News and Views from the People's Struggle
Boyle Heights, CA – On Tuesday, January 20, Centro Community Service Organization (CSO) marched alongside the family of Jeremy Anthony Flores to LAPD’s Hollenbeck Division station to deliver a petition and demand justice for Flores, a 26-year-old Chicano who was tragically shot and killed by police officers Michael Ruiz, Livier Jimenez and Fernando R Godinez.
Los Angeles CA – On Friday, January 16, 50 protesters gathered at the corner of Eastern Avenue and 3rd Street in East Los Angeles in response to the abduction of Jose Rodolfo De León, a community member, who was working at the local car wash during an ICE sweep.
Los Angeles, CA – Hundreds of organizers and community members gathered at Mariachi Plaza in historic Boyle Heights, January 8, for a vigil called by Centro CSO to honor Renee Nicole Good, a wife, mother and community defender murdered by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
Los Ángeles, CA – Many people were brought together in solidarity and protest against the U.S. bombing of Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president Nicolas Maduro on January 3, with 200 people joining a protest at Perishing Square in downtown LA at approximately 2 p.m.
Los Angeles, CA – A principios de octubre, los informantes en White Memorial, un hospital adventista de Boyle Heights, filtraron información invaluable. Los informantes afirmaron que los agentes de ICE estaban llevando a los detenidos de una instalación inadecuada de ICE llamada “B-18” ubicada dentro del Metropolitan Detention Center en el centro de Los Ángeles, al hospital del barrio Chicano.
Los Angeles, CA – In early October, whistleblowers at White Memorial, a Boyle Heights Adventist hospital, leaked invaluable information. The whistleblowers stated that ICE agents were taking detainees from an inadequate ICE facility named “B-18” located within the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, to the Chicano neighborhood hospital.
City of Industry, CA – On Saturday, December 13, the family of Joseph Perez, Centro CSO, and other allies rallied outside the Industry Sheriff’s Station to demand justice for Perez, who narrowly survived a beating by at least five sheriff’s deputies on July 27, 2020. Perez required 17 staples and 19 sutures to close cuts across his face and scalp, served two years in prison for resisting arrest, and is still recovering from the trauma.
Chicago, IL – Más de 900 personas asistieron a la conferencia de la Alianza Nacional Contra la Represión Racista y Política (NAARPR, por sus siglas en inglés) durante el fin de semana del 14 al 16 de noviembre, reuniendo a más de 30 capítulos de NAARPR y con la presencia de más de 12 capítulos de la Red de Legalización para Todos (L4A, por sus siglas en inglés).
By Jackson Robak
Chicago, IL – Over 900 people attended the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) over the course of the November 14-16 weekend, bringing together more than 30 chapters of NAARPR with over 12 chapters of the Legalization for All (L4A) network in attendance.
Los Angeles, CA – On November 1, after the Los Angeles Dodgers’ winning Game Seven of the World Series, thousands of Chicanos took to the streets of their city to celebrate. The celebrations were met with extreme force by the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol.
Lincoln Heights, CA — In the early hours on November 4, an ICE raid took place at the Cypress Park Home Depot in Lincoln Heights. After the first sweep, more agents returned to do another. Only this time, Centro CSO members and other members and organizations with the Community Self Defense Coalition had arrived to protest the ICE presence.
Los Angeles, CA – On November 1, Centro CSO participated in the building of a community ofrenda (altar) at the Self Help Graphics’ 52nd annual Dia de Los Muertos Celebration in East Los Angeles. CSO’s altar honored the memories of community activists, victims of police brutality, and immigrants who have died while in ICE custody.
Los Angeles, CA – At 8:52 a.m. on Tuesday, October 21, Homeland Security Investigators (HSI) agents and other federal agents targeted and shot TikTok influencer Carlos Ricardo Parias, who uses the handle “RichardLA18” on TikTok.
Los Angeles, CA – On October 7, the two-year anniversary of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Centro CSO held a rally in solidarity with Palestine. The protest, which was a part of the Anti-War Action Network’s National Day of Action, commemorated the heroic defiance by the Palestinian resistance. Participants called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel and demanded an end to the siege and ongoing genocide on Palestinians in Gaza.
