A
protest rally against police brutality in western US city of Long Beach has
been waged after parents of a young suspect shot by police were barred from
visiting their critically wounded son.
A
group of community activists in the California city staged the rally outside
St. Mary’s Medical Center on Sunday to protest police brutality by Long Beach
Police Department (LBPD) for refusing to allow the parents of the 22-year-old
Cambodian suspect, Sokha Hor, to visit their son, who was shot and critically
injured by LBPD officers on January 7.
Although
the activists declared victory when the police department finally allowed the
Cambodian-born parents of the seriously injured man to visit their son, they
expressed extreme anger at the brutal manner in which the police denied
visitation rights to Hor’s parents for nearly two weeks.
According
to Hor’s mother, Yorn Eng, Long Beach police officers gave her contradictory
information regarding her son’s condition and one cop told her “We’ll contact
you if he dies,” when she demanded to visit her reportedly dying son.
The
harsh police response, according to local news reports, prompted groups such as
the Long Beach Campaign to Stop Police Violence and anti-war, pro-social
justice ANSWER LA to launch an Internet campaign via email and social
networking sites as well as the protest rally on Sunday to press police
authorities to allow the Cambodian native’s parents to visit him.
The
incident represents the latest in a string of cases of excessive force by LBPD
officers, who were involved in seven shootings last year, four of which were
fatal.