Los Angeles, CA – Hundreds of angry protesters confronted the Ramparts Los Angeles police, driving a large sound truck into the station entrance as marchers moved to the front of the building chanting, “Assassins, assassins.”

Led by the Southern California Immigration Coalition, the march protested the brutal killing of Manuel Jamines, an indigenous Mayan from Sololan, Guatemala. Police officer Frank Hernandez shot Manuel Jamines twice in the head with a .40 caliber automatic pistol. Witnesses say that Jamines did not have any weapon in his hands, contradicting the police story that he had a knife. The Guatemalan and Latino community of Pico Union are angry and joined in the march going through the community. People opened their windows in the tall apartments and greeted the marchers with shouts, waving Guatemalan flags.

After marching, a rally was held at MacArthur Park, the site of the brutal L.A. police attack against the May 1, 2007 immigrant rights rally.

The rally speakers denounced the police killing and demanded that the police be prosecuted for murder. Celina Benitez of CISPES talked about how Central Americas are abused by the L.A. Police. Avellino, a garment worker organizer from Guatemala, spoke about how he and others are exploited in the L.A. garment industry. Eric Gardner of Students for Democratic Society spoke about his going to protest in Phoenix, Arizona against the racist anti immigrant SB 1070 law. Carlos Montes of Centro CSO linked the struggle for legalization and police brutality to the struggle for full equality for Chicanos and Central Americans.

A small group led by L.A. ANSWER tried to disrupt the march by yelling via two sound systems at the starting of the march and then entering the march, trying to divert it to the empty city hall. But they were unsuccessful.

#LosAngelesCA #ImmigrantRights #PoliceBrutality #LAPD #ManuelJamines