Oakland, CA – On Tuesday, September 22, around 30 community members rallied in front of the attorney general’s offices to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Jalani Lovett, who died in LA Men’s Central Jail.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Lovett was arrested in 2019 and died in 2021, under highly suspicious circumstances, after being held in solitary confinement at the Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail. He was under custody of the LA Sheriff’s Department, which has been linked to the deaths of many other inmates. Though his body showed signs of severe physical trauma, LASD labeled his death as a drug overdose, despite him having no access to drugs while in solitary confinement.

In the beginning of this month, the Department of Justice launched a probe into the jail to investigate its concerning conditions and inmate deaths. 29 have died in custody so far this year.

Terry Lovett, Jalani’s mother, has been fighting for a proper investigation into her son’s death for five years. She has repeatedly reached out to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, asking him to take action, since the LASD refuses to investigate itself.

“This is a fight that I’m not gonna ever stop, cuz I'm not gonna ever get Jalani back. Too many birthdays is gonna pass and he’s not gonna be sitting there. Too many Thanksgivings are gonna pass and he’s not gonna be coming in the door, going in my pots, ‘Mom what you cooking?’” stated Terry Lovett. Despite his campaign promises to step up investigation of in-custody deaths, Rob Bonta has refused to take any action on Jalani Lovett’s case.

Barbara Doss, mother of the late Dujuan Armstrong, also spoke at the rally, saying, “We went to Sacramento to get some things done, and he made all kinds of promises. I done rode up in this office several times, he done made offers, ‘He’s gonna do this, he’s gonna do that’ for the families.’ Rob Banta is a liar.”

Dujuan Armstrong was killed in custody at Santa Rita jail as officers attempted to restrain him during a mental health crisis, in what was supposed to be a weekend stay. Doss added that officials also tried to point the finger at drug use as a contributing factor to Armstrong’s death, saying, “They said he died from an overdose, apparently all our children are dying of overdoses.”

Romaine Charite with the Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the emcee of the rally, said, “The sheriffs harbor racist syndicates who perform initiation rituals of torture and murder of Black and Latino men and brand themselves with tattoos to identify themselves. When the FBI tried to investigate this in 2011, the sheriffs kidnapped the discovered informant for 18 days. These sheriff gangs must be destroyed and the jail closed through civilian power over the police, not county special interests.”

Terry Lovett is supported by a coalition of police-accountability organizations, families impacted by police violence, and concerned community members that support her, organizing to protest Rob Bonta’s lack of action. The rally was supported by Kathryn Wade, the mother of Malad Baldwin; Addie Kitchen, grandmother of Steven Taylor; Cat Brooks, the founder of the Anti-Police Terror Project, and Emily Turnbull, a retired ILWU Local 10 member.

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