Local law enforcement claimed it's latest victim as three CHP officers gunned down and killed an unarmed mentally disturbed man with semiautomatic rifles, shooting him 55 times, several miles south of Modesto. The shooting happened on Saturday, June 18th, on Crows Landing and West Main.
From the
Modesto Bee:
The officers involved were Sgt. Ian Troxell, a 12-year CHP veteran; Jonathan Box, who's been with the agency 3½ years; and Adam Percey, a 2½-year employee, according to Sgt. Anthony Bajaran, a Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department spokesman. The shooting happened within minutes of officers arriving.
According to Vigen's family, Eric had bipolar disorder and was in a manic state before the shooting. He also made comments that he wanted to get into a shootout with the police and that he was armed with a weapon. Thinking that law enforcement could help her son as they had done in the past, Eric's mother called police and told them that he was possibly armed and in need of help. Eric's family was given the murderous details of his untimely death when Sheriffs gave the family their report.
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| Amadou Diallo |
In 1999, New York man Amadou Diallo was shot by NYPD when they stopped him as he was entering his residence. When told to put his hands up, Diallo raised up his wallet as well. Police opened fire and killed the 23-year old Guinean man, shooting him 41 times. His murder and the acquittal of the officers involved kicked off large protests across the New York area. Sean Bell, another unarmed black man, was shot 51 times in 2006 after coming out of bachelor party in Queens, NY. Bell was killed and two others were injured and his murder brought three detectives to trial who were later found not guilty. Like the Diallo case, Bell's killing brought thousands into the streets. Both of these incidents are worth noting because they involve the killing of two unarmed men who were shot a large amount of times by several cops, just as Eric Vigen was. Also, in both of these cases the police were completely exonerated by the 'justice' system. Media coverage on the shooting of Eric has been slim and the Modesto Bee has not even allowed online public commenting on their article. And while Diallo and Bell's murders received national attention, there has hardly been any outrage over Vigen's murder even though he was shot
even more times than both of them. It's clear that when the Modesto Bee can't present a story from the side of the police, they don't want to tell it at all.
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| Rita Elias |
Around the same time as the details were coming out about the Vigen shooting, on Wednesday, June 29th, the day of a
public forum on the Rita Elias case, a device at first thought to be
pipe bomb was found on the front property of where one of Rita Elias daughters now lives. The next day, Kari Abbey, the former Sheriff facing charges for the murder of Rita Elias, was in court.
Police now claim that the device was not a live explosive, but have not released further details. If the device was placed at the home in order to simulate the appearance of a bomb, the implications are clear. Are local law enforcement and friends of Kari Abbey trying to scare the Elias family into dropping their case in court against Abbey? Are they trying to scare witnesses that have claimed that Rita was shot unjustly?
Are they trying to stop more information coming out in regards to police corruption, steroid abuse, and drug trafficking? One thing is certain, someone wants to hurt and scare the Elias family. We must all stand behind them and show that solidarity is strength.
In these times, there are many things we can do to resist police terrorism and murder in our communities.
First, we must share information and discuss these incidents with each other. Share articles from this website at work with co-workers, those in your neighborhood, or post them up at the corner store. You can also share them online or email them to friends. We cannot count on the Modesto Bee to report correctly or at all, on these incidents. As poor and working people, it is up to us to destroy the credibility that the police have created for themselves and make the argument to other people that violence that comes from the police
is not a problem of 'bad apples.' Instead, it is a systemic problem caused the nature of the police as a repressive organization of social control that helps maintain divisions and inequalities within society. Furthermore, only people organizing against police abuse and violence directly on their streets and in their communities, will bring change. Attempts to "hold the police accountable" through the legal system, a system which depends on the institutional violence that the police represent, have always failed us.
Second, we must show solidarity with each other and to those that have been affected by police violence. We must show up to court dates when we can, provide child-care for those that need time off to speak to lawyers, raise money for legal services (or give them for free), and come to protests, marches, and rallies. If those that we know that are standing up to the police are facing repression or harassment from the police, organize a watch vigil at their home to give them piece of mind. Organize a protest outside of the local station to let them know that you've had enough. The more people that stand up to the police, the easier it is for all of us to resist.
Third, we must organize. We have to generalize confrontation with the police and resistance to them, especially within the areas in which they are the most active. When police stop people on the street or in their cars, bring out your cell phone or video camera and begin recording. Do not allow the police to interact with people without at least watching the situation. This needs to happen in groups if possible. When large amounts of people begin to stop passively allowing police to enter their communities and interact with individuals, it will decrease instances of abuse and murder. We must also create a culture in which we do not talk to the police or use them in order to settle disputes. In order to do this, it means that we have to have each other's backs as well as find ways in which problems are resolved without calling the black and whites. This remains especially true for people with mental illness or those that are emotionally unstable. Let us take great care of each other, so we can be more dangerous together.
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I find it amazing and I give MA a lot of credit for keeping up the struggle in Modesto and the Central Valley that the names of the officers were even released.
ReplyDeleteI have struggled to get data about trigger-happy officers and deputies in our area (the Inland Empire) to no avail--they always say something about the privacy of personnel records and the Police Officers' Bill of Rights.
We couldn't even get the name of the sheriff's deputy who shot a Brown Beret in the back a few years ago, despite public protests.
But on the other hand, when the people organize and resist, like we did for Rodney King and Oscar Grant, we are able to get information and much much more (although never anything close to justice).
In LA during the 92 rebellion and in Oakland after the OG murder, people's rage was expressed in many ways, some of them violent. This scares the shit out of the system (not so much the acts of violence themselves so much as the danger that we will realize our power as an organized mass and exercise it in that and other ways) and forces it to respond with even greater violence with its conservative iron hand, and with elaborate show trials for the murderous pigs, administered by the system's kid-gloved left hand. All with the intent of silencing and placating the genuine resistance the uprisings represented.
So props to the people of Modesto for keeping the pressure on and keeping the system running scared--they should be scared of us and our potential.
as the direct result of my neighbor attempting to make a complaint against several mpd's for illegal search, instead of contacting internal affairs she contacted supervisors within a month the police knocked at her door and as she opened it they opened fire. they say because of her pitbull who just happened to be with her behind the locked security door. There is no mention of this incident anywhere that we are able to search however it did happen and needs to be dealt with.
ReplyDeleteI would encourage you to email the site at: mac@modestoanarcho.org
ReplyDeleteThe three CHP officers did what had to be done. As a retired High School Football Head Coach I coached one of the officers and know his 'heart' and love of family and all people. Don't be so quick to judge the protection of law enforcement folks. Their intent is to protect society; this was unfortunate but the public does not know the facts.
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree with the above poster. Just because you coached one of the officers before they became a cop you think they aren't capable of doing something like killing someone?
ReplyDeleteIt isn't the individual cops that are a problem, it's the inhumane system of control and repression that creates these situations.
So be so quick to assume that just because you know a cop they aren't capable of inhumane acts of repression, because that's what they do everyday.