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Created on Tuesday, 24 July 2012 19:08
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Written by Democracy Now!
Police Brutality in Anaheim Sparks Outrage After 2 Latinos Shot Dead and Demonstrators Attacked
by Democracy Now!
Police in the California
city of Anaheim are facing allegations of murder and brutality after
fatally shooting two Latino men over the weekend and firing rubber
bullets at crowds of protesters. On Saturday, Anaheim police shot and
killed 24-year-old Manuel Diaz after he reportedly ran away from a group
of officers who confronted him in the street. Diaz was unarmed.
Hours
after his death, a chaotic scene broke out when police fired rubber
bullets and tear gas at a crowd of local residents protesting the
shooting. Another Latino resident, Joel Acevedo, was shot dead by police
the following day. Police say Acevedo was suspected in a car robbery,
but the circumstances around his death remain unconfirmed. We discuss
the situation in Anaheim with Gustavo Arellano, editor of the
alternative newspaper, OC Weekly, and Theresa Smith, who has worked with
families to call for police accountability in Anaheim since 2009, when
officers shot and killed her son, Cesar Cruz, a 35-year-old father of
five.
"Given the fact that this is the eighth officer-involved shooting
within one year in the city of Anaheim ... the community is going to be
very upset," Arellano says. "There’s a lot of angry residents, and
rightfully so." [includes rush transcript]
Guests:
Gustavo Arellano, editor of the
OC Weekly,
an alternative newspaper covering the police shootings in Anaheim,
California. He also writes the nationally syndicated column "Think Like a
Mexican."
Theresa Smith,
has worked with families to call for police accountability in Anaheim
since 2009, when officers shot and killed her son, Cesar Cruz, a
35-year-old father of five, in a Walmart parking lot.