Recently, news cameras zoomed in on a theater in Aurora, where many moviegoers were shot down, apparently by a gunman trying to act out a crazed fantasy. While the mass killing reignited a nationwide debate on gun control, a different, but similar, tragedy unfolded not too far away in Anaheim, California. The difference was that this time, the cops did the shooting. And while the victims of the violent outbreak were also ordinary community members, unlike the Aurora residents, they had placed themselves in the line of fire by confronting a police force that works above the law.
It started when police shot an unarmed man while chasing him down an alley. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, but we know the young man's name: Manuel Angel Diaz, 25. He was pronounced dead that night at a local hospital.
Police had profiled Diaz as a "documented gang member" and said they approached what seemed like a suspicious gathering of three men near a car. The OC Register reports:
The dead man's sister, Lupe Diaz, said Sunday that her brother was "just hanging out with friends" before the shooting."There is no explanation," Diaz said. "It's not fair."
The police explained the incident as just a typical day's work, according to the OC Register:
On Saturday, as demonstrators gathered at the scene of the shooting, Anaheim officers fired bean bags and pepper spray into a crowd of protestors. Welter said Sunday the move was in response to "some known gang members" who had begun throwing bottles and rocks at officers.Also, Welter said a K-9 police dog accidentally escaped from an officer's vehicle and rushed into the crowd, biting demonstrators in an attack caught on video.
At least one person received medical treatment; it was unclear if anyone else was injured, the chief said Sunday.
"Officers in this situation can't retreat," Welter said, defending the officers' decision to fire at the demonstrators. "If we would have abandoned the scene, we would not be doing our job."
The community viewed the Anaheim police's "duty" from a different angle. The sight of a dog set upon a panicked crowd evokes grim memories of the canines deployed to suppress civil rights protesters in Birmingham under Bull Connor's reign. (The bad optics weren't lost on the police department, either: According to the Register, they expressed regret that the dog had "escaped" and promised that "The city will be responsible for all medical bills associated with the dog.")
The criminalization of the crowd's resistance contrasts with the paradox captured on video: in Anaheim, as in other communities where immigrants and people of color live under a heavy law enforcement presence, the police themselves can seem like a worse public threat than the crime they're supposed to be policing. These scenes play out on seemingly endless loop in Oakland, Maricopa County, New York City, New Orleans... every block in the country where kids take a mortal risk just by stepping out on the sidewalk.
In the aftermath, a girl who came forward as Diaz's niece explained to the Register why her uncle might have run:
Daisy Gonzalez, 16, identified her uncle as the man shot by police. She and others said his name was Manuel Diaz. She said he likely ran away from officers when they approached him because of his past experience with law enforcement."He (doesn't) like cops. He never liked them because all they do is harass and arrest anyone," Gonzalez said after lighting a candle for her uncle.
She cursed at the police who were nearby and a police helicopter that hovered above, flashing a spotlight on the neighborhood.
The paper also quoted nineteen year-old Elizabeth Aguilar, who displayed a scar on her arm from a projectile shot by police and said, '"I used to look up to the police when I was a kid... But now I have no respect."
This would not be the last Sunday of fear and frustration. Before the community even had time to calm down, there was news of another man shot and killed by the cops on Sunday. Smoldering trash bins in the street foreshadowed more resentment simmering below the surface.
While the current conversation around mass gun violence sheds much-needed light on the lethal consequences of our trigger-happy popular culture, violence committed by the state, often under the guise of protecting public safety, is a parallel threat that often goes unquestioned. The brutal impunity that reigns in Anaheim shows that the state's monopoly on violence is woven into the social fabric, and the cycle of coercion and destruction is greased by the engines of the criminal justice system.
When community members face police brutality merely for protesting an unjust shooting, channels for effective civic action, and for brokering peace, rapidly narrow. The clashes in Anaheim lacked the cinematic spectacle of the Aurora shooting, but they too involved innocent people caught in a senseless crossfire. Many in America may not yet see the connection between these two scenes, but it's coming to a community near you.
To take action and demand an investigation into the brutality in Anaheim, visit Presente.org's campaign page.
Originally posted at CultureStrike
Follow Michelle Chen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/meeshellchen
I don't understand why some of the comments here so quickly defend a person who, in this case a police officer, murdered an unarmed man! Go ahead and google 'Anaheim'. Why was there so little popular media coverage of this issue? And why was the earliest article posted only 14 hours ago, when this had been submitted July 31st?
