Voices from #DeathByCop March Tuesday, April 7th "Remember Me"

(April, 2015. Authors: Nancy Flores, Emilio Lacques-Zapien, Aloni Bonilla, Mike Aguilar)

On Tuesday, April 7, 2015, the L.A. County S.T.O.P Police Violence Coalition along with the Youth Justice Coalition and several community-based organizations organized “Death by Cop-Remember Me,” a 4-directions march into Downtown L.A. while carrying 617 life-size cardboard coffins in honor of the 617 people killed by Los Angeles law enforcement since the year 2000. The four marches came from North, South, East and West of the culminating rally point on the street in front of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors weekly meeting spot, the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration at 5oo W. Temple Ave. Check out this video of the rally and pieces of the West march.

Some of the core demands of the action were: 1. For Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and CA Attorney General Kamala Harris to appoint Special Prosecutors to investigate and prosecute killer cops and officer-involved shootings resulting in death of a resident. 2. For L.A. County officials to re-direct police and suppression funds back to youth development, youth jobs, youth centers, intervention across the county to improve public safety. 3. Develop and implement of Family Bill of Rights, for families across L.A and CA who have lose loved ones at the hands of police violence to be treated with respect and have access to coroner reports, expenses paid for funeral services, and the right to pursue justice for their loved ones without fear of intimidation or tampering by law enforcement agencies.

The S.T.O.P. Police Violence group is a collective of family members from Southern CA who have lost loved ones to police murder #DeathByCop and community members who have been directly and personally affected by police brutality, including youth of color, community-based organizations, students, teachers, clergy, LGBTIQ people, houseless people, undocumented youth, and so on. We have been meeting since the Winter in response to the massive outcry for justice after Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Ezell Ford, and thousands of other families were denied justice.

All four marches joined forces at 12:30pm for powerful, raw, and emotional speeches, songs, dance, stories and voices of people directly affected by police violence. Aloni Bonilla, a survivor of police brutality, performed an incredible spoken word and song piece about her experience and resistance. Rosie De La Trinidad, who’s husband Jose De La Trinidad was killed by L.A. County Sheriffs near Compton, CA, gave her testimony and marched with her resilient family members into Downtown L.A, coming from the West end. Below we highlight some stories from marchers on each route.

North Side March:

(story by “Death By Cop” Organizer Mike Aguilar)

North side Angelinos from Highland Park all the way out to Northridge gathered at the twin towers correctional facility around 9 am as they expressed their raw emotions of outrage and distrust with the LAPD and LA Sheriffs. The demonstrators painted a clear image of how law enforcement operates in our community, by murdering and lynching our brothers and sisters in our streets or putting them behind prison walls, marking them as felons and stripping them of their rights. April 7th was created to support the families of those murdered and with 150 coffins each baring the name of a child, brother, sister, father, or mother of a murdered loved one, we marched to give a voice to those silenced by the lethal oppression that is our local police force.

We marched through various locations shouting and singing “if we don’t get not justice then you don’t get no peace!” Onlookers stopped to see as we staged a die in inside of union station. Not to our surprise we were stalked by a number of police officers as we became the testing ground for their new counter insurgency weapons, armed guns and their facial recognition equipment. But we pressed forward taking the streets and exhibiting what true democracy looks like, and pointing to them as they continually prove to us what a true police state looks like.

Passing a number of important landmarks on our march we also took the time to have mini teach-ins connecting the dots of police brutality to failing immigration policy and the detention of migrants, to skid row and broken windows policing, to gender inequality and the women of skid row to the overfunded gates of the LAPD Central divisions armory.  We chanted, “they say get back, we say fight back!” with our morale high, our voices echoing through the streets as our consciousness exposes the police’s occupation of our communities supported by the fact that they are steeling 52.5% of the general city budget. “A get up, a get down, we gonna chase LAPD out of our town!” the people chanted. We continued our march until we converged with the East and South routes in front of LAPD Headquarters. Uniting with the other marchers ignited the crowd and even though everyone had been marching for 3 hours, the energy continued to rise-for this day, the power of the people was felt loud and clear.
South Side March:
(story by YJC Youth Organizer Nancy Flores)

When I arrived at Newton Division where the south sides march was set to begin I immediately saw cops surrounding organizers. As the opposition by cops was already visible, they reminded organizers that this was an “illegal march” since we did not have a permit to march in the streets. The march proceeded, with family members who have lost loved ones to police violence leading the march, other people who have been affected by police violence behind the family, followed by community members, each carrying cardboard coffins commemorating lives lost to police violence.

Marching to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for me was very powerful, as amazing organizers from the YJC like Brandy Brown and Jose Gallegos kept up the fire. Marchers chanted, “NO JUSTICE NO PEACE! NO KILLER POLICE!” The feedback that we received from the community following our march kept us all going. For me it was very significant because it showed that our communities are frustrated with cops killing our people and are out here continuing to terrorize our streets. Along the march I remember a community member chanting, addressing their feelings directly to a cop that was following our march “L.A.P.D WHAT DO YOU SAY, HOW MANY KIDS HAVE YOU KILLED TODAY.”

