Golden, CO – On Tuesday, December 12, First District Attorney Alexis King announced she was filing charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter against Jeremy Alan Smith, 39, for the murder of Adam Michael Fresquez, 33.

Adam Fresquez was killed on May 3 at the Tesla Charging Station in Edgewater, Colorado. The filing came after a seven-month struggle for accountability by Adam Fresquez’s family and the community organizations that have supported them along the way.

Fresquez was maced and fatally shot twice in the back. The assailant remained unidentified to the public until Tuesday when the DA announced her decision to charge Jeremy Alan Smith. An initial investigation by the Edgewater Police Department was fraught with mishandling of evidence. Notably, when Smith turned himself in to EPD after killing Fresquez, he was released without being arrested and claimed “self-defense.” Crucial biological and chemical evidence, like fingerprints and gunshot residue, were never taken.

The family was also originally told that Adam was shot in the front, painting him as the aggressor of the altercation. A new report from the DA’s office was released last week detailing that Adam’s torso and the side of his car were covered in mace and he was shot twice in the back. Clearly EPD is more concerned with covering up the truth than providing accountability to the Fresquez family.

The sentence for the charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter add up to between 18 and 54 years in prison with at five to eight years of mandatory parole. Because of pressure applied by Fresquez family and community organizations like the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee and Denver Justice Project, DA King took the investigation over from Edgewater PD after it was officially closed.

Consistent organizing achieved this victory for the family of Adam Michael Fresquez.

Jeremy Alan Smith’s first appearance in court

Wednesday morning saw the first court appearance of Jeremy Alan Smith since killing Adam Michael Fresquez over seven months ago. The Fresquez family and community activists gathered in the Jefferson County courtroom while Smith sat in the Jefferson County Jail and connected to the courtroom via Zoom.

When it came down to determining Smith’s bond, the judge allowed Juan Fresquez, Adam’s father, to speak. He asked for a bond of $1 million, which is the standard amount for an individual charged with first-degree murder.

Smith’s mother was allowed to speak, claiming his ties to the community in his two children and the job he had had for the past five months. During her remarks, she commented that her son had been “watching his back” ever since the incident occurred. The judge had to remind Smith’s mother that anything she said in court could and would be used against her son.

Lena Fresquez-Mendez, Adam’s mother, asked the judge not to grant bond at all. “This man has been free for seven months and our family has not been able to mourn,” she said. Bond was eventually set at $300,000 to be paid in full and in cash.

At a press conference held immediately after court, family and activists talked about the judge's decision and the seven-month delay of their day in court. The family was largely “okay with it” but emphasized the fact that Jeremy Alan Smith had been able to go free for over six months without consequences while they have had to struggle to get answers.

When asked about EPD’s investigation, Lena Fresquez-Mendez described the initial interaction with Chief Eric Sonstegard, saying, “A week after my son was killed, Chief Sonstegard had already told me that charges were not going to be filed. You didn’t even do a fair investigation at that point; how did you determine he was going to walk? That’s all we’ve ever asked for, a fair investigation.”

“There’s definitely a double standard here,” said Jonce Palmer of the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee. “Because if Adam Fresquez had been white, if his last name had not been Fresquez, this court appearance would have happened seven months ago.”

#GoldenCO #InJusticeSystem #DenverAuroraCAC

Golden, CO – Around 3 p.m., November 16, the Students for a Democratic Society at Colorado School of Mines hosted a speak-out of around 80 people on the Colorado School of Mines campus in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. The students of this STEM campus relayed an undeniable message that they stand with Palestine, not the weapons manufacturers that litter their campus.

Joined by Denver SDS and the Colorado Palestine Coalition, these young activists passionately denounced the Colorado School of Mines’ deep ties with weapons manufacturers, the Israeli occupation, and reaffirmed their unwavering support for Palestinians fighting for liberation.