Did anyone else stop to think that perhaps the local law enforcement is to blame for not keeping crime in check in the first place, especially so close to Disneyland?
I understand the first instinct is to trust the 'good guys'. But a badge and a gun does NOT make you a good person. but those things DO allow bad people to get away with bad things.
Ms. Chen, I hope that in the interest of journalistic integrity, both you and HP will allow this innocuous comment through. I must say that the above piece written by yourself made me laugh out loud. You are (unfortunately) not the first person that has described gang members as "ordinary citizens." While the death of Diaz is being investigated (rightly so considering he was unarmed), you failed to mention the other "ordinary community member" who was killed by police in Anaheim recently. It seems the community is also irate over the fact that Joel Acevedo was killed by police when he decided to fire at them. The dumb police officers were apparently unable to see the appropriate solution to their problem, "Let this gang member kill you so the community will not become upset about police brutaility."
- Hyman Roth in The Godfather, Part 2.
He was running, he was throwing stuff, throwing stuff means reaching into your pockets or waist, where a gun is kept, he didn't want to go to prison on possession charges, it didn't end how he wanted it.
The Shot That Started It All
Residents first were in a uproar about the nature of Diaz’s killing, which appears to be an overt abuse of force. According to witness accounts , police first shot Diaz in the leg, bringing him down to his knees, before firing again at his head. Mayor Tom Tait called reports that Diaz was shot in the head and leg "unsettling." On Tuesday, Diaz's family filed a civil rights lawsuit for $50 million in damages from the city of Anaheim and the Anaheim police department. They say Diaz was not threatening, but was shot while running away.
In some reports, police claim they approached Diaz for “ suspicious” behavior -- hurling something they “believe” to have been heroin onto nearby roofs. Still, drug allegations have not been substantiated, with no recovery of the alleged heroin.
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/racial-tensions-and-questionable-killings-police-anaheim-9-things-you-should-know
Protesting peacefully is the right of every citizen and even non-citizens.
Protesting violently, looting burning and destroying property is very poor judgement.
Bringing minors to such a protest is poor judgement bordering on abuse.
In such situations the police are likely to react just as they did and people are inclined to be arrested or injured. Why would any decent parent want to subject their child to such danger?
NO ONE "expected violence," that's why the article was written. Going to a protest is not the same as "expecting violence"
Any parent who takes their children to any protest other than a peaceful march should not be a parent.
You also need to give the authorities notice so they can have paramedics on scene in case someone needs medical attention. And there are public rest facilities that any large crowd are going to require - unless you want them relieving themselves in the streets and in people's bushes.
When you fail to make the proper notifications, you can be charged with unlawful assembly.
First of all, you don't fire "non-lethal" rounds into a group of people which includes infants and toddlers.
Second of all, if your canine officer is so high strung that he will enter the fray without a command, or refuse to come back when given the halt and return commands, that dog needs more training, or to be retired.
I'm not sure about this alleged gang member. It generally isn't good protocol to shoot someone in the back, when they are running away, unless they are threatening someone else as well.
I've talked to a few officers about this, and none of them think that this was handled properly. I'm inclined to agree with them.
1. How many gang members are there in Anaheim (or near Anaheim)?
2. How many different gangs are there, and what are their relative sizes/strengths?
3. What is the racial makeup of the different branches of government and the police force in Anaheim?
4. Disney is the largest and wealthiest employer - a monopoly in many respects - in Anaheim. In which ways are they using their political influence and money to direct policy in the local government? Why haven't they supported putting the police behind bars, or on death row?
5. Do the local police and government officials in Anaheim live near where they work? Are the government and service buildings located in the area of privilege (The Hills), in the area of enforced poverty (Valley), or elsewhere? (I might be able to research this myself using Google)
6. What exactly are the "unofficial claims" that people have made in Anaheim that the media doesn't cite in its number of "police shootings"? How many such claims have been or can be compiled?
7. How integrated are the schools and colleges in Anaheim? Is there a strong, successful ongoing attack on funding and support for public education? Why or why not?
8. What are the voting demographics like? Relevant variables to cross-reference would be race, party affiliation, wealth (distribution), residency, and campaign financing.
9. What demographic information do we have about the undocumented population?
For a city with a long history of police corruption and brutality (several fatal shootings by the police), it is possibly harmful to trust the local law enforcement.