By the time you read this, you may be able to read the official KeyPoint report into the Nathaniel Sanders II shooting. News 8 has reported that the City of Austin has promised to release the document, but only after an anonymous source beat them to the punch. This is what’s called closing the barn door after the incriminating report has leaked. But we can only hope that this sets a precedent.

The announcement about releasing the KeyPoint report comes on the same day as the unanimous city council decision to boycott the State of Arizona (but not anything it may contain that it not the state-in-itself we are told, if that makes sense). The City of Austin has proven that it can do the right thing, but only if it’s shamed into doing it, or if it has virtually no effect on the real world, or in any other way is a tough political decision.

Now that they’ve admitted that it’s not actually illegal for the people of Austin to seek public oversight for their public servants, they haven’t said why it was that they refused to release the information in the first place. The Austin-American Statesman has a long article that highlights the apparent logical inconsistency in how the city released an independent report about the Sophia King killing back in 2004, but then claimed releasing the similar KeyPoint report was no longer legal. In other words, “wuh?”

Obviously they didn’t attempt to suppress the KeyPoint report to prevent embarrassment for the APD and the city, because our public servants are selfless about that sort of thing. Perhaps they didn’t want to harm former Officer Leonardo Quintana’s chances at getting hired elsewhere? Not that they should worry. Quintana will probably get snatched up right away by Blackwater (correction: that company has officially changed its name to Cuddly Smurf Puppies, Inc.).

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