A group of community members in the California city staged
the rally outside the Anaheim police department to protest at police brutality
and excessive force, calling on federal investigators to examine the recurring
fatal police shootings.
“A lot of these people don’t have family members or friends
that were killed but it’s just an outraged community,” said Louise Sanchez,
with the Anaheim Crusaders, adding that the “police department will see more
[protests] if something doesn’t get done.”
Activists criticized the district attorney’s office for
failing to cite a single officer with wrongful homicide in connection with
shootings that occurred while on duty.
“They call it ‘justified homicide’. There was no
investigation. They kicked around the crime scene. They let him go,” said Corie
Cline whose brother was killed by Anaheim police five years ago.
“It’s gotten worse. It wasn’t like this, years ago. There is
a lot of racial profiling going on. You look a certain way and you get treated
different. You get pulled over, you get harassed,” said Sanchez.
Protesters went on to demand an investigation into the
police department’s long history of violence, with five fatal shootings
occurring just in the past 12 months.
“They will reopen [all cases] and they will see that all the
evidence has been mixed around. I want justice. We want transparency and most
of all we need to keep it peaceful,” said Cline, adding that the yearlong
protests will continue until “our voices get heard.”