 I'm Attorney General TJ Donovan with me today is Justin Jiren from the Chittany County State Attorney's Office. Dominica Padula who is the Chief of the Attorney General's Criminal Division and Major Ingrid Jonas from the Vermont State Police. I would acknowledge that Doug Kilburn's widow, Sherry Kilburn, is with us today as well as Doug's and Sherry's son Tyler is here as well. Tyler and Sherry will have a statement to make to the media after we are done. I want to thank Sherry and Tyler for being here today. Earlier this week I met with Sherry and Tyler to inform them of my decision. I want to thank them for their time that they spent with us. I want to thank them for their presence here today. We are here to announce our conclusion of the review of the use of force incident involving Burlington Police Officer Cory Campbell with Douglas Kilburn. We have reviewed the officer use of force incident that occurred on March 11th, 2019 in Burlington. The Attorney General's Office is declining to prosecute Burlington Police Officer Cory Campbell for charges related to the use of force against Douglas Kilburn. Based on the totality of circumstances I've concluded that it was reasonable and justified for Officer Campbell to use force to defend himself. It should be noted that Officer Campbell's actions in his second interaction with Mr Kilburn while justified under the law did contribute to the situation in which the need for self defense arose. Training and accountability on de-escalation techniques are essential to ensuring that officers are not putting themselves and citizens in danger. It's our hope that the Burlington Police Department will take necessary steps to ensure that their department is equipped with the tools that they need to effectively and safely respond to members of our community in crisis. In reaching this decision our office considered the opinion of a police use of force expert Steve Iams whose report will be made public after the conclusion of this press conference and reviewed all the materials provided by the Vermont State Police who conducted a very thorough investigation into this matter. The facts are as follows on March 11th, 2019, Burlington Police Officer Cory Campbell was dispatched by the BPD to the University of Vermont Medical Center for an individual yelling in the waiting room to the point of spitting and arguing with security and refusing to leave. When Officer Campbell arrived at UVM Medical he encountered the individual Douglas Kilburn. Prior to Officer Kilburn's arrival Mr. Kilburn had been at the hospital with his wife Sherry who was receiving treatment. When Officer Campbell arrived at UVM Medical he met Mr. Kilburn in the parking lot. After speaking with Mr. Kilburn Officer Campbell then spoke with UVM Medical Security and they agreed that Officer Campbell would escort Mr. Kilburn through the emergency department to his wife's room. Officer Campbell returned to Mr. Kilburn and escorted him through the emergency department to Sherry's room. Officer Campbell asked Mr. Kilburn to remain civil before leaving him in his room. After a brief discussion with the medical staff Officer Campbell left the area. Campbell was then dispatched to provide a ride from the emergency department to a shelter for another unrelated individual. Soon after Campbell left Mr. Kilburn in his wife's room at the hospital staff again requested UVM Medical Security to remove Mr. Kilburn from his wife's room making the decision that his behavior was not conducive to his wife's health who was critically ill. UVM Medical Security officers asked Mr. Kilburn to leave and escorted him out of the hospital. Mr. Kilburn swore and screamed at them the entire way. Short time later UVM Medical Security Officer Heather Gray observed Mr. Kilburn pull his vehicle into the ambulance bay of the emergency department. This is a restricted area assigned to that effect. Officer Gray approached Mr. Kilburn in the ambulance bay. At the same time Officer Campbell was also exiting the emergency department with the individual he was transporting to the shelter. UVM Medical Security Officer Gray confronted Mr. Kilburn telling me he had to move his vehicle from the area. Kilburn continued to argue with her and did not move his vehicle. Officer Campbell asked UVM Medical Security Officer Gray if they were going to trespass Mr. Kilburn and she stated she did not know. Mr. Kilburn then said they did not need to trespass him as he was leaving. Mr. Kilburn started to drive away. He stopped and pointed to the vehicle saying quote Christ I've known that guy for 30 years. The following exchanged ensued. Officer Campbell shut the F up and leave. Go they don't want you here. Mr. Kilburn did you just swear at me? Officer Campbell yes I did. Mr. Kilburn you're an effing punk. Officer Campbell yeah whatever. Officer Campbell then began to walk away. Mr. Kilburn get the F before I come over here. After this exchange Officer Campbell turned around and approached Mr. Kilburn's vehicle. At the same time Mr. Kilburn placed his vehicle in park and began to exit his vehicle. UVM Medical Security Officer Gray yelled no at Mr. Kilburn. As Officer Campbell approached the vehicle the driver's side of Mr. Kilburn's vehicle opened and Mr. Kilburn began to get out saying he ain't got the right to swear at me. Officer Campbell then put his right hand on the door and then on Mr. Kilburn's left shoulder as Mr. Kilburn continued to exit the vehicle with the seat belt still on his left shoulder. Mr. Kilburn repeated you ain't got the right to swear at me. Officer Campbell grabbed Mr. Kilburn's left arm with his right hand and attempted to put put it behind Mr. Kilburn's back. Mr. Kilburn continued to move forward getting out of the vehicle. Once out of the vehicle Mr. Kilburn punched Officer Campbell with his right fist hitting Officer Campbell's lower left jaw. Officer