Families of Chicanos killed by cops protest at LAPD headquarters

Los Angeles, CA – Several families of young Chicano men killed by the LAPD joined a militant protest in front of the LAPD headquarters, March 30. A large banner with the slogan, “LAPD, stop killing Black and Brown people,” was displayed at the protest.

Josefina Rizo, the mother of Jose Mendez, a 16-year-old killed on February 6, 2016, was joined by Valerie Rivera, the mother of Eric Rivera, who was killed on June 6, 2017. The mothers spoke at the protest and demanded that LAPD stop killing young men and that officers be prosecuted by Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey.

Sol Marquez with Centro CSO led the protest with chants like “Prosecute killer cops!”

At the start of the protest, 30 students from Ceiba College Prep High School MEChA in Watsonville joined, chanting and holding up posters. Later, 500 members of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan arrived. MEChA de UCLA was hosting the 26th MEChA National Conference the weekend of March 30.

The families and Centro CSO members mounted a large, flatbed truck to denounce the LAPD for killing Chicanos and Blacks. Sol Marquez, along with a spokesperson for Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles denounced the police killing and pointed out the long history of resistance by the Chicano and Black communities.

Organized by Centro Community Service Organization (CSO), the protest included Boyle Heights’ East LA residents, teachers and students.

After the demonstration at the LAPD, the large crowd marched to the Federal Metropolitan Detention Center, this time to protest the Detention Center and ICE. Speeches were made by Bayan USA, American Indian Movement (AIM), Union del Barrio, La Raza Unida Party, and MEChA. They demanded an end to the Trump attacks, detentions and deportations.

Later that day, the National MEChA Conference hosted a panel on the East LA Chicano Student Walkouts of 1968. The panel was held at La Plaza de Cultura y Arte with music, local food and cultural vendors. During the panel, veteran ELA Walkout leaders talked about the struggle for equality in education as part of the long history of struggle of the Chicano people in the Southwest for self-determination.