When we arrived at Los Angeles Police Department’s Headquarters in Downtown, we continued our chants and not long after were met by the North side coming from Men’s Central Jail, then the East side coming from East L.A. Sheriff’s Department. We then all proceeded to L.A Board of Supervisors we were met by the West side coming from McArthur Park. We all lined up the coffins in front of the steps and streets of L.A. Board of Supervisors.

We then proceeded to have family members and community members share their stories on their loved ones being killed and how they have been personally affected by police violence. This was very emotional for myself and community members around me. We then held a “die-in” to commemorate the lives, as dozens of people laid on the street and held coffins on top of themselves as if they where the person murdered. We closed the march with Danzas Aztecas who honored the lives lost, by blessing the families and community members surrounding.

East Side March:

(story by YJC Organizer and FREE LA High Teacher Aloni Bonilla)

As everyone was busy getting to work on Tuesday morning, 150 coffins were transported to Lorena & 1st Street at the corner of Evergreen Cemetery in East LA where the east side route was set to start the march.  While protesters arrived at the starting location, Albania Morales and Rogelio Media held a press conference at the East LA Sheriffs department to speak on behalf of Ricardo Lara and Eduardo Bermudez who were shot down outside of their home on November 16, 2015 by LA County Sheriffs.  Around 9:30am, about 100 people from Long Beach, Norwalk, Santa Barbara and local YouthBuild Charter High Schools gathered at the corner of Lorena and 1st Street.  The drums of the Danzas Azteca’s uplifted the families and we took the streets to lead the march towards Cesar Chavez where there is a 5-point intersection, which is the point where the LA County Sheriffs and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) separate jurisdictions.  At the intersection of Lorena and Cesar Chavez Ave, the peace-builders blocked traffic, while the protesters held a 5 minute die-in and Robert Cristo of the YJC read the alarming statistics on civilians killed by LA law enforcement.  The organizers strategy to hold the die-in at this point worked in our favor since it took the LAPD longer to respond to our civil disobedience.  We took the streets on  Cesar Chavez to the LAPD Hollenbeck Station.

West Side: 

(story by YJC Organizer and Media Coordinator Emilio Lacques-Zapien)

The West march began at the southwest corner of MacArthur Park at 10am. Several members from community organizations showed up early and helped us assemble the group and the life-size cardboard coffins that each person would carry. Kruti Parekh from the YJC gathered folks together in a circle to discuss the purpose of the march and the coffins, the route, and a few safety measures. The West march was the last of the four routes to leave our meeting point, which gave folks who were running a bit late to hop on the red line and meet up with us. Marchers lined up in two single files and prepared to leave MacArthur Park to head towards the east end of the park on 7th street. We started chanting, “Who’s Streets? Our Streets!” and we were off.

Around 10:40am we stopped at the Red Line Metro station-MacArthur Park stop, near Alvarado and Wilshire blvd. We gathered in a circle with the coffins and drew a lot of attention from local street vendors and people passing by on foot and taking public transit. Many of them stared at us in awe, never having seen a group roll through their neighborhood carrying cardboard coffins before. I spoke with some of them about the purpose of the action, and that each coffin represents a human being that we were there to honor. We were pumped up by having such a large crowd of Westlake community members who wanted to know more.

At 11:00am we arrived at Union and 6th street. This marks the location where Guatemalan day laborer Manuel Jamines was shot and killed by LAPD Officer Frank Hernandez on September 5, 2010. After the shooting, police claimed to have shouted to Manuel in English and Spanish to yield, but community members said that Jamines only spoke a Mayan language native to Guatemala, and therefore did not understand the officers. At least two witnesses form the Pico Union area said that Manuel was not armed and posed no threat to anyone. Previous to killing Jamines, Officer Hernandez had shot two other civilians and had a reputation for brutality. This case another heartbreaking example of how the LAPD and L.A. law enforcement’s ‘shoot-first, ask questions later’ mentality is literally resulting in the #DeathByCop murder of hundreds of people of color, migrants, low-income, houseless, and oppressed peoples in our communities. This is why we fight.

The West march stopped for a moment of silence on the corner near where Jamines was shot. I glanced at the other people in in the circle during this moment, and for this short period of time while we stopped chanting, I could hear horns honking, people chattering, and cars whizzing by, the usual mid-day sounds of the Pico Union neighborhood. But still, in this moment, the air felt dense. The energy was tense, and sad. It was like a five-minute, mini-funerial service. But this time, once it was over, a few folks wiped tears off their cheeks, and we got to march on, with a renewed energy and sense of purpose on this day. This was our small way of remembering Manuel Jamines. #RememberMe

After we left Union and 6th street, we marched up the hill towards our next destination-the LAPD Rampart Division station. Rampart division is historically and currently infamous for police corruption, brutality, fear-mongering and overall shady-hot-mess-ness.
When we arrived, we were met by youth and organizers from the Gay-Straight Alliance. This moment really fired up the marchers to see more people join us on route to Downtown, especially youth of color from the LGBTIQ community, a demographic that is extremely essential to this movement and directly affected by police profiling and murder. We gathered in a large circle holding up the coffins to the sky and chanting, “If we don’t get no justice, then you don’t get no peace!” There were several officers in gear in front of the public LAPD station, guarding the building and staring us down. We were also being trailed by a group of LAPD cops on bicycles throughout the march who also stopped when we did. We conducted another “die-in” on the lawn of the Rampart station, which was powerful and a turned out to be a great use of symbolism through protest.