Campbell then punched Mr. Kilburn in the right area three times with a close fist as Mr. Kilburn was brought to the ground. UVM Security Officer Richard Howard then aided Officer Campbell and securing Mr. Kilburn and placing him in handcuffs. Mr. Kilburn sustained injuries to his face as a result of being punched and was immediately treated at UVM Medical. He was arrested and charged with a disorderly conduct and assault on a police officer March 11, 2019 and released on conditions of release. Mr. Kilburn was released from UVM Medical on March 12th. On March 14th members of the Burlington Police Department conducted a welfare check at the request of Sherry Kilburn. At Mr. Kilburn's residence officers found Mr. Kilburn deceased in his bed. The office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Vermont conducted a final autopsy report and Vermont Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Shapiro made the following findings quote, cause of death, undetermined terminal mechanism due to multiple underlying conditions, contributory cause, hypertension, cardiac and cerebral vascular disease, obesity, skull fractures due to blunt impact, manner of death, homicide struck by other. The medical examiner by law has only five options to choose from in the manner of death category. Natural, homicide, accidental, suicide or undetermined. Dr. Shapiro included in further clarifying statement that homicide is a medical not a legal designation. The Attorney General's office and thoroughly investigating this matter consulted with Steve Iamis to review this incident specific to police practices and policy. Steve Iamis is a highly recommended expert on police practices including use of force and has trained law enforcement on these issues both here in the United States and abroad. Mr. Iamis evaluated both interactions between Officer Campbell and Mr. Kilburn. In the first interaction Mr. Iamis noted that Officer Campbell demonstrated empathy, patience and professionalism in regard to Mr. Kilburn. However, that was not the analysis of his second interaction. In his second interaction Mr. Iamis noted two factors that precipitated the onset of Mr. Kilburn's assault of course of action slash behavior directed at Officer Campbell. According to Mr. Iamis the first factor was Officer Campbell's language, quote, telling Mr. Kilburn to, quote, shut the f up and leave, go they don't want you here. And the second precipitating factor was Officer Campbell's, quote, return to Mr. Kilburn's vehicle after walking away. Mr. Iamis noted that, quote, officers should not use profanity when verbally interacting with citizens and that contemporary police training policy and practice generally prohibits officers from using rude or profane language. However, Mr. Iamis concluded that the above precipitating factors did not create, quote, a basis for justification for the assault of behavior directed by Mr. Kilburn towards Officer Campbell. In Mr. Iamis opinion, close quote, the closed fist strikes delivered by Officer Campbell in response to Mr. Kilburn's initial close fist strike were, quote, in self-defense based on adequate cause and provocation and were generally consistent with contemporary police training policy and practice. Under Vermont law a person who kills or wounds another in just and necessary defense of his own life, quote, shall be guiltless. In Vermont self-defense is justified when one, the defendant was not the initial aggressor. Two, the defendant was justified using a reasonable amount of force against another. And three, he reasonably believed that he was an immediate danger of unlawful bodily harm and that the use of such force was necessary to avoid the danger. In our analysis based on the totality of the circumstances, we concluded that it was reasonable for Officer Campbell to use force to defend himself. Officer Campbell was not the initial aggressor as Mr. Kilburn delivered the first punch, a closed fist strike to Officer Campbell. Second, Officer Campbell was justified in using a reasonable amount of force against Mr. Kilburn. Officer Campbell used a closed fist to strike against Mr. Kilburn. Officer Campbell did not employ any other weapon in his response to being hit and Officer Campbell was reasonable to believe that he was a an immediate danger for immediate danger of unlawful bodily harm and his use of such force was necessary to avoid this danger. Mr. Kilburn had already been assaulted and Officer Campbell's force was necessary to avoid this danger from continuing. It should be noted that while Officer Campbell's initial interaction with Mr. Kilburn showed exemplary tactics and compassion, his second interaction did not. Officer Campbell's use of foul language and antagonistic behavior did not de-escalate the situation which ultimately put him in the position when it was necessary to physically defend himself. It's our hope and I know it's the Kilburn's hope that the Burlington Police Department will commit to de-escalation training to continue to commit to de-escalation training for their officers to ensure that their department is equipped with tools they need to effectively and safely respond to members of our community in crisis. I want to note that Doug Kilburn was in crisis that day at the hospital. His wife Sherry was in critical condition up at the hospital. He was trying to see her. This was a tragic situation that frankly could have been avoided. I spoke to the mayor last night and I spoke to the chief this morning. They've committed to work to continuing to working on de-escalation tactics. When we were talking about what those tactics look like internally, my chief, the criminal division Dominica Padula said, tools like empathy, compassion, and kindness are just as effective as a taser or any other weapon. This is a challenge not just in the city of Burlington. This is a challenge in our entire