Los Angeles, CA – On July 25 in the City of Industry, 50 people protested outside the Industry Sheriff’s Station to demand justice for Joseph Perez and for his immediate release from jail.

On July 27, 2020, nearly six years ago, Joseph Perez was brutally beaten by sheriffs in the City of Industry, which is located about 30 minutes east of downtown Los Angeles. Some of those sheriffs were later involved in the beating of teens outside of a Montclair bowling alley, where the deputies were arrested. The deputies admitted to internal affairs that they were tattooed deputy gang members and part of the “Industry Indians.” No deputies have faced discipline over the brutal beating of Joseph Perez.

Families who have lost their loved ones to either LAPD or LASD were present to speak in solidarity with Vanessa Perez’s fight for justice for her son Joseph. The families of Jeremy Anthony Flores, Eric Rivera, Anthony Vargas and John Horton III and others were at the rally.

The rally also featured a united front of organizations fighting for police accountability, like Check The Sheriff Coalition, Justice LA, Power Now, SV DEBUG and Centro CSO.

The crowd chanted, “Ban! Ban! Deputy gangs!” and “Say his name: Joseph Perez!”

Luis Sifuentes of FRSO stated, “We have to keep fighting, we have to keep fighting these officials that are protecting these pigs, we have to fight these police associations!”

Katherine Palma spoke about her brother, Jeremy Anthony Flores, who was shot and killed by LAPD, “The cops just shoot they don't stop and think about other solutions, it’s not fair that they can laugh and enjoy time with their loved ones when they took one of ours.”

Emiliano Martin Del Campo of Centro CSO stated, “These killings, beatings and wrongful convictions of our community members will not stop until we have community control of the police implemented here and all over this country. Our neighborhoods will never be safe until we have a say in who polices them and how they do so.”

Deanna Brock, the mother of Emmett Brock, told the crowd, “My son Emmet Brock, a 23-year-old teacher, was brutally assaulted by an LA County Sheriff deputy My son used his First Amendment right to flip off a cop, that cop got in his car and followed Joseph and pulled him over in a parking lot where he brutally beat him.”

Deputy Joseph Benza lll was eventually federally charged for violating the civil rights of Emmet Brock, and will be sentenced at the end of this year.

Vanessa Perez closed the rally by saying, “To every family here: our pain has connected us but so has our strength. I stand with each and every one of you in whatever capacity I can, because your fight is my fight. CSO! We made history again in Joseph’s name.”

The rally ended with chants and a sign-waving on the main dtreet near the sheriff’s station. There is an ongoing civil lawsuit against LASD in the name of Joseph Perez, and Centro CSO will be on the ground to support the fight for justice.

#LosAngelesCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #JosephPerez #CentroCSO

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