actions and, subsequent behavior once confronted about his actions, on this day are deeply concerning and troubling given both his position as a public servant, and the reality that I have personally been very outspoken about holding those involved, whether directly or indirectly, in the homicide of Tony Mitchell, and subsequent attempted cover up by the WCSO, accountable. Carl Carpenter has been included in these calls for accountability given the fact that he is both named in the ongoing lawsuit against the WCSO made by Tony’s family, and moreover because of the fact that the events surrounding Tony’s death and, the resulting state and federal investigations, have for some reason not yet disclosed to the public, rendered Carl Carpenter unable(?) to continue serving as an “investigator” for the Walker County Sheriff's Department. I only knows this information to be true because Carl himself volunteered this information to me on April 1, 2024, after the County Commission meeting, when I congratulated him on his work in getting the MAT program started in the jail, and made an effort to ensure him that nothing I have done or said regarding the Tony Mitchell case should be interpreted as being "personally" against him. (To note, at that time I had actually not spoken about Carl individually or specifically in any way regarding the Tony Mitchell case.) Carl Carpenter told me in no uncertain terms that he in fact does perceive our calls for accountability as "personal," going on to say the following about the how Tony's death had forced on him a career change within the Walker County SHeriff's Department:
“All I wanted was transparency and it got my career changed. If someone ever says that Carl Carpenter is a part of a Tony Mitchell cover up then ask why Carl Carpenter is the only one who has had a significant career change. Ask about that. Perceptions of that lawsuit has led to me having a career change… It's for the better, turns out it's for the better but it should have never happened. They (WCSO) lost the best investigator in Walker County.”
Turning back to the day of the incident, once the County Commission meeting on 5/6 concluded, and the concerned citizen informed me that Carl had been surveilling me, I approached Carpenter and told him that I would like to have a copy of the videos he took of me. My request was clearly unanticipated by Carpenter as he was obviously intentionally filming me without my knowledge and had no plans to inform me of his actions. Having put him on the spot in this public setting, Carpenter agreed to send the videos to me. It should be noted that I only approached Carpenter to make him aware that I knew that he was filming me and anticipated that he would by no means willingly share the videos with me.
Two hours later, at approximately 1:17PM, I submitted an official records request under the Alabama Open Records Law § 36-12-40 et seq (Figure 1. below) Along with the videos taken by Carl, this request also asked for text and email records that would show who he shared the video with while also making a simple audit of all conversations he may have had about it on the phone he uses for work. This formal request was emailed to county attorney Richard Fikes with both Chairman Steve Miller and Sheriff Nick Smith cc’d on the email. My email with the attached records request read as follows:
“Hello Mr. Fikes,
During today’s county commission meeting WCSO employee Carl Carpenter was filming me and other citizens during the time allotted for public comments on his phone. While we are a one party consent state in regards to recording or filming others any device used for official county business (personal or otherwise) is subject to FOIA requests. In that light, and the unclear motivations around such actions taken by Carl Carpenter I have attached a records request below.”
(Figure 1.)
Nearly three months later and there has been no acknowledgement of this formal records request much less a response. However, I know that it was received based on the aggressive actions taken by Carl Carpenter while we were both in attendance at the County’s Opioid Committee meeting that very afternoon. During this meeting I was sitting at the table in the chamber of the County Commission between the row of chairs and the Commission’s podium, while Carl Carpenter was sitting in the back row of chairs. In the middle of this meeting Carl Carpenter walked up to me from the back of the chamber holding his phone in his hand attempting to show me something on his phone. On his phone was the email and records request I had sent to the county, meaning that it had been received and then forwarded to Carpenter by one of the three original recipients (Richard Fikes, Steve Miller, or Nick Smith) even though I had not yet received any acknowledgement or response indicating it had been received. When Carl approached me he was visibly angry and distraught over the fact that I had submitted the formal records request (something perfectly within my legal rights.) Carl Carpenter's hands were shaking I could barely tell what he was trying to show me on the screen of his phone, but it clicked when he said something along the lines of, “Why did you do this? I told you I would send you the videos.” I responded by informing Carl that I thought that a records request felt like the most appropriate course of action so as to ensure that there was a proper paper trail and documentation of the incident given my confusion and concerns about the motivations behind his actions. He then walked off as quickly as he had first approached me.
The whole incident, from the initial filming by Carpenter during the County Commission meeting to him aggressively approaching me at the Opioid Committee meeting left me incredibly unsettled. Though I attended the next meeting on May 28th (to advocate that the county work to establish proper channels of accountability for records requests.) During this meeting I became painfully aware of elevated levels of anxiety and stress I was experiencing while attending the meeting, alongside Carl Carpenter. After this meeting, and multiple conversations with my family, it felt appropriate to not put myself in a situation where I, or my family felt unsafe about my well-being in light of the actions and behavior of Carl Carpenter. I then made the difficult decision to not attend the scheduled County Commission meetings or the Opioid Committee meetings during the month of June because of the inappropriate behavior exhibited by Carpenter on 5/6, and the County’s continued refusal to acknowledge the records request. While, to reiterate, the action of filming me was not technically illegal, it is greatly concerning that an officer would be surveilling a private citizen’s political involvement while serving in their official capacity, especially when the citizen has been so outspoken against the department an officer works for. Not only were the actions taken by Carl Carpenter on May 6th inappropriate, but his motivations remain incredibly unclear and raises many concerns about whether the constitutional rights of other Walker County citizens may be threatened by similar actions taken by other WCSO officers, preventing citizens from participating in civic activity free of the threat of being subject to surveillance and tactics of intimidation by law enforcement.
