The cops are still shooting people of color.
Never mind the protests and demonstrations world wide since the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis a week ago.
American cops are trained to shoot first and ask questions later. Sadly, the latest victim of police violence in Vallejo, California is dead. He can’t answer any questions.
Only his family and friends are left to mourn his demise.
San Francisco Chronicle 6.3.2020
The man fatally shot by Vallejo police as the city erupted in chaos Tuesday was kneeling outside a Walgreens and not carrying a firearm at the time an officer opened fire — sending five bullets through his own windshield.
Sean Monterrosa, 22, of San Francisco died after the shooting at around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday but police did not tell the public the man was killed — or disclose the circumstances of the officer-involved shooting — until Wednesday at a news conference outside City Hall, a day after calling in 50 troops from the National Guard to help control protests and rioting sparked by the Minnesota police killing of George Floyd.
In a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams said the officer believed he saw the butt of a handgun poking out near Monterrosa’s waist, and opened fire “due to this perceived threat.”
“Investigations later revealed that the weapon was a long, 15-inch hammer, tucked into the pocket of a sweatshirt,” Williams said.
The shooting is now under investigation by the Vallejo police and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office. The officer, an 18-year veteran of the force, has been placed on administrative leave.
The chaos continued in Vallejo into Tuesday evening. City officials said about 100 people and nearly 40 vehicles “surrounded” the Police Department and rocks and bottles were thrown at officers.
The death of Monterrosa, a Latino man, is almost certain to fan the flames of an already outraged community, after activists here say for years they have run up against a police department that has disproportionately targeted people of color and rarely held accountable for their actions.
“My brother was murdered out here by a cop too — they got no justice,” said Alicia Saddler, who is the sister of Angel Ramos, and who attended the press conference. “Now this man was on his knees? Unarmed? A hammer is not a weapon.”
For Ramos, whose 21-year-old brother died after a police responded to a fight at a home, Monterrosa’s death was chillingly familiar.
“He should be here. He should be alive,” she said. “This cop needs to be arrested and taken to jail, period.”
The incidents leading up to Monterrosa’s shooting began late Monday evening, when police began responding to reports of a looting at a Walgreens on Broadway and Redwood streets, Williams said at the press conference.
Looters initially fled the scene, but about 12:15 a.m. looters had returned and were attempting to break into the east side of the building, Williams said. The responding unit reported seeing 10 to 12 potential looters in the parking lot, and police additionally turned their attention to a young man dressed in black, who appeared to be armed in front of the building, Williams said.
As a police vehicle drove into the parking lot, at least one officer reported potential looters inside two vehicles, a black sedan and a silver truck.
Williams said officers in a second responding unit saw a single male dressed in black standing on the east side of Walgreens, “holding what appeared to be a weapon.”
“This individual appeared to be running toward the black sedan but suddenly stopped, taking a kneeling position, and placing his hands above his waist, revealing what appeared to be the butt of a handgun,” Williams said.
The black sedan rammed into one of the police vehicles, Williams said, which caused the airbag to be deployed.
The two suspect vehicle fled the scene, prompting a chase into Contra Costa County, where the driver of the silver truck was apprehended, Williams said.
One officer was injured in the incident when the airbag was deployed, Williams said.
Civil rights attorney John Burris, who is representing Monterrosa’s family, said he was “troubled” by the shooting.
“Notwithstanding what he’s accused of doing, you don’t kill people because they’re looters,” he said.
Burris said he’s awaiting more information on the case, including police body camera footage of the incident.
Lee's Perspective 