Los Angeles, CA – A press conference was held in Boyle Heights, May 29, to release the body camera footage from two LAPD officers involved in the killing of 14-year-old Jesse Romero, a student at Mendez High School. The killing occurred on August 9, 2016. Romero’s parents, Teresa Dominguez and Jesus Romero, their lawyer Humberto Guizar, members of Centro CSO, Romero’s high school classmates, teachers and other families of loved ones killed by police were also present.

“We are releasing the videos because the city hasn’t done a thing about this,” said lawyer Humberto Guizar. “LAPD, after they killed Jesse, said he was a 25-year-old man. He was clearly underage, and they knew it. But to say the killing was nothing but a thug with a gun, the initial coverage would immediately dismiss any sympathy from the public. Even after the media corrected the original messaging, the damage had been done. Well it’s time people knew that Jesse’s killer LAPD officer Eden Medina gave Jesse no chance to live. In addition Medina had killed Omar Gonzalez only 12 days before killing Jesse. The two killings are eerily similar.”

Officer Eden Medina is known as “The Terminator” in the community of Boyle Heights due to his history of harassing, brutality, false arrests and record of killing young Chicano men.

The footage is short, but quickly shows the situation escalate. The killing occurred in broad daylight, sent the two LAPD officers and Jesse Romero running from an apartment building, to the busy street of Chavez Boulevard. It shows officer Eden Medina, gun already drawn, chase Romero, slow around a corner, shoot multiple times, and then advance at Romero while ordering him to, “Stop moving, get down! Get down,” a typical tactic to portray the victim as not cooperating.

Contradicting initial reports that Medina feared for his life, the videos clearly show Medina confident as he killed Romero. Medina gives chase to Romero, stops to peek around a corner and fires multiple shots, then yells at the already dying 14-year-old to “Get down, stop moving.” Romero is bleeding to death, on his back. The officers’ cameras show his legs shaking while clinging to life. No medical aid is administered, no calls for an ambulance are made. A gun is seen across a tall metal fence about 15 feet away and far from Romero’s reach. A witness approaches waving to show that Jesse was unarmed and had earlier thrown an old rusty gun over a tall metal fence. Romero bled to death in front of the unfazed officers who asked the unharmed Medina, “Are you okay?” Medina then pounds his chest with his fist as if to congratulate himself like a sports player and replies, “Yeah.” The footage also shows officers slam, face-down, Romero’s lifeless body on the cement sidewalk as they handcuff him.

“Why handcuff him and slam his poor, dead body?” asked Guizar. “He’s already dead!”

Romero’s mother, overcome with rage and emotion, was unable to say much more than, “I want justice for my son.”

Carlos Montes, a member of Centro CSO said, “CSO has been fighting to win justice for Jesse since we contacted the family about this unjustified and terrible killing. We will continue fighting united with the family to win the justice that Jesse deserves.” Centro CSO will fight to fire and prosecute killer cop Eden Medina.

Plans are to continue pressuring LAPD to fire and jail killer cop Eden Medina, and to release the video footage from the killing of Omar Gonzalez. Medina is a trigger-happy killer, on the prowl to kill more Chicano and Black youth. As Medina is still on the job, the group is releasing his image in the hopes that the public will remember who he is. If anyone has had an encounter with Medina, you are urged to contact Centro CSO.

The family has filed a lawsuit in federal court, and will continue to expose the lies and hypocrisy of the LAPD – lies that include the false version of Deputy Chief Arcos, who spoke at the LAPD official press conference defending the Medina killing of Jesse Romero. Arcos wants to now be chief of LAPD and is one of three who may be appointed after Chief Charlie Beck retires. Centro CSO will continue to say, “No to LAPD lies and cover-ups, and no to Arcos as chief of LAPD.”

