Friends of the 19-year-old man found dead in a Clallam County jail cell faced authorities and civic leaders Tuesday — and they say they left the session unsatisfied.
“They were dodging our questions,” said Shaelee Evans, 17, of Port Angeles. “They were just trying to appease us.
“They just wanted us to shut up.”
The two-hour, often-heated meeting was called by county officials in the old courtroom of the historical County Courthouse, and more than 50 youths — some of them wearing spiked hair and other counterculture apparel — showed up.
They said they were friends and family of Miles Eli Schulmeister, who was found dead in jail Sept. 25, the day after he was arrested on suspicion of rape and marijuana possession. Jail authorities said he committed suicide.
The youths Tuesday afternoon demanded answers and apologies about the arrest and death. Accusations of law enforcement misconduct and neglect were made by members of the angry crowd to Port Angeles Police Chief Tom Riepe and Clallam County Sheriff Joe Hawe.
The two were part of a panel which also consisted of the county’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor, Dick Suryan, the county’s juvenile services director, Pete Peterson, and the executive editor of the Peninsula Daily News, Rex Wilson.
County Commissioner Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, also spoke to the group near the end of the meeting.
The full report appears in today’s editions of the Peninsula Daily News, on sale throughout Clallam and Jefferson counties. Click onto “Subscribe” to order the PDN delivered to your home or office.