March in 2013 in protest of the murder of Andy Lopez by Erik Galhaus auxiliary Sonoma County, California. Protests against the killing are part of the national movement against police killings.
PHOTO: NUEVA PRENSA
The police killings of Angel Ruiz, Osman Hernandez, and Carlos Mejia in Salinas, CA—all within the last three months—led to protests by more than 1,000 people on the streets of east Salinas on May 22.
Police officers shot both Hernandez and Mejia allegedly in response to threats they posed to the public while walking around wielding sharp objects. The shootings show to what extent the police will go in carrying out policies that make it legal for police to kill another human being.
At a press conference, Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin asserted that his officers had to use deadly force to protect themselves and civilians. Each officer had a taser which did not operate properly. The guideline used when officers receive training is to shoot to kill, not just maim, when confronting a suspect.
When it comes to police shootings, we need to use whatever form or tactic possible—including the arts, culture, and newspapers like this—to change the mindset of people who feel that police can do no wrong.
In a May 21 interview, for instance, a woman at a counter rally in support of the police said they are justified in shooting people who commit crimes. But the reporter didn’t ask the obvious question: Why are there more shootings in the poorer communities? Why should the weight of the economic and social crisis fall disproportionately on poor communities?
Recently, the Seattle Police Officers Association filed a civil rights complaint with federal officials against charges that they use excessive force in making arrests. In 2012, Seattle officials agreed to an independent monitor and court oversight of the actions of some police officers. The basis for the association’s complaint is that the police feel their lives are always in danger when confronting alleged criminals and thus have the right to shoot and kill.
As the economy slides further into crisis, and resistance grows and spreads amongst the population, the police are further developing their role of enforcer of the private-property rights of the 1 percent while the corporations and the state are peeling away the democratic rights of the 99 percent.
This is fascism. Corporations are not above the law to use whatever militarized armory is at their disposal to quiet those people who demand a right to the basic necessities of life and who resist the fascist nature of the merging of the State and the corporate interests it protects.
There has been a national—even international—upsurge in police shootings, as police departments become more vigilante-like in their strategies and policies. The recent police shootings in Salinas have given local activists an opportunity to start thinking globally and acting locally in their actions.
The slogans and signs at the May 22 rally demanded dignity, justice, and respect. The initial demands by some community members have been:
Not allowing officers involved in the shootings back to work until a federal investigation has been completed;
An investigation into all officer-involved shootings within the past decade;
A civilian review board to deal with complaints and a review of the police department’s training manual.
Yet more than that is needed. The Salinas community should start making local demands for changing a system that allows law enforcement to target poor communities and the powerless and to use racial profiling against communities of color.
Local law enforcement is being militarized nationally and worldwide. But in whose interests? Who does the Salinas police department represent—the 1 percent or the 99 percent?