Centro CSO will be updating the public on the continued efforts. Join CSO meetings every 3rd Wednesday of every month at 6:00 p.m. at Benjamin Franklin Library. If you wish to follow the case, stay connected here: twitter.com/CentroCSO facebook.com/CentroCSO call CSO at 323-943-2030 or email CentroCSO@gmail.com

#LosAngelesCA #LosAngelesCACA #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #policeKillings #JesseRomero

Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) just claimed their first Boyle Heights victim of 2017. A 36-year-old Chicano named Fred Barragan from the Boyle Heights neighborhood was killed by cops on March 25. Per local news reports, gunshots were heard around midnight. LAPD reports to the press that they saw Barragan run and an attempted to stop Barragan, leading to his killing. A witness disputes the LAPD version of events.

Centro CSO (Community Service Organization) called the LAPD Headquarters to obtain information on the Barragan’s murder, but was told more than likely there would be no public comment due to the shooting being officer-involved.

LAPD has a long history of police brutality and killings. For three consecutive years, Los Angeles has ranked number one in killings by police and sheriffs. Boyle Heights itself ranked among the highest in Los Angeles County, and was victim to five killings just last year. Among the LAPD killings were 16-year-old Jose “Peruzzi” Mendez killed Feb. 6, 2016 and 14-year-old Jesse Romero killed August 9, 2016.

“We denounce this brutal racist killing of another young Chicano in Boyle Heights!” says longtime Chicano revolutionary Carlos Montes. “We will unite with the family of Fred Barragan and friends to organize and fight for justice to demand an end to the police killings of Chicano youth.”

The family and friends of Fred Barragan are extremely angry and will join in the fight for justice. Centro CSO invites all to attend the press conference in front of LAPD Hollenbeck on Monday, March 27 at 4:30 p.m. to demand LAPD issue a public statement on Barragan’s killing.

#LosAngelesCA #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #LAPD #Antiracism #policeKillings

St. Paul, MN – More than 50 people gathered in below freezing temperatures for more than an hour Jan. 14, in front of a Saint Paul Police Station, for a memorial balloon release for Marcus Golden. On Jan. 14, 2015, Golden was executed, shot in the back of his head, by Saint Paul Police Officers Jeremy Doverspike and Dan Peck. Golden was unarmed, but SPPD's Detective Shelia Lambie used a search warrant to retrieve a gun legally owned by Golden from his residence. This is why it took SPPD approximately 11 hours after Golden was wrongfully killed, to ‘confirm’ Golden was armed.

At the Jan. 14 event, in solidarity with all stolen lives, balloons were released as victims of police murder were named, including Jamar Clark, Philando Castile, Map Kong, Philip Quinn, Jaffort Smith, Paul Castaway, Sarah Lee Circle Bear, Korryn Gaines, Aiyana Jones, and many others. Marcus Golden’s aunt, Monique Cullars Doty and his mother, Ericka Cullars Golden, both spoke, along with leaders from Black Lives Matter Saint Paul and Communities United Against Police Brutality. A statement by his family said, “We must never forget those painfully ripped from their friends, families and communities, and work to hold killer cops and their conspirators accountable.”

#StPaulMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #policeKillings #MinnesotaMarcusGolden

Minneapolis, MN – An audience of over 500 people gathered at North Community High School in Minneapolis, Nov. 30, to hear Shaun King speak on the rise of police killings of African Americans.

Throughout his presentation, King focused on providing historical context and reflected into how “we are in a dip in the quality of our humanity.”

“In the scheme of human history, if it's true that humans are steadily evolving, how do we explain the horrible injustices that we see in relatively modern history?”

To further illustrate this context, King provided facts pertaining to the vast amount of police killings stemming in 2015. “The 1208 people killed by police last year is the highest recorded in history.” 102 of those killed by police were unarmed African Americans.

King went on to provide numerous examples like Philando Castile and the events in Ferguson, Missouri in evidence of a system targeting and criminalizing Black Americans. “Ferguson issued over 32,000 arrest warrants for a city of 24,000 residents.”

Present in the audience was John Thompson, a friend of Philando Castile, who spoke for the family of Castile and to whom the audience gave a warm welcome of applause in solidarity with the family.