Mariella Saba from IDESPCA and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition performed an incredibly moving and impactful theatre and art piece on front of the LAPD Rampart station. Video entitled “Entre Tus Estrellas” by Gonzalo Rios.

At close to 12:00PM the march of the coffins got to the entrance of the LAUSD School Board headquarters building on Beaudry Ave. The narrow sidewalk was crowded full of marchers and coffins. Maritza Galvez and other organizers spoke briefly about the connection between increased school police and the affects this has on our youth of color, funneling them into the oppressive school-to-jail track across Los Angeles.

On route through Downtown L.A. as we marched on Grand Ave, we caught the attention of dozens of elementary and middle school students who were in front of the Downtown Music Center for an event. They saw our coffins, signs, and heard us chanting, and all of the sudden, joined in with us! “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot! Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” “Black Lives Matter!”
This, by far, was probably the most fun, exciting, and enlightening moment along the journey of the West march. Immediately several of us became somewhat elated, laughing and high-fiving each other as the children gave us a boost of morale and purpose. That moment was a defining piece of my #DeathByCop march experience, as we were all reminded of why we fight. Our children will bear the burdens of our decisions, victories, shortcomings, actions, and lack thereof. And in our society, in 2015, and in L.A., black and brown people, especially youth, are the number one targets, victims, and survivors of police violence.

After finally leaving the Music Center, we marched up Grand Ave and turned right onto Temple Ave, reaching our final destination right around 12:35pm. We were met with over approximately 300 other #DeathByCop marchers and families, who all came together from the North, East and South routes. We were the last ones to arrive, and the crowd met us with cheers, hugs, and chants! It was an inspiring thing to see, after all of our hard work and motivation and guidance from the impacted families, that we had pulled this crazy idea off.
Pictured below is the mass die-in on Temple Ave, right in front of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting building. The Board is responsible for oversight and community input regarding the Sheriff’s department, which accounts for the largest amount of population covered in L.A. County and the highest rates of police murders and misconduct. Being able to visually see hundreds of cardboard coffins decorated with names, dates, times, cities, regions, messages, colors, and time and energy was both extremely saddening and also empowering. THIS is what our County’s addiction to law enforcement and incarceration results in. Hundreds of people dead, with no justice to claim for their families. It felt like each human life represented on each coffin was giving us a silent message: “Remember Me.” And THIS is why we fight. We fight for the 617+ and we fight for their families. And we are just getting started.

Endorsing Organizations of the #DeathByCop Action:

This action would not have been a success without all the amazing community organizations and individuals who put in hard work for justice in honor of all our fallen warriors.

(In Order of Endorsement)

S.T.O.P Police Violence (S.T.O.P)
Youth Justice Coalition (YJC)
Los Angeles Community Action Network (LACAN)
Stop LAPD Spying Coalition
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles (BLMLA)
Immigrant Youth Coalition L.A. (LAIYC)
Immigrant Youth Coalition Statewide CA (IYC CA)
L.A 4 Youth Campaign
Coalition Against Police Terror L.A. (CAPTLA)
UCLA School of Law-Chapter of National Lawyers Guild
Immigration Law Society of UCLA School of Law
Socialist Party L.A.
International Socialist Organization
Fair Chance Project
L.A. Brown Berets
Dignity and Power Now (End Sheriff Violence Coalition)
United Against Police Terror-San Diego
ENLACE
FREE LA High School
Justice For Bobby Henning
Students For Justice In Palestine (SJP)
Young Americans For Liberty at LATTC
Black Lives Matter Long Beach (BLMLB)
CLUE LA
Critical Resistance Los Angeles (CRLA)
Pico Youth And Family Center (PYFC)
BAYAN USA-Southern California
Workers World Party USA
Save The Kids
Los Angeles People’s Media
ELAC Students For Social Justice
Union De Vecinos
Gay Straight Alliance LA (GSA)
Californians United For A Responsible Budget (CURB)
Gender Justice LA (GJLA)
Dignity and Power Now (DPN)
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA)
National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON)
Black Skeptics Los Angeles
Los Angeles Anti-Eviction Campaign
UAW 2865 UCLA Unit
Community Education for Social Action (CESA)
Child Of God’s Loving Family
IDEPSCA
The Sober Network
California Coalition For Women’s Prisoners (CCWP)
Bus Riders Union (BRU)
Chiapas Support Committee
Anakbayan Long Beach
Dream Team Los Angeles (DTLA)
Martin Luther King Coalition (MLK)
County + Community Health Empowerment