In case I have not been clear, NO citizen’s participation in the civic and political life of their community should be hampered as the result of feeling politically intimidated by the actions of those in power.
Carl Carpenter’s actions, and the habitual lack of response to the formal records request by the Walker County Sheriff’s Department, have made me feel unsafe, and though I willingly chose to sideline myself during the month of June and did not attendant any of the scheduled meetings to advocate for justice (something I have done every month for more than a year,) I am telling this story here and now, because:
I decided that I had a moral imperative to not let the inappropriate and concerning actions taken by Carl Carpenter or other WCSO employees to further intimidate me any more than they already have.
I have allowed for more time than should be considered “reasonable” (per Alabama’s state law) waiting on a response to the formal records request, and the WCSO’s continued practice of ignoring these requests is in contempt of the best interests of the people in our community that they claim to serve.
No Citizen should fear the threat of political intimidation and surveillance by the police when participating in the civic life of their community.
And moreover because subsequent events and actions taken by Carl Carpenter seem to indicate that this is a pattern of intentional tactics of political intimidation and retaliation as per the following incidents:
Carl Carpenter, along with Jail Administrator Justin White, operating in their official capacity, used their positions and status as employees of the Walker County Sheriff’s Office to take retaliatory action against Kayse Brown, another voice calling for justice and advocating for inmates and those struggling with addiction in our community, by getting her fired from her job at the Resource Recovery Center. Something that is a clear violation of Kayse’s first amendment rights, and nothing short of an act of political intimidation that resulted in the loss of her job, and undue mental anguish.
At the Opioid Committee meeting on Tuesday June 4th (A meeting that I elected to not attend due to the events of May 6th) Carl Carpenter caused a scene in the middle of the meeting because he was angry with me (though I was not in attendance) about what he referred to as the "anti-police" survey I had created along with an intern from the Walker Area Community Foundation to gather input from citizens of Walker County effected by the opioid crisis (You can read the so-called "anti-police" survey here.) Carl Carpenter went on to raise his voice and expressed his anger in what can only be described as a petulant child-like fit while proceeding to get into a yelling match with another person in attendance who had nothing to do with the survey he was so mad about. This incident reassured me that I had made the right decision, and that attending this meeting could have potentially jeopardize my own well-being and safety upon being subjected to yet another instance of aggressive behavior and political intimidation.
In keeping with this, and in hopes of giving The Walker County Sheriff’s Office one more chance to respond to my request, I attended the County Commission meeting last week on 7/15 to express my concern about Carl Carpenter’s actions and the continued lack of transparency from the Walker County Sheriff’s Office through their habitual refusal to acknowledge and respond to formally submitted open records requests (The Daily Mountain Eagle covered this here). Carl Carpenter’s behavior over the last several months in these public settings is unacceptable and he, along with any other so-called “Public servant,” should be held to a higher standard regarding their behavior and interaction with citizens. Moreover Carl Carpenter, and others at the Walker County Sheriff’s Department, should know better than to wield their positions of power to retaliate against private citizens, and create unsafe environments that prevent citizens from fully participating in the civic life of their community.
Again, while Carl Carpenter’s actions that day are not technically illegal they are incredibly concerning to me, and should be concerning to any and every citizen who desires to be able to participate in the civic and political life of this community without threat of intimidation, retaliation, or the worry of being surveilled by the police.
As citizens we should be able to expect local law enforcement to:
Be held to their proper standard regarding their public behavior and actions.
Not surveil the political activity of citizens without consent, and with no clear motivations.
Respect and honor the constitutional rights of citizens to participate in civic life free of political intimidation and retaliation.
Adhere to state and federal laws that are meant to ensure that law enforcement agencies are practicing a level of transparency that keeps them accountable to their constituents.
The Walker County Sheriff's office, and many of its employees, continue to exhibit a refusal to not only comply with state laws, and their own stated values of “transparency” (Something the Sheriff claims he wants to embody), but consistently exhibit a pattern of behavior in which employees of the Walker County Sheriff Department wield their positions of power in ways that threaten the rights of citizens and their ability to participate fully in the civic life of their community unencumbered by the fear of political intimidation or threat of retaliation and it MUST stop.
For more than a year and half I, and others, have been faithfully asking and advocating for even just a modicum of transparency and accountability, and so far it seems to be nowhere in sight. As citizens of this County we should expect and demand nothing less from our elected officials and those supposedly tasked with "protecting" and "serving" our County. The only way that things can change in Walker County is if citizens are willing to show up and demand that our elected officials, on the local and state levels, ensure accountability and transparency.
In the Spirit of Christ and in Solidarity with the people, Ryan Cagle
"If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” ― Anne Lamott
__________________________ Ps.Along with the records request regarding the incident on May 6th is a copy of an entirely different request (Figure 2. below) that I submitted on April 4th asking for information about basic policies and procedures at the WCSO. This request had gone completely ignored and unacknowledged despite follow up emails being sent to the County, until 7/26 (after I had initial written this letter) when Nick Smith approached me at a community event in Parrish. He told me that he had sent my request to the "lawyers" and the Sheriffs Association for review, citing that some portions of the requested information likely could not be handed over to the public. He made no mention of the May 6th request or the incidents involving Carl Carpenter.
