Denver continues fight for justice in case of mass police shooting
(Fight Back! News/staff)”)
Denver, CO – A dozen concerned residents rallied Saturday, May 13, to demand justice in the case of a police shooting that wounded seven last summer. As bars were letting out in Lower Downtown on the night of July 17, 2022, three DPD officers attempted to stop 21-year-old Jordan Waddy who they suspected of being involved in an altercation earlier that evening.
Bodycam footage shows that, after Waddy had disarmed himself and put his hands in the air, Officers Brandon Ramos, Meagan Lieberson and Kenneth Rowland opened fire on him with no regard for the large crowd of bystanders all around them. Ramos, the only officer to be charged with a crime in the incident so far, will stand in front of a judge later this week. The demonstrators demanded that he be found guilty and face the maximum punishment for all 14 of his charges.
Demonstrators expressed outrage that Denver’s district attorney, Beth McCann, wasted no time placing felony charges against Waddy, one of the victims of this horrific police crime, but refused to charge any of the officers that were responsible. McCann passed the buck to a grand jury who chose to only indict Ramos.
The rally attendees assembled at the Capitol Building before marching to the jail where Waddy is still being held nearly a year after he was assaulted. Once there, representatives from several organizations concerned with justice gave speeches, including Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The group chanted “Free Jordan Waddy'' outside the jail before continuing to march to the courthouse where Ramos and Waddy will both make appearances later this week. They chanted “Convict Brandon Ramos'' as they passed the courthouse.
Jonce Palmer, chair of the Denver Aurora Community Action Committee (DACAC) described the attempted mass shooting as a “modern-day lynching” and said, “We need community control of the police through a Civilian Police Accountability Council to create real consequences when police commit crimes that cost lives.”
The event was organized by The Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee (DACAC), a grassroots organization that fights for community control of the police and justice for the victims of police crimes. They’ve been rallying around this incident since it occurred and their petition demanding Jordan Waddy’s freedom (as well as felony charges against all three officers involved in the shooting) has reached a thousand signatures. Jordan Waddy also has an arraignment hearing scheduled for later this week. You can sign the petition to drop his charges here.