Occupy Oakland Joins Anti-Police Brutality Protest in Stockton, CA
Hundreds of protesters including members of the Stockton community & Occupy Oaklanders gathered yesterday in protest of the July, 2010 police involved shooting death of 17 year old James Rivera as well as the more recent killing of 32 year old Luther Brown Jr. Both victims were unarmed black men.
Police claim they fired on Rivera in self defense after colliding with him during a brief pursuit. After Rivera crashed into a home garage, he was shot at multiple times by two police officers and one sheriff when his SUV began to roll back down the driveway. Police say, in attempt to justify the execution, that the unarmed teen was a suspect in a recent carjacking as well as an escapee from San Joaquin County Juvenile Hall.
A Stockton police officer says he was forced to shoot Luther Brown Jr. after a traffic stop turned into a foot chase last Friday afternoon. Brown was pulled over near Burlington Place and Brantly Way due to missing plates. After the pursuing officers forced Brown the ground, police claim that the suspect fought back and was able to take an officers baton and assault him with it, prompting the other officer to shoot and kill Brown rather than use a less-lethal tactic.
No officers in either case have faced charges in connection with the killings.
Occupy Oakland, known for it’s radical stance against police brutality and oppression, was able to send two buses packed with supportive bodies to the Stockton demonstration & march.
The protesters marched to the courthouse, then to the police station in mass before the police declared the assembly to be “unlawful” at around 3:15pm. Police, who were protected in crowd control tactical gear, used force and military style formations to clear the streets of dissenters, arresting at least one person.
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