Santa Ana protests police killing of Noe Rodriguez

Santa Ana, CA – On March 18, over 45 people gathered at El Centro Cultural de Mexico and marched half a mile to the Santa Ana Police Department with the family of Noe Rodriguez to protest his unjust killing.

On December 1, 2024, Rodriguez, who was unarmed, was shot over 30 times. The protesters held signs reading “Justice for Noe Rodriguez” and “24/48. Release the names, release the tapes” as they chanted “SAPD you can’t hide! We charge you with homicide!” while they made their way to the front of the police station.

The protest was kicked off by Abraham Quintana from Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC), who stated, “ We are here today to raise the demands of families impacted by police violence, as well as raise demands for our 24/48 campaign, to make a change in police policy regarding officer-involved shootings.”

Quintana went on to explain how Santa Ana PD has not released any sort of police report or officer names to the family of Noe Rodriguez; instead, the information they have released are attempts to slander Rodriguez by discussing his old criminal cases out of context.

CSO OC member Rain Mendoza read and translated Erika Armenta’s speech on the impact this killing has had on their daughters, “Since Noe’s life was taken by Santa Ana PD, our daughters are deprived of the joy of growing up next to their father, of living moments with him. They are deprived of the possibility of their father seeing them as accomplished women and seeing their triumphs. My daughters cry for the loss of their father because he will never return, nothing can bring him back, but we can take comfort in the fact that justice can be served in his memory.”

Armenta ended with some of her demands, saying, “We need to demand that these police killings stop and that they really try to de-escalate. Families like mine are left to pick up the pieces and we have to balance the fight for justice with the fight to stay alive. The police need to take responsibility for their actions, and we need to demand transparency.”

CSO OC speaker Manaal Subhani shed light on other crimes committed by the Santa Ana PD, stating, “In 2017 SAPD falsely claimed that 18-year-old Steve Salgado was armed when Detective David Prewett shot and killed him. They tried to justify that killing by saying Salgado was a gang member at a complex where families and children were present, even though it was the police who did the shooting!”

Subhani also spoke on sexual assault crimes and cover-up committed by Santa Ana PD, recounting the Culichi Town incident.

“In August of 2020, a family including two 15-year-old girls went out to dinner at the Culichi Town restaurant. Off duty police officers including Oscar Lizardi, Jonathan Perez, Dorin Buchanan, Jonathan McKee and Mark Campi sat a few tables away. We know from 911 calls that the family made that each time the girls got up to use the bathroom, one of these officers would sexually harass the girls. When the family called police to respond to the incident, investigators covered for their friends on the force. They muted their body cameras when speaking to each other, and when the family tried to show police cell phone footage of the off-duty officers, the investigators stood in ways that did not allow their cameras to pick up the footage,” said Subhani. The crowd present shouted “Shame!” in response to the crimes committed by SAPD.

Gabriel Quiroz Jr. of Centro CSO’s Boyle Heights chapter said, “We aren’t asking for radical things. We want transparency when a police officer kills one of our community members. These are basic things!”

The protesters marched back to El Centro Cultural de Mexico chanting along the way, “When SAPD shoots to kill, families pick up the bill!” and “What do we want? Community control of the police! When do we want it? Now!”

The protest was organized by CSO OC and the wife of Noe Rodriguez. Community members, activists, and Noe’s family were in attendance.

CSO OC, along with working with families impacted by police violence, are working towards fighting for justice, raising the demands of impacted family members, and fighting for community control of the police.

#SantaAnaCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/santa-ana-protests-police-killing-of-noe-rodriguez?pk_campaign=rss-feed