state. We have far too many of these cases happening. We seem to be dealing with these monthly if not weekly. The legal system looks at a finite period of time to determine whether or not these are justified in the legal sense. And I want to stress that it is a matter of seconds that we look at to determine whether or not legally these are justified. We need to do a better job. We need to look towards other jurisdictions to see how they're handling these questions of use of force. We have to continue to build public trust in our law enforcement, not just in the police, but in the prosecutors as we continue to make these decisions. And we have to be open to challenging the conventional wisdom of how we keep our public safe. I didn't know Doug Kilburn, but I know this, that he was a lot more than these few minutes that are shown on this body camera footage. He was a husband and he was a father. And we need to be mindful when we engage in these public debates that we're talking about somebody who has left us, who has died. And we need to be respectful of his memory and respectful of their family while still doing our job. As I said, our copy of our use of force expert's report is available. It is a public record. I will now turn it over to the office of the shooting county state's attorney. Chief Deputy Justin Jiren is here to discuss their finding as in all use of force cases. This is a concurrent review by the attorney general's office and state's attorney's office in the county in which these happen, but they're independent. So with that, let me turn it over to Justin Jiren. Good afternoon. I would like to thank Attorney General Donovan and his office for their review of this incident, as well as the Vermont State Police for their very thorough investigation. I would not change anything in terms of what our opinion is from our office. We did review the facts, the investigation, came to the same conclusion as the Attorney General's office and likewise echo the sentiments that this is a very tragic event. Our condolences to Ms. Kilburn and her family for what happened to Douglas Kilburn, but we do agree that in this case no criminal charges are justified against Officer Cory Campbell. Thank you. Before we open up to questions, I want to acknowledge and thank Major Ingrid Jonas from the Vermont State Police for being here today and thank the Vermont State Police for conducting a thorough investigation into this matter. I want to note that on all these cases throughout our state, we look to the state police to do these types of investigations. I know they remain committed under the leadership of Major Jonas and Colonel Birmingham to continuing to develop not only the best practices but the emerging best practices in this nation to best police our communities in a safe, transparent way where communities have trust and communities feel safe and we have work to do and we acknowledge that. So with that, let me open it up to questions. Douglas Kilburn died while facing, as I understand it, a criminal charge for disorderly conduct as well and I think a consultant who's officer. Was that charge against him justified in light of the body cam video which showed that he seemed to swing at the officer in response to the officer putting his hand on his breast? So I believe that was brought by the state's attorney's office. I'll let Mr. Girovich produce that. So yes, the the review of the body cam and the investigation, the subsequent investigation by state police, I wouldn't change the decision to charge Mr. Kilburn as we did. Obviously the charges were dismissed after his death but there's no reason to think that anything we learned afterwards would have changed our decision to charge. It was dismissed by a judge here by your officer? By our officer. So it wasn't really dismissed so it was more you thought they'd not be charged? There's no judge who found probable cause of what you're saying? Well I think we, no I think the court had found probable cause because we'd filed the charges so we had to dismiss the charge so it wasn't if we didn't just bring it there. There should be. What can you say about the length of time that this review took since the officer involved shooting Montpelier that took a matter of, I believe, maybe a month? This has been several months later. Just one more other time in the review of this. Sure. I can certainly speak for myself and Ms. Padula and others in my office. I was troubled by this. I think we're all troubled by what happened here and I think when you look at that expert opinion the decision I came to engage Mr. Kilburn and use that language escalated the situation at that point in time and I thought that it was incredibly important to bring in an independent third party expert in the use of force to look at this and provide that expertise and opine whether or not that his actions were reasonable under the circumstances because we were troubled by what we saw on that video and the length of time was because we were waiting for the experts report. How did you find this independent expert? He's actually used and worked with with VSP and I think is very well regarded by the Vermont State Police. What was most troubling to you about the interaction? I think it could have been avoided. That's the bottom line. It could have been avoided. Anyone in the investigation end of talking to Campbell? No. No. Would that potentially have made a difference in any part of this investigation? Look, everybody has a right not to be interviewed. You know, we're we're having this debate right now about whether or not police officers should be entitled to review body camera footage before they're interviewed by the police. I agree with the Vermont State Police that they should not. Here's why. Any other suspect in any part of this state today that is interviewed by any member of law enforcement is not going to be