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San Jose Police Shoot and Kill Four Men in Nine Days in August

September 10, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

In just nine days in August, the San Jose, California, police department shot and killed four men. The police across this country prove themselves day in and day out to act as accuser, judge, jury and executioner, whatever the circumstances. In each case, the police claim the victim was armed and dangerous.

It is difficult to get details of incidents that the powers-that-be do not want widely known and the masses of people do not expose themselves. One question: even if these mainly young men of color (three out of four are Latino) committed crimes, even horrendous crimes, were they armed at the time of their execution?

On August16, two pigs shot and killed 29-year-old Matthew Castillo, who the police claim was one of three suspects in the killing of another man on August 13 (possibly a drug deal that went bad).

The next day, another San Jose cop fatally shot 40-year-old Richard Jacquez, a second suspect in the August 13 killing. Jacquez was unarmed. An official statement issued by the SJPD said he had reached for his waistband. Even after this lie was exposed, police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Garcia claimed that Jacquez did not comply with officers so they shot him and, when he turned to face the cops, they shot him again. It made no difference that he was, in fact, unarmed.

This change of story was so outrageous that the recently retired San Jose Police Department Independent Auditor, LaDoris Cordell, filed an official complaint. She questioned why the initial “false claim” was made in the first place. She told the San Jose Mercury News, “In communities of color, this is the concern, that the standard response is that ‘he made a furtive movement and went for something in the waist.’ I can tell you, I’m getting emails from people in San Jose saying, ‘How are we going to trust the police department?’”

You can’t! Not when the whole system is rigged against the masses of people!

Nine days earlier, on August 9, two San Jose cops shot and killed 22-year-old Edrian Rivera. They claim he was armed with a meat cleaver.

Barely six hours later, just after midnight on August 10, two other San Jose pigs responded to a call from a woman who said her brother was drunk, armed, and suicidal. The police claim they shot at, but did not hit, 30-year-old Aaron Phillips who they said had a handgun. They claim he went into the house and committed suicide. (I am so sick of “suicide by cop.” In socialist society, security forces will be trained, and held accountable, to handle the severely depressed and mentally ill with care and respect—not push them over the edge!)

These earlier two incidents got very little media coverage.

Since this series of murder by police, the SJPD has posted a new section to their online presence—officer-involved shooting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)—and have posted its employee manual and use-of-force guidelines. So, now you can read the official method by which the system is rigged. In a statement, the SJPD said, “We believe it is important for the community to understand the investigative process, monitoring and incident review process.”

What people need to understand is something Bob Avakian stated in Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About, a filmed talk, also quoted in BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian:

 

 

 

 

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