Mines SDS demands an end to U.S. aid to Israel, and as an engineering-focused school, demands that the Colorado School of Mines cut ties with defense contractors like Lockheed Martin. These war profiteers hawkishly target young engineering students to transform them into producers of terrifying weaponry.

Furthermore, speakers were able to connect with students on a level that spurred some to reconsider their lack of action. Speaker Paul Nelson called out to the campus asking, “What if it were your family? Your grandparents, siblings, parents, all wiped out in a second. What if you were facing genocide?” In response to this sobering question, many students stopped to listen to the event. Some even joined the audience.

From the beginning of the protest, a small group of around a dozen Zionist counter-protesters attempted to silence the students. These Zionists provided no real threat to the speak-out but did show their startling beliefs by laughing and cracking jokes amongst themselves when speakers called out the genocide Israelis waging on Gaza. As displayed by Zionists across this country, this behavior is commonplace. Zionism is a genocidal ideology.

Counter-protesters or not, mass student power will never be silenced. Mines SDS will continue to stand with the Palestinian resistance until their demands have been met and Palestine is free!

#GoldenCO #DenverSDS #FreePalestine #ColoradoSchoolofMines

Golden, CO – When Adam Fresquez was murdered in the small suburb of Edgewater just west of Denver, his family was forced to travel all the way to Golden on Friday, August 11 in order to voice their grievances to District Attorney Alexis King. King has refused to press any charges against Fresquez’s killer or even reveal the assailant’s identity. A crowd of around 70 family members, friends, and activists from the community gathered at the DA’s office to demand accountability and transparency in Fresquez’s case.

On the morning of May 3, Adam Fresquez stopped to charge his car at an EV charging station near 20th and Sheridan. While we don’t know what caused an altercation to begin between Fresquez and the unidentified second driver, we do know that the altercation ended with the unknown man macing Fresquez and shooting him twice in the back with an unlicensed and unregistered firearm. The unknown man then fled the scene leaving Adam to bleed out in the parking lot. He later turned himself in but was released without charges with officials stating that the man acted in self-defense. Understandably, Fresquez’s family is confused about how shooting an unarmed man in the back can be classified as self-defense.

This confusion may stem from the D.A. and Edgewater Police’s complete lack of transparency in their investigation. The family has not been allowed access to any video footage or witness statements of the incident and the police have gone to great lengths to protect the identity of the shooter. The community expressed confusion and outrage over those facts.

“We need D.A. Alexis King and the Edgewater police department to do their job,” said Alexander Landau, who has been a leader in police accountability activism in Denver since he was brutally beaten by Denver police in 2009. His organization, the Denver Justice Project, along with the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee worked together to assist the family in organizing the event. “Fresquez was gunned down and no one has been arrested. That is unjust. That needs to come to an end.”

This is the third action that Fresquez‘s family has held to demand justice since he was killed. Fresquez’s sister, Crystal, spoke about the toll this struggle has taken on her family. “We can’t even mourn. We can’t grieve for my brother because we’re too busy fighting for justice for him.” Surrounded by crying loved ones, she stated, “When can we have that time for ourselves to go through that as a family?”

Despite the heavy emotional cost to the family, they’ve made it clear that they intend to keep fighting until justice is won. “I’m hoping and praying to God we don’t have to do anymore of these [demonstrations],” said Crystal “but if we do, we’ll do whatever it takes until we get what we want and that’s justice for Adam.”

After addressing the crowd, a small contingent of family and close supporters attempted to enter the office and demand a meeting with DA King. This group was stopped at the door by a police officer who claimed that King was not in the building. They were forced to stand in an atrium while they wrote letters to her describing Adam and what he meant to each of them. Demonstrators left a wreath of photographs on the door which highlighted Fresquez’s connections to his family and community. The crowd continued to picket in front of the office for a while before deciding to disperse with chants of “We won’t take this any longer! We’ll be back! We’ll be stronger!” The family is demanding that Fresquez‘s killer be charged with murder and his identity be released.

#GoldenCO #PoliceBrutality #StopKillerCops