presented evidence before they're interviewed. No, but they may have seen it in, you know, somebody else's video or photos. But they're not given but they're not given to them by law enforcement. That's entirely different. And this comes down to public trust and I think I'll let Major Jonas speak about this. We want their their perceptions of what they remember but let me turn over Major Jonas to talk about that. Yeah, I think TJ said it well but in an investigation like this we're looking for the independent recollection from the the officer. We're looking for their authentic perspective on it. We have the video so that is one piece of evidence but we're really looking for their perception because the determining factor in cases like this really is the perception of the officer in terms of the threat. Do you think Officer Campbell should face discipline in the Burlington Police Department? That's up to the Burlington Police Department. Did you invite anybody from Burlington to be here today? No, I did not. I talked to Katie. They don't have a lot to say about it. Why wouldn't you invite the mayor or the chief in particular since he seems to have some thoughts on this? Because I think we want it to be as respectful as we possibly could to the Kilburn family today. As I said earlier, Doug Kilburn died and this isn't about a debate. We have a job to do and we're going to do our job but I think we can do our job incredibly respectfully to Mrs. Kilburn and to Tyler Kilburn. And I think sometimes we all lose sight that there's a community member here and families who are grieving and I talked to my informer of our decision at a very productive call with both the mayor and the chief. They're committed to policing the best possible way in the city of Burlington and as we said we all can do better. I include myself in that definition. We all can do better. There's too much of this going on in our state. What do you say there's too much of this going on in our state? What's happening here and what needs to be done? I don't know what's happening here. I would say and I don't have the numbers off the tongue of my head but we're doing a lot of these. And I think that we want to make sure that everybody feels safe. Not specific to this case. I think mental illness is a major issue in this state. The Ramazte police do a tremendous job in policing the state. We have to continue to I think learn how to best de-escalate and to talk to people. I know the city of San Antonio has a great program in their policing and interacting with folks who are in crisis. And the police have a tough job. Let's be honest about it. When there's a crisis the police are called. And we have to have a conversation in our state about do we want the police responding to everything because they do respond to everything and a lot of those calls are mental health calls. Or do we have community outreach? Are we willing to fund those programs? Are we willing to train on them? So it's a lot. It's a complicated it's a complicated issue. I don't think there's any easy answers but I think we all remain committed to doing this better, to making sure that Vermonters feel safe, to making sure that Vermonters feel safe to call the police. And that comes down to public trust. You mentioned trust in your opening comments and everything. I was wondering, your predecessors are like one for 45 now for filing charges against police in use of force cases. In one case you did file call the grand jury. Why no grand jury in this to let the citizens in to determine whether this kind of was proper or improper rather than you who has a record of not prosecuted? Well we look at the facts and that's our job and you talk about transparency and the need for transparency you know as well as I do the downside to a grand jury is that they could indict or they could not and then then it would nothing would be released. Nothing would be released. A grand jury proceeding is secret like you and I both know that. You are free to talk about it. I would respectfully disagree with you on that. And I think our job is to make decisions based on the facts to do in a transparent way that the public while they may not agree can acknowledge and understand the reasons why we made a decision and to do it in a way that is as I said transparent so whether people agree or disagree at least they understand the factors and the facts for which we made our decision on. In September when refiling the charges I grew up you said the community hears the evidence all the evidence that may get to the side. If you were very interested in the community weighing in on that case was it about this one? I'm not sure I understand your question. Each case is different and you go by the facts and the evidence. We reviewed the facts and the evidence and we ruled that the use of force used was reasonable therefore there is no criminal charge. So question this is the second case that I've heard where you've said at a press conference similar to this one that our scope of the law is too limited in situations like this but yet I have yet to see anything legally change as a result of that and as you mentioned in your comments we keep coming back to these kinds of cases. At what point do we actually take a look at what our law says is allowed and change it if we're going to keep coming back to the same statement at press conferences about use of force incidents? I think you have some conversations this this session. I think this is incredibly complicated. I think there is no easy answer and I think what we struggle with is the facts which I articulated really come to add to that those matter of seconds and I think there's a whole other story that we try to tell about why was Doug Kilburn at the hospital? Why was he struggling that day? What was going on with Sherry? And I think understanding the full context of the situation is incredibly