Andres Guardado Shot in the Back by LA Deputy, Family Demands Justice
There are so many questions surrounding the death of 18-year-old Andres Guardado
Photo via Instagram/@justice_for_andres
There are so many questions surrounding the death of 18-year-old Andres Guardado. We know that Los Angeles deputies shot and killed him around 6 p.m. on June 18. We know what the authorities have said: that Andres had a gun on him, that he attempted to flee, and we know he was shot in the back. But how can we believe police?
We don’t know why they shot him, what led up to the shooting, and how deputies actually conducted themselves. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said they are still investigating the shooting, and it’s unclear if there’s any video footage of what happened that evening.
https://twitter.com/itspete213/status/1274202971299934209
Yesterday protesters and family and friends of Andres demanded justice. They descended to the auto shop where Andres worked as a security guard in Gardena, and the last place he was before he was killed. The march also led to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Headquarters, where the demonstration became tense. Some protesters were arrested, and police fired tear gas.
5 hours after protest for #AndresGuardado started. There are about 50 @LASDHQ deputies. They appear to now outnumber protesters. pic.twitter.com/6Ox0qcqbpT
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) June 22, 2020
Andres’ dad spoke at the march, saying, “As a parent, you feel so much pain,” he said, according to the Los Angeles Times. You don’t want your kids, so young and with their whole lives ahead of them, to have their life unfairly destroyed.”
Andres death comes weeks after another young Latino was killed in California. Eric Salgado, a 23-year-old, was killed by California Highway Patrol officers while his pregnant girlfriend was in the car. That investigation is also underway.
According to KFI radio, the family members of Ryan Twyman, Daniel Hernandez, and Eric Rivera were also in attendance at the protest. Police were also responsible for killing those men.
On April 21, 27-year-old Nicolas Chavez was also killed by police in Houston. His family is also demanding answers.
Mother of Eric Rivera, another person killed by cops in LA, spoke too. She says the cops saw her son walking, jumped out of the car with their guns already out, and started shooting within less than one second pic.twitter.com/1Jv98kpn17
— Elon's Dad (Official) (@hungryghosts161) June 22, 2020
“They just mowed him down like a dog,” Joaquín Chavez, Nicolas’ dad said two months after his son was killed. “That’s what they did, and that’s the part I don’t understand. He was on his knees, already wounded. He wasn’t a threat to anybody at that point.”
These recent deaths of Latino men bring to light the plight that is inflicted on Black and Brown men by police. What is most troubling about some of these current killings is that without video footage of the incidents, justice for the victims and their families is less likely to happen. It also highlights the need for Latinos to align themselves with the Black Lives Matter movement and for our communities to work together to address the atrocities committed against Black and Brown communities by the police.
“He was a baby, he was a baby,” Andres Guardado’s cousin, Celina Abarca, told CNN yesterday. “I don’t know — it’s still not real. I close my eyes, and I hope and I pray that it’s not really happening.”
A GoFundme has been set up for Andres Guardado here.
