10 year anniversary of the death of David Viera. 

Be ready to take the streets! 

Five Points Plaza 

July 20th, 2014,  2pm

11980 Valley Blvd.

Jail Killer Cops!

Another police killing sparks protest


By Adrian Garcia


El Monte, Calif.


In a summer that has witnessed police shootings of unarmed Brown men and beatings of subdued Black men caught on videotape, a militant march of several hundred demonstrators made its way through the working-class neighborhood of El Monte, Calif., on Aug. 28 2004. The protesters demanded an immediate end to police brutality in their community and throughout the world.


The demonstration was prompted by the July 20 death of David Viera at the hands of El Monte police. Viera, a young Chicano father of three, was shot to death after police stopped the car he was riding in. Police said Viera and the driver, Raul Moreno, were suspects in a "gang shooting."


Police claim that Viera failed to obey orders to vacate the vehicle and attempted to retrieve something from beneath the passenger seat--possibly a weapon. The police riddled the car with bullets, mortally wounding Viera.


No weapon was recovered. Viera and Moreno were exonerated as suspects in the earlier shooting.


Among the Aug. 28 demonstrators were many family members of people victimized by police brutality.


Norma Martinez spoke about her two-year struggle to bring the Downey, Calif., police to justice for the killing of her son, Gonzalo Martinez, in February 2002. Gon zalo Martinez was shot 34 times with an automatic machine gun after a minor police chase. When he exited the vehicle, police supposedly confused a cigarette he was holding for a weapon. The incident was videotaped and sparked international outrage.


The Friends of David Viera Committee, family members and the Brown Berets organized the march and rally that concluded in Arceo Park in El Monte.


A strong contingent from the Inter national Action Center also took part in the spirited demonstration, prominently displaying placards that read "!Justicia para David! Justice for David!" and a banner reading "Stop police brutality!"


http://www.workers.org/ww/2004/killingla0909.php

To give a bit of the context of the situation that led to the murder of David Viera, we would like to recognize the life of Bryesha Limbrick, a victim of a senseless act of violence:





EL MONTE – Authorities were seeking two people Monday for the fatal shooting of of a 7-year-old girl and the wounding of an 8-year-old girl and her father outside a convenience store.

Bryesha Limbrick, known to her family as Chily, had just stepped outside a 7-Eleven store Sunday evening and was eating an ice-cream cone when she was struck by gunfire, her mother Anna Pulido told KCAL-TV. "She was just coming outta the store eating her ice-cream – and she got shot" Pulido said, breaking into sobs. The bullets also pierced the car of Phu Ho, wounding him and his daughter Ashley, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Tania Plunkett said. All three victims were taken to a hospital, where Bryesha was pronounced dead. Phu Ho and Ashley Ho were treated and released, Plunkett said.

Authorities were seeking two men in their 20s who had apparently been seen in front of the store shortly before the shooting and fled in a black compact vehicle, Plunkett said. Bryesha's uncle, Gustavo Ramirez, described the attack as family and friends gathered to mourn the little girl with bouncy braids and a wide smile. Ramirez said he went to the store with his niece and a friend to buy candy and something to drink. "I turned back and the guy takes out his rifle and he shoots about 10 rounds," he told KABC-TV. "The first round hit my niece and took her down. You could tell she was dead on the spot."

Ramirez said he knew of no reason for the attack but that his friend may have exchanged words with the shooters.

The shooting shocked residents of El Monte and pushed authorities to launch a manhunt. Authorities held a community meeting Thursday asking for the public's help in finding Bryesha's killer.

ASSOCIATED PRESS 4:43 p.m. July 19, 2004

Life in all its forms should be respected and cherished. The cowardly act of violence that caused the death of Bryesha led to the conviction of Eric Andrew Odell. However, the manhunt led to the wrongful killing of David Viera. There is more to the story than what is told in the newspapers.


In Memory of David Viera on May 20, 2009 at 6:13 pm said:


El Monte Police have been harassing El Monte Residents as far back as I can remember. I first moved to El Monte in 1973, moved out for 7 years and then moved back. I am the sister in law of David Viera. El Monte Police shot him in the back seven times in July 2004. The papers and news made him out to be a gang member when he was not. They made him out to be a violent man and he was not. He was coping in the death of his father and turned to drugs. That was his only crime. EMPD would harass his family including my husband. This happened over many years. One officer told David and one of his other brothers that the Viera men would either end up dead or in prison. Out of eight boys, only one has been incarcerated and one is now deceased. I believe that EMPD covered up the shooting. The outcome was “Justifiable Homicide”. It was never reviewed on why he was opened fire like a shooting range.
http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvcrime/2009/05/18/tuesdays-column-memories-of-el/

For this reason, we call the people to take to the streets!

More info to come…

Smash Patriarchy

What is patriarchy?