important but when you get into the use of force and whether or not something's justified you're going to look at those seconds where force is presented and then the question is was that reasonable how this person responded to that force directed at him or her and I think you know I know California has changed their law and I'm not endorsing the change in California and what I am endorsing is a conversation about it. Would you support me if that conversation comes up expanding that window? What I would support is a conversation and to challenge the the conventional wisdom of our current practice and what that means Liam whether or not that's going to be a change I don't know I always what I do know is this that we have to take a critical look at our system and to get all the facts and the evidence and see what works when you seem to have an issue that will early start troubled by something like this so supporting a conversation is easy but supporting change is more difficult so I mean where would you come down? Well it would also be unreasonable to support change when you're not fully cognizant of all the nuances of the law and I'm not there yet and I think we got to do more work but I think any prosecutor any police officer any member of our community is going to be troubled by this. Somebody lost for life I'm troubled by that. How is the law too limited? You know because you look at seconds and you look at use of force and it's the force directed directed at you and whether or not the force that you respond with is reasonable and in this incident and many others that is a matter of seconds and I think that when we look at the totality of circumstances somehow expanding that and looking up perhaps at some of the other factors is something that we should do. The other the other part is to acknowledge that you know just changing laws not going to solve this we have to do a better way of building trust in our community and responding to mental mental illness in our community. Would your decision in this case been different if you had been able to look at the wider? I don't know it depends on the standard law, it depends on the standard of review and I made a decision based on our current law I'm confident in my decision. My point simply is that I am troubled by this anytime somebody loses their lives is troubling we have to legally justify it or not. I don't make any of these decisions lightly and it troubles me. Was any of you on a different subject? What did you say to City of Berlin-Gen when you when you called them up? Say that again? After Douglas Kilburn died, Bren and Delpozo posted a press conference in which I understand you made a call to city officials during the press conference to say something. During investigation you went and commented on it saying the investigation was on the other corner. Well generally my private conversations are my private conversations but I think what I most likely said was let the process play out. Did they? Yeah they did. They looked at the mayor and the chief had been trying to maybe like slow the release of the medical examiner's report and it was that part of your review and all the actions taken. We did not review the actions of city officials. Do you have any comment though? Will you? No I won't. Why not? I think that we have to be mindful and respectful that somebody lost their life. Doug Kilburn died here and he died with involvement with a member of the police. That triggers a review by the state's attorney and my office and if we're talking about public trust then you have to let the process play out and you have to let this process play out as it would in any other case and I don't think in any other case would you have had that type of press conference frankly and treat people with respect, treat people fairly, and do your job and I think that's what we should be doing. Why not go and check to see why the mayor and the chief were trying to redirect how this thing was being done? I'm not going to have full transparency. Our review has concluded whether our review is concluded. The governor's office had said that the interventions by the city officials were borderline. As I said I don't think you would have seen that press conference in any other case and you want to treat people fairly, you want to treat people respectfully, you want to treat like this anything else. At the end of the day you let the process play out and you let independent prosecutors and investigators do their job. That's that's how you build the trust. I understand you said you felt like they let the process play out but it also sounds like the process is appropriate. Well I think I'm being incredibly clear. I called because I was concerned. I called during the press conference. That's been reported. I told you why I called and since that day the process has played out. Did you look at all of the medical examiners reporting that you know the chief and the mayor were raising questions or concerns about that? Was that part of your review at all? No. Other than that it was a piece of evidence. The medical examiner as he said made a medical diagnosis. You have cause of death which he articulated many different factors and then you have manner of death and he has five choices to make and he made his decision. The fact of the matter there was a use of force that then triggers a review by us. We then determine whether or not a crime occurred. So we've talked about the press conference but I don't think you've addressed the fact that the mayor at least you've reached out to the Department of Health Chief which is what this kind of additional questioning is. You know I had to call it out. Do you think that decision to reach out and questions that result from that? I'm going to let the city of Burlington answer those questions and I'm sure those questions will be brought up in different venues. One