Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

KillerCop

By staff

Washington, D.C. – On July 20, community organizations gathered for an emergency press conference at the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) with the legal team and family of Nolberto Sanabria Meza, a father and husband killed during a U.S. Park Police chase. The press conference discussed massive developments in the case and their struggle for justice.

The event was held by the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR), partner organizations and attorneys E. Paige White and Bernadette Armand to discuss the enormous implications of USAO’s refusal to prosecute for the killing of Meza, which happened 30 days earlier, when Park Police initiated a reckless police chase under the pretext of stopping a stolen vehicle.

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By staff

Detroit, MI – On Wednesday, July 22, community members came together outside of the 3rd Police Precinct in Detroit to demand justice for Alonzo Lee-Perkins, a local teenager who was shot in the back by a Detroit Police Officer a month before. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, resisting and obstructing a police officer, and felony firearm violation.

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By staff

Madison, WI – Hundreds gathered, for the third night in a row, July 24, in the spot where the Madison Police Department (MPD) murdered Corey Ruiz. Another police killing took place on this same street 11 years ago, when officer Matt Kenny shot and killed Tony Robinson Jr.

Among the organizations in attendance were Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Madison Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Inc, a group that consistently fights for community control over police.

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By staff

Oakland, CA- On Saturday, July 18, 32 community members gathered at the site where the Oakland Police Department (OPD) shot and killed a man in Oakland's Fruitvale district on Monday afternoon. Mourners placed flowers and candles on a street median near a shopping center where the victim died, held moments of silence, and created protest art in the street to honor his life while demanding justice and accountability.

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By staff

Orlando, FL – On Tuesday, July 14, a dozen members of the Orlando community gathered at Lake Eola for a vigil marking one month since an officer with the Senatobia Police Department in Mississippi shot and killed one-year-old Kohen Wiley.

The event was organized by Orlando Against Police Crimes to remember Wiley’s life, cut short by police violence, and to echo the family's call for transparency, accountability and justice for their baby boy.

“Wiley never had a chance to grow up to experience any number of things that we all take for granted on a daily basis – never got to form any childhood memories, never got to experience being a kid,” said Richard Thomas, member of Orlando Against Police Crimes.

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By Edmund Anglero

Orlando, FL – On July 9, the family of Milagros “Millie” Ortiz, alongside attorney Ben Crump, announced plans to file a $92 million lawsuit following a t-bone collision by an Orlando Police Department officer on January 18, which resulted in her death.

This comes after the state attorney’s office for Orange and Osceola Counties declined to charge the officer responsible with vehicular manslaughter.

“I am here to say that we will not stop saying my grandmother's name, Milagros B. Ortiz, until justice is served,” her granddaughter Ashley Rodriguez said.

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By Brandon Pink

Atlanta, GA – After the killing of Devon Anderson by Atlanta Police Department Officer Melvin Potter, more acts of violence and misconduct by Officer Potter have been made public as the family of Devon Anderson continues their struggle for justice.

On the night of August 5, 2024, in South Fulton County, Devon Anderson was trying to de-escalate a situation outside of a club when off-duty Atlanta Police Officer Melvin Potter shot him three times with his service weapon and killed him. After the shooting that took Devon’s life, Officer Potter refused to take a blood alcohol test and was charged with obstruction of justice. He was out of jail that same night and he remains on the force.

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By Jessie Proffitt

Colorado Springs, CO – On July 5, the family of Alex Martinez-Sarmiento gathered in the parking lot where Martinez-Sarmiento was killed one year before by Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) officer Connor Jacob Wallick.

More than 30 people gathered around a shrine for Martinez-Sarmiento, including members of Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Many attendees held signs and banners demanding justice for Alex and the indictment of Wallick. COSAARPR member Brandon Rincon led the group in chants like “Running away, don’t shoot” and “Indict, convict, send that killer cop to jail.” As the sun set, people in attendance held up candles and released balloons to honor Alex.

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By Matthew Compton

Anaheim, CA – On May 5, Community Service Organization (CSO OC) along with the family of Albert Arzola mobilized to Anaheim City Council to demand that killer cop Nathan Garcia be fired from Anaheim Police Department. When the family and CSO OC arrived, they came with signs that read “Fire killer cop Nathan Garcia.” The city council was visibly shaken and rattled by the signs.

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By staff

Anaheim, CA – Rosie Camacho approached the Anaheim City Council podium, April 21, clutching a woven doll to her chest. Camacho was Albert Arzola’s mother, and the doll symbolized the spirit of her son.

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By staff

Los Angeles, CA – On the morning of April 20, the movement against police crimes in Los Angeles won a major victory as a judge ruled that Joseph Perez’s civil case against the City of Los Angeles would proceed. Dozens – mainly Chicanos, African Americans and even Koreans who have experienced police violence and are on the ground in Los Angeles fighting back – packed the Stanley Mosk Courthouse to demand justice for Joseph Perez.

