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Slain Mexican Man’s Family Views Body, Seeks ‘Justice’

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In this Feb. 18, 2015 photo, a sign welcomes motorists to Pasco, Wash. For the past week, protesters have gathered daily in front of the City Hall in this agricultural community to protest the fatal shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, an unarmed man who was running away from police at a crowded intersection. (Nicholas K. Geranios/AP Photo)

In this Feb. 18, 2015 photo, a sign welcomes motorists to Pasco, Wash. For the past week, protesters have gathered daily in front of the City Hall in this agricultural community to protest the fatal shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, an unarmed man who was running away from police at a crowded intersection. (Nicholas K. Geranios/AP Photo)

 

PASCO, Wash. (AP) — The 60-year-old mother of an unarmed Mexican man fatally shot by police officers in Washington state fainted when she viewed her son’s body for the first time, her lawyer says.

Antonio Zambrano-Montes was killed Feb. 10 in Pasco, the gunfire captured on video by a witness. The death has sparked two weeks of protests in this city along the Columbia River in the southeastern part of the state.

The victim’s mother, Agapita Montes-Rivera, spoke to reporters Monday before entering a funeral home with other family members.

“I want people to understand my pain,” the woman from tiny Parotita, Mexico, said through an interpreter. “It’s really hard. … When I saw the video, I felt really bad. That’s why I asked for justice.”

Her attorney, Benjamin Crump, said she fainted when she first saw her son’s body Monday afternoon.

Authorities say Zambrano-Montes, a 35-year-old Mexican immigrant and former orchard worker, was throwing rocks at officers and a stun gun failed to subdue him. The Franklin County coroner has ordered an inquest into the death, which is being reviewed by a regional task force. The investigation is being monitored by federal authorities.

“We want justice; that’s all we want,” the victim’s sister, Rosa Elena Zambrano-Montes, 28, said through an interpreter.

Crump, the high-profile attorney who represented the family of Michael Brown, a black man killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, said he’ll represent Zambrano-Montes’ family. Crump was in Pasco meeting with family members.

“At the heart of the matter is what’s going on with what we see on that video — is it appropriate or not?” Crump, who is based in Florida, told The Associated Press.

“The No. 1 thing they said is, ‘We don’t want them to say that the police acted appropriately,'” said Crump, who represented the family of Trayvon Martin, the black teenager killed in a confrontation with neighborhood watch leader George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was acquitted in 2013 in that case.

In a video recording by Dario Infante Zuniga, 21, of Pasco, five “pops” are audible, and Zambrano-Montes can be seen running away, pursued by three officers. As the officers draw closer, he stops, turns around and faces them. Multiple “pops” are heard, and the man falls to the ground.

Crump said Zambrano-Montes spoke no English and was an immigrant living in the country illegally.

Felix Vargas, head of the Pasco Hispanic rights group Consejo Latino, said a Seattle-based Justice Department official met with his group Sunday. The official said meetings are planned this week with local authorities, Vargas said.

Pasco is a fast-growing agricultural city of 68,000, where more than half the residents are Hispanic but few are members of the police force or the power structure.

The killing was the fourth by Pasco police in less than a year. Officers were exonerated after similar investigations in the first three cases. Critics in the latest case say the officers should have used less than lethal force to subdue Zambrano-Montes.

“Zambrano-Montes had his hands up. Why did you have to shoot him?” Crump asked.

Police said officers felt threatened. Zambrano-Montes was arrested last year for assault after throwing objects at Pasco officers and trying to grab an officer’s pistol, court records show.

Authorities have said Zambrano-Montes was not armed with a gun or knife when he was killed. Whether he had a rock in his hand when he was shot is still under investigation.

Two of the officers involved were white, and the other Hispanic. All three opened fire, though the number of shots has not been disclosed.

Last week, investigators asked for patience as the investigation continues.

Crump said the Pasco case is similar to other high-profile killings involving police officers.

“All the young people are protesting that Antonio had his hands up based on what they saw in the video, and he had no weapons,” Crump said. “And just like in New York, it shows the graphic last moments of Eric Garner’s life, here you have a video that shows the graphic last moments of Antonio’s life.”

In December, a grand jury in New York declined to indict an officer in Garner’s chokehold death.

Meanwhile, another attorney who says he’s representing Zambrano-Montes’ family says he wants to temporarily withdraw a $25 million claim filed by Zambrano-Montes’ widow and two daughters against the city after the shooting. Attorney Charles Herrmann of Tacoma said Monday the claim was premature.

___

Abdollah reported from Los Angeles.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

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Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12).

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

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It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.
It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

 

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.

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