question. Did anyone as part of this investigation check why the hospital released Mr. Kilburn and then he later died in his home from injuries in part that he sustained? That. Was there any investigation or question on why he was released when he was clearly not involved? That's not part of our review. We looked at whether or not Officer Campbell's conduct arose to the level of a crime. I'm sure your review was consistent with that. Oh absolutely. Yeah it wasn't part of our review to go and talk to the hospital about the care that Mr. Kilburn received. I think in different venues those questions may be asked. What venues were that for? I think in different venues those questions may be asked. Which one? Other questions. They vocal about their use of force training. Do you see anything lacking in that training? I go back to what Domenica Perdula said earlier about how we de-escalate and what we use as tools and I think meeting people where they are oftentimes in crisis, understanding why they're in crisis, asking those questions, demonstrating compassion and empathy are effective tools and sometimes just listening. And I know when you look at the city of San Antonio their outreach is really based on that. Meeting people where they are and simply listening and understanding as a way to de-escalate. Frankly in this case Officer Campbell demonstrated that with his first interaction but it was a completely different interaction the second time he encountered Doug Kilburn. And I think that's troubling to me that and I think the expert talks about this, that he really was an exemplary police officer, that first interaction. He was compassionate, he was demonstrating empathy, he was trying to solve a problem. But that did not happen the second time they met. What's the status of Officer Campbell right now? I don't know, I think I don't know yet I was going to police. My understanding that Officer Campbell is not doing his regular duties, he's I think he's doing administrative type tasks and type inside the department until this review is complete. So I'm sure that they'll reassess after today's decision. Thank you so let me now turn it over. Can you return to the street before you get to a little more training? That is a question for the Burlington Police Department and the mayor. Like they ask you your opinion? I will give them my opinion in a confidential manner. With that, let me turn it over to Tyler and Sherry Kilburn. Thank you. To begin, I want to thank TJ Donovan for giving me the opportunity to speak and address you all today. I'll be reading a statement and I personally will not be answering any questions at the conclusion. While we do not agree with the decision that was made, I would like to thank the detectives and TJ Donovan's office for the hard work, dedication and compassion they showed my family. What happened that day between my father and Officer Campbell was a tragedy, a tragedy that was further corrupted by the insider politics of Burlington Police Chief Del Pozo and Mayor Murrell Weinberger. When emails were sent demanding that the Chief Medical Examiner change or alter his ruling, you willingly interfered in an ongoing investigation and this behavior can no longer be tolerated. I find it appalling that you as a chief of police would interfere with an ongoing investigation with cooperation from the mayor's office. You take this career path knowing you must always hold yourself to a higher standard. You failed Mr. Del Pozo, Mr. Mayor, you failed. You failed by allowing the Burlington Police Department to use and abuse your office to further their agenda. I beg of you to do better. I'm not asking for perfection. Just be better. Improve so that no other family has to endure a tragedy such as this. Be better so that we can keep our family members alive. This cannot happen again. It's your job to fix it. Now you need to fix it. My dad was an incredibly loving man. He was an avid sports fan and was incredibly talented musicians among many other wonderful traits that he had. Please keep in mind that in recent times after suffering multiple strokes that my dad struggled with his mental health. It was a daily battle for him as it is for most of us. He was winning this fight. He was getting better each and every day with hard work and dedication. Every day was an improvement. I implore each and every one of us to remember that my dad was so much more than the few seconds that changed our lives forever. He was so much more than the few seconds you all judge. He loved my mother with every inch of his being. He loved his mom, his dad, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, friends alike. He loved life and he did not deserve the treatment that he endured. I cannot begin to fathom the fear that was racing through his head that day. I wish I could have taken all the pain away. I would do anything to just have five minutes back so that I can tell him how much I'm sorry and how much I loved him. I'll never get that chance. My dad needed help, not handcuffs. For everybody that's going to be watching this, if someone needs help, help them. This is not a problem with one solution. It involves each and every one of us be understanding that everyone has their own battles, their own demons. It's time we start lifting one another up, not degrading someone's life and legacy. Give a helping hand when it is needed and don't cast judgment upon somebody that you know little to nothing about. Show compassion to a stranger on the street because they feel that because they look like they're having a bad day because we all have no idea what each individual life is going through. We are all human. In closing, go home, hug your loved ones, tell them that you love them, tell them that they matter. One day the people that we love dear will be nothing more than the memories that we share. Cherish the time that we have. Thank you.