Patriarchy is an ideology that has existed for many years throughout history. It manifests itself in different ways dependent on the economic system. Capitalism is an economic system where monetary gains and machinery production belongs to a small group. Many people work for this group and can only survive by selling their labor power. The general ideology of patriarchy is about power and control; it benefits the masculine gender, giving less equality to women. In the capitalist system the patriarchal ideology is expressed by the following ways:
The gender-female / female is related as an object.
-The domestic labor is exploited because no work is created in the system.
The patriarchal state commits femicide, eraticating women to maintain order with the ideology and to stop the overcoming of women.
-Sexism
-At the same time, men are damaged by the system through a dominant hierarchy. Institutions like the police, the military, and the government criminalize men of color and working class.

The current context of multiple crises has shown that today more than ever, the terrible sexual and racial economic inequality, gender, interact and interrelate, giving rise to new patterns of structural impoverishment affecting women worldwide ( Intersecting oppressions, Central America Women's Network)

Decolonize El Monte

Week of the Summer Solstice

June 15, 2012

Noon-5p

Zamora Park 

3800 Penn Mar Ave.

music, poetry, workshops and street theater

In celebration of our Grandfathers and Padres, you are invited to a family orientated event to help raise consciousness and build community.  Our collective would like to recognize the hermanos locked up and who cannot be with their families due to the criminalization of men of color. Understanding that many homes are ran by single parents, we also want to celebrate all our mothers and sisters as well. In bringing a critical perspective to this day, we are working to smash patriarchy in all its forms through art, education and direct action. The institutional violence perpetuated in our neighborhoods traces back to the violence of the state and the prison industrial complex. This day of resistance and celebration will be filled with fun and informative activities including music, poetry, workshops and street theater. The solstice signifies the change in seasons and a new arising filled with the fire fueling our quest for justice, dignity and equality. 

More details to come...

Commemorating the life of Khoa Anh Le

killed June 14, 2012 by EMPD

When the yelling match between Diane Le's schizophrenic brother and their father escalated into shoving, Le did what families of the mentally disabled are repeatedly advised to do. She called the police. At about 11 p.m. on June 14, two El Monte police officers responded to a family disturbance call in the 2700 block of Caminar Avenue in El Monte.

Hours later, Khoa Anh Le was dead. Investigators said the 37-year-old had been beaten, choked and tazed by the El Monte police officers whom the family had called for help. "If I could go back in time, I wouldn't call for help," Diane Le said. "Because of my call, my brother is now gone”. It was reported that Khoa was handcuffed on the floor apologizing and pleading with officers as they continued to beat him, using a Carotid Restraint, also known as a blood choke or sleeper hold, on him. Paramedics were called to the scene and Le was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/khoa-anh-le-kelly-thomas-beating-el-monte-schizophrenia-police-159668315.html

Smashing Patriarchy
El Monte police officer accused in federal lawsuit of raping transsexual woman while on-duty

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Brian Day

A transsexual woman has filed a federal civil rights claim alleging she was raped by an on-duty El Monte police officer last year.
The complaint, filed Oct. 18, seeks unspecified damages and lists the City of El Monte and an unnamed police officer as defendants. It also named up to eight additional unidentified defendants.
Court documents indicate the alleged attack took place between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Oct. 23, 2012, as the victim was walking at the northeast corner of Central and Garvey avenues.
The uniformed officer is accused of pulling up alongside the transsexual woman and ordering her to lean into the driver-side window of his marked patrol car. Fearing for her safety if she refused, the victim complied, according to the complaint.
“El Monte Police Officer John Doe groped her breasts,” the complaint alleged. “He then asked plaintiff if she was a ‘nasty she-male.’ Plaintiff responded that she was transsexual.”
The complaint goes on to allege that the officer ordered the victim into a nearby alley, then ordered her to follow him to a deserted and poorly lit loading dock area in the 10000 block of Garvey Avenue.
Once there, “El Monte Police Officer John Doe got out of his car and ordered plaintiff to perform oral sex on him.” according to the complaint.
“After a few minutes, El Monte Police Officer John Doe told plaintiff to stand up and bend over the trunk of the police car,” the complaint stated. The officer allegedly told the victim in course language that he was going to rape her.
The officer called the victim by a pejorative name and told her, “you like this, don’t you,” as the assault continued, court documents claim.
Once the assault was over, the officer allegedly told the woman to “get out of here,” before leaving the area himself in his patrol car.
After walking away from the area, the woman returned to the scene and collected a condom discarded by the officer during the alleged attack, according to the complaint. 

http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvcrime/2013/10/24/el-monte-police-officer-accused-in-federa-lawsuit-of-raping-transsexual-woman-while-on-duty/




Throughout our program we will have interactive workshops on gardening and the importance of composting. The City of El Monte is promoting an Urban Agriculture program to convert empty lots into edible gardens. We are taking the initiative by reaching out to our neighbors in order to learn and share our collective knowledge and build a strong healthy community.