Los Angeles, CA – On Wednesday, August 20, community members and organizers from Centro CSO joined the family of David Ordaz Jr. to protest outside the downtown Los Angeles courthouse. They demanded justice for Ordaz Jr. who was murdered by East Los Angeles Deputy Remin Pineda and three other deputies on March 14, 2021 in East LA.

In 2022, former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon charged Pineda with two felonies: assault with a firearm and assault under color of authority. However, Pineda walked free without serving any prison time for Ordaz’s murder. It turned out Mark Arnold, a biased judge who was a former sheriff deputy himself, with a son currently in law enforcement, merely sentenced Pineda to two-years probation. The judge claimed Pineda “didn’t go out with the intent to kill.” The facts are clear: David was shot already bleeding and lying on the ground. Pineda walked up and fired the final fatal bullet at close range. That was an execution.

During the protest, family members and protesters watched Pineda be escorted to and from the courthouse. The family condemned how the system continues to shield the deputy from accountability, asking, “How is he still receiving preferential treatment? How, as a convicted felon of not one but two assault charges, is he able to get an escort out of court to avoid us?”

Emily Ordaz, David Ordaz Jr’s daughter also spoke out, “The preferential treatment by Judge Mark Arnold is an insult to not only my family and I but the justice system as a whole. It’s our responsibility to bring these biases within the courts to light, especially in cases of deputy convictions. Simply put, the outcome of this case highlights the pitfall of the courts to follow through and uphold the law they claim to. Since when was it acceptable to provide a convicted felon with an escort to their car? It’s blatant, it’s biased, and everyone with the power to make a change is complacent.”

The murder of David Ordaz Jr. is not an isolated incident. It is part of a long history of police violence and oppression in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. In 1970, during the Chicano Moratorium, sheriff’s deputies killed journalist Ruben Salazar. This legacy of terror continues today. Sheriff’s deputies have been exposed for running violent “deputy gangs” like the Banditos and the Executioners, which glorify shooting and terrorizing working-class communities. Paul Rea was killed in East Los Angeles in 2019 and most recently Jeremy Flores, a young Chicano from Boyle Heights was murder by LAPD’s Hollenbeck division on July 14, 2025. In each case, the cops kill with impunity while the courts look the other way.

Centro CSO and the Ordaz family are clear with their demands to hold police accountable and jail killer cops! The family of David Ordaz Jr. are backed by Centro CSO and will keep fighting for justice.

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