Shaun King breaks down the rise of mass incarceration

Shaun King is a senior justice writer for the New York Daily News who has been a prominent voice within the Black Lives Matter Movement. He spoke at two other locations on the day, including Macalester college in Saint Paul.

Speaking to a crowd filled with students and activists, King concluded by providing encouragement to organize against the “historic level of oppression we are experiencing. The organization needs to match our outrage.”

During the event, mobilization was urged for members in the audience to turn out at the trial of the white supremacists who shot five protesters at the Fourth Precinct occupation. North Community High School is only two blocks from where an unarmed Jamar Clark was killed by police on Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis in November 2015.

#MinneapolisMN #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #policeKillings #ShaunKing #NorthMinneapolis

“The killing of Terrance Crutchner by a white police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma is just the latest example of police shooting first, not calling for medical aid, and then making up stories to justify their crimes,” said Suzuki. “In Charlotte, North Carolina, the uprising after the police shot and killed Keith Scott shows that the community is on edge. This should come as no surprise given that a white Charlotte police officer went free after shooting an unarmed Black man ten times and then handcuffing him before he died in 2013.”

Suzuki called for people to continue to build the movement against police killings. “In addition to responding to each and every police crime, the FRSO supports the demand for community control of the police. This institutional change, as seen in the Chicago, Illinois push for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), is needed to fight the racism among police that is part of a long history of national oppression against African Americans and other oppressed nationalities such as Chicanos and Native Americans.”

#SanJoseCA #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #policeKillings #Injustice #charlotte

The event will raise funds to cover Clark’s tombstone and for ongoing organizing in his case. Featuring poetry, soul music and hip-hop, artists slated to perform include spoken word artist Keno Evol, Black Lives Matter protest anthem singer Jayanthi Kyle and nationally recognized emcees TruthMaze, Tall Paul, Maria Isa and Muja Messiah.

Jamar Clark, a young Black man from North Minneapolis, was shot in the head while unarmed and handcuffed by the Minneapolis Police Department in the early morning of Nov. 15, 2015. Since his execution, the North Minneapolis community and Minnesotans of conscience have risen up to demand justice. Actions have included an 18-day occupation outside the Fourth Precinct police station and the shutdown of the Mall of America and the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, both led by Black Lives Matter Minneapolis.

A coalition of community organizations called the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar continues to organize, led in part by Jamar’s cousin Alexander Clark who has emerged as the most prominent voice of Clark’s family. Alexander Clark headed up the organizing of Break the Silence!, envisioning a night to honor the life of his cousin, bring community members together in a spirit of unity, and ensure Clark is respectfully put to rest.

Alexander Clark, organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, said: “I feel like this must be seen as a time of need to form a dedicated foundation of solidarity. We need to ensure that the entire world knows what we can do within the faith of the people.” He went on to describe how the names of Jamar Clark and many others murdered by police have become a rallying call against state violence. “If we don’t get no justice, they will not get no peace or sleep. In the spirit of freedom fighter Assata Shakur, I believe it is our duty to fight for our freedom, just as it is our duty to win. I believe we must love and support one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains. All power to the people. Ashe.”

Clark approached the Anti-War Committee to be the organizational sponsor for the benefit show. Based in Minneapolis, the Anti-War Committee stands in solidarity with oppressed people at home and abroad. They work to draw links between the impacts of militarism abroad and the realities of militarized police terrorizing oppressed communities in the U.S.

Jess Sundin, with the Anti-War Committee and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, said: “We organize for an end to racist oppression and self-determination for all peoples. We were honored that Alex asked us to sponsor this benefit. We hope Break the Silence! creates space for people to come together to celebrate a young man’s life stolen too soon, and inspires us all to continue to fight for justice, at home and abroad.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #JamarClark #policeKillings #Racsim

Chicago IL – 200 people gathered, Dec. 27, in the rain for an emotional vigil in front of the West Side home where a Chicago cop murdered Bettie Jones and Quintonio Legrier. The protest was called by Action Now, the community group that Jones had been active with.

#ChicagoIL #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #policeKillings