Boyle Heights, CA – On September 21, Centro CSO led a rally dubbed “ICE Out of Our Barrios” as a part of the national weekend of action called by the Legalization For All (L4A). The action denounced the Supreme Court ruling to legalize DHS agents’ racially profiling Raza based on their skin complexion, the language they speak, places they work at and live in as “relevant factors” for suspicion of being in the country illegally.
Los Angeles, CA – Centro CSO has called for a “ICE Out of Our Barrios” protest at Mariachi Plaza this Sunday, September 21, at 2 p.m.
The ICE Out of Our Barrios protest is a response to the SCOTUS ruling that happened on September 8. The ruling allows ICE to conduct “roving patrols” and gives ICE the green light to legally use racial profiling as a way to continue to intimidate and harass Chicanos. This means that ICE can detain and interrogate Raza simply for being brown, Chicanos, speaking Spanish, or living and working in working-class neighborhoods. This is a dangerous expansion of ICE authority that is targeting the working-class immigrant community and further perpetuating national oppression of Chicanos.
East Los, CA — On the evening of September 4, Chicanos from East Los Angeles mobilized to disrupt a local town hall hosted by racist, right-wing Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman at a Chicano restaurant called East Los Tacos.
Hochman's reactionary policies like gang enhancements and his “tough on crime” approach have been proven to not make anyone safer. In fact, they deeply and disproportionately target and harm Black and Chicano neighborhoods. In general, crime in Los Angeles has been decreasing for years.
Los Angeles, CA – On August 30, at 3 p.m., Chicanos, impacted families of police brutality, people raided by ICE and the FBI, along with supporters will in East Los Angeles, for a march, marking the 55th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium.
The march will begin at Sounds of Music record store, the site of what was once the Silver Dollar; a bar where many including LA Times reporter Ruben Salazar took refuge after LAPD and Los Angeles sheriffs mercilessly beat and attempted to disperse participants in the August 29, 1970 Chicano Moratorium. Salazar was killed by LA sheriffs. The moratorium’s demands were ending the Vietnam occupation and equality for Chicanos.
Tomorrow, a large coalition will be commemorating the 55th anniversary of this event and uplifting current demands such as stand with Palestine, ICE out of LA, Chicano self-determination, community control of police, and defend public education.
The coalition is made up of Centro CSO, Union del Barrio, Black Lives Matter: Los Angeles, Jewish Voice for Peace, About Face LA, UTLA, Teamsters, SEIU, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), and United Families for Justice, which consists of police killing impacted families of Jeremy Flores, Francisco Núñez and Hugo Cachua.
“I believe it is important to commemorate the 55th Chicano Moratorium, because we once again find ourselves, as a people, in a crucial moment, where staying silent is complicity,” says Centro CSO member and security lead Derek Mejia, “People should be out in the streets on Saturday August 30, standing up against the ICE raids and with Palestine! It is important that we continue and maintain the long history of the Chicano struggle.”
The 55th commemoration will begin at 3 p.m. at the Sounds of Music record store, where attendees will begin marching, and ending at Salazar Park for a rally and entertainment starting at 4:30 p.m. That part of the event will take place at the Whittier Boulevard/Alma Avenue side of the park. The family-friendly event will have free food, water and entertainment.
#LosAngelesCA #CA #Chicano #ChicanoMoratorium #ImmigrantRights #OppressedNationalities #CentroCSO #UniondelBarrio #BlackLivesMatter #JVP #AboutFace #SEIU #Teamsters #UTLA
Los Angeles, CA — On August 28, authorities released highly-edited footage of the shooting of Jeremy Flores, a Chicano who lived in the Boyle Heights neighborhood. Flores was killed by LAPD Hollenbeck Division officers on July 14.
Under two California Laws passed in 2018, AB 748 and SB 1421, the LAPD was forced to release body-worn footage 45 days after the killing of Jeremy Flores. Despite the omission of the head-on footage of the officers firing the lethal shots that stole Flores’ life, the video still shows the atrocities they committed on July 14.