In 2020, Joseph Perez was brutally beaten by sheriff deputy gang members using the name “Indians” and who operated out of the City of Industry Sheriff's Station. A deputy gang is made up of police officers who participate in beatings, planting of evidence, and even extrajudicial executions. The deputy gangsters identify each other with a deputy gang tattoo, which they earn by committing crimes in the furtherance of their gang. Some deputy gangs like the “Banditos” out of the East Los Angeles sheriff’s substation and the “Executioners” out of Compton substation are known nationally and even internationally for their crimes. The Industry Indians are well known to those who they terrorize but are one of the newer deputy gangs.

LA County wanted this civil case to be dismissed but Vanessa Perez, the mother of Joseph Perez, and their supporters struck a blow to the county. The judge ruled that the case will move on to trial in September of 2027, a big win and what Vanessa Perez wanted.

Fight Back! interviewed Vanessa Perez on the courthouse steps immediately after the ruling.

Fight Back!: We’re outside the courthouse with Vanessa Perez, can you let us know what happened today?

Vanessa Perez: The judge went ahead and agreed that we will move forward to the next step and we’re coming back to court for Joseph. The next step we’re going to end up getting is the discovery and we will find out what they did to Joseph.

Fight Back!: What you want is that that Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department be put on trial for what they did to Joseph?

Perez: Yes, pretty much. We want the truth.

Fight Back!: What does justice look like to you?

Perez: What we asked the judge today is to allow the case to move forward so that we can understand better what happened to Joseph. Joseph is a person of brown skin with development issues and mental health issues. He is the exact kind of person who is statistically more likely to experience police violence in his lifetime. The justice system should be flexible with people like Joseph so these cases can be heard and the police can be held accountable for abusing vulnerable people like my son. Today we are fighting for Joseph so something might go differently for others like him, so that the next mother who calls 911 seeking help for their child in crisis doesn't have to be afraid that something terrible will happen like what they did to Joseph. We will continue to fight in and out of this courtroom until we see that world become a reality.

Fight Back!: Is there anything else you would want to add?

Perez: We have been trying our best to get justice for Joseph Perez but the system is not built for people like him. Instead of getting physical and mental healthcare that he needed, he spent two years incarcerated for the beating that was done to him while these deputy gang members are beating other kids out here.

Deputy Shawn Merrick and Deputy Adam Nelson are both confirmed Industry Indians deputy gang members. Together with their trainees Jake Adamo and Sabastian Pombal, they beat Joseph Perez. They also beat young teens outside of a Montclair bowling alley where the deputies were arrested and Merrick and Nelson admitted to being part of a deputy gang. These four deputies were later fired. Vincent Rodriguez, Paul Saldana and Abraham Rivera are other deputies who beat Joseph Perez and are still on duty.

Centro CSO – a community organization that fights back against police crimes in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles – has supported Vanessa Perez in her fight for justice. In December of 2025, they made history together by having the first protest outside of the Industry Sheriff’s Station. To stay updated with this fight for justice, follow @JusticeforJosephPerez and @CentroCSO.

#LosAngelesCA #CA #JosephPerez #InjusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #KillerCop #LASD #CentroCSO #CSO

By staff

New York, NY – Organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression held a speakout outside New York City Hall on Friday, April 18, to protest the dramatic rise in police violence against Black men across the city since the beginning of April.

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By staff

Brooklyn, NY – Dozens of community members gathered for a picket at the NYPD’s 71st Precinct in Brooklyn on March 31. In December 2021, 26-year-old Haitian American Eudes Pierre dialed 911 while experiencing a mental health crisis. Instead of assistance or care, officers Peter Lan and Conrado Abreu-Gerez from the 71st Precinct followed him in and out of a train station and to his home before shooting him ten times.

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By Matthew Compton

Anaheim, CA – On March 24, the family of Albert Arzola along with Community Service Organization (CSO OC) confronted the Anaheim City Council to show their anger with Anaheim Police Department.

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By Bug Peterson

Colorado Springs, CO – On February 25, the Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) gathered with the family of Alex Martinez-Sarmiento in front of the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s office to demand justice for Alex, and that DA Michael Allen move to indict his killer, officer Connor Jacob Wallick. Over 20 people gathered, including several of Alex’s siblings, nieces and nephews, friends, his mother, and his young daughter who is now growing up without her dad.

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By staff

Colorado Springs, CO – On February 23, the Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) gathered at Colorado Springs Police Department headquarters to demand justice for Michael Foster, a 35-year old Black man who was shot by CSPD officers Daniel Mork and Steven Mibert on February 2.

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