Flores was holding a toy when he was killed – an airsoft BB gun. No aid was rendered for hours. SWAT fired tear gas at his body.
A drone was deployed and is shown in the newly released video approaching Flores’ deceased body. Though he was slumped over his seat, officers are heard in the video ordering Flores to comply and to exit the vehicle. The DOJ is investigating the shooting.
Since his killing, Flores family, along with Centro CSO and supportive Raza, have been fighting and demanding the unedited body cam footage be released by LAPD.
The struggle for accountability and justice has been led by the family of Jeremy Flores and Centro CSO for the past 45 days since his murder. There have been press conferences, protests and marches to police stations and comments made at LAPD commission meetings.
When Paola Mendez, the girlfriend of Jeremy Flores, was asked about the video, she responded, “They used the phrase ‘didn’t comply’ to shield their department – but the truth is, Jeremy wasn’t resisting. He was unresponsive, dying from the very gunshot wounds they inflicted. To claim Jeremy ‘refused to exit the vehicle’ – before being shot at and after – is not only misleading, it’s a cruel manipulation of the facts.”
Mendez continued, “Jeremy was wearing a seatbelt. He was gravely injured. He could not move. The so-called ‘weapon’ was on his lap, not in his hands, and there is no evidence whatsoever that he pointed it at anyone. He was dying, not defying. Suggesting he had the ability to comply after being shot is not just dishonest, it’s an attempt to rewrite the truth and erase accountability. We will not allow this narrative to stand unchallenged. Jeremy deserves justice, not distortion.”
“This demands to be addressed. What happened to Jeremy was not just unfair – it was a brutal misuse of power,” said Mendez. ”The force used against him was excessive and unjustified. And now, the body cam footage released to the public tells a distorted story. It’s been selectively edited to reflect their narrative, not the truth. Key moments are missing. Context is erased. This is not transparency, it’s manipulation. We will not stay silent while they rewrite reality to protect themselves.”
Sergio Flores, the brother of Jeremy Flores, said of the highly-edited body cam footage, “It’s insane how a badge gives you the right to kill people and walk freely but if it’s done without it, you’re a monster and in prison for life. It’s a sad world we live in. Justice for my little brother Jeremy!”
Flores also called out Bruce Cross, the officer seen narrating the video that LAPD posted. Flores said, “Bruce Coss had the audacity to say that once my brother was dead, Jeremy Flores was taken into custody without further incident. My brother was dead way before that! The killers and everyone involved should be locked in prison for life, not out here ‘protecting the streets.’ You’re who we have to watch out for!”
Beña Martinez, a member of Centro CSO, said, “This is a clear injustice, and the rifle-bearing officer especially took the law into his own hands and deserves to be jailed. He stripped Jeremy Flores of any rights afforded under our laws when he decided he was judge, jury and executioner instead of an investigating officer.”
“When I see Jeremy’s family, I am reminded of Boyle Heights circa 2016,” said Sol Márquez of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). Marquez lived next door to the apartment complex where 14-year-old undocumented Chicano Jesse Romero frequented. He was chased by LAPD killer cops Eden Medina and Alejandro Higareda on August 9, 2016, shot and killed, despite Romero holding his hands up. “If we let LAPD get away with it, nobody will be punished or held accountable for taking Jeremy’s life. If he was doing something wrong, he could have had his day in court. Even monsters like Trump get a day in court. This is why we will keep uplifting his name and fighting to prosecute Jeremy’s killers.”
LAPD has shot at least 18 Chicanos in Boyle Heights since 2015. Centro CSO is the only organization on the ground in Boyle Heights fighting back against police terror. Centro CSO fights alongside impacted family members, who are working-class Chicanos, as they fight for justice for their loved ones.
CSO uplifts the demands of “Jail killer cops” and “Community control of police” while wanting an end to the killing of Raza and Black People. Centro CSO demands that LAPD Hollenbeck officers Fernando R Godinez, Livier Jimenez and Michael R Ruiz be charged with the murder of Jeremy Flores!
You can keep up with Centro CSO on all social media platforms.
#LosAngelesCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #PoliceCrimes #CentroCSO #JeremyFlores
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.