Protestors Demand Justice After Denver Police Fatally Shoot Queer Latina Teen

[niyad]

Protestors Demand Justice After Denver Police Fatally Shoot Queer Latina Teen


On Monday morning, a 16-year-old lesbian Latina named Jessie Hernandez was shot and killed by Denver police. Now, her friends and family are uniting with communities of color and LGBT activists to demand justice.



Denver police responded to a call around 6:30 AM that reported a “suspicious” vehicle parked in an alley. According to Police Chief Robert White, the first officer to arrive was Gabriel Jordan, who ran the license plate and realized the car was reported stolen. Hernandez was in the car with four other teenagers. White said when officers Jordan and Daniel Greene got out of their cars, Hernandez struck Jordan’s leg with the stolen vehicle – this, according to White, led the officers to shoot at Hernandez.

Witnesses, however, don’t fully agree about what happened. One of the teenagers in the car says Hernandez was shot first then lost control of the car, which is what led to her driving it at the office and breaking his leg. The witness said, “When the cops walked up, they were on [Jessica’s] side of the car, and they shot the window and they shot her. That’s when she wrecked, and that’s when the cop got hit.”

White said the two officers asked the teenagers several times to get out of the vehicle. When they refused and the car began going toward the officer, he “feared for his safety” and shot at Hernandez. Denver Police Department policy says officers can shoot at a moving car if they feel the car or suspect poses a threat of injury to civilians or officers and if they have “no reasonable alternative course of action.”

A neighbor caught the incident on a cell phone camera, which shows EMT arrived after officers searched the lifeless and face-down body of Hernandez. The autopsy shows Hernandez was shot multiple times and her death was ruled a homicide.

. . . .

http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/01/30/denver-police-shoots-and-kills-17-year-old-queer-latina-girl-sparking-protests/

[annabanana]

1. unutterably sad,

and so unnecessary

[niyad]

2. exactly

[sheshe2]

3. I am so sick of them saying I "feared for my safety!"

Jessie Hernandez, RIP.

[niyad]

4. yes, these big, heavily armed people are afraid for their safety from the unarmed.

[Spirochete]

5. My eyes must be getting worse;

at first I thought the headline read that the police had shot Queen Latifah.

There's at least one of these stories every day now. Was there some universal memo sent out to all police saying to shoot anyone they could?

[Trillo]

6. Another life executed without a day in court for conviction.

You used to be able to make mistakes when you were a kid. The new penalty for joyriding? Summary execution.

Sounds kinda like Sharia law. Where are the folks who are always outraged about that? They should be here any moment....

[niyad]

7. I trust that you are not holding your breath waiting for them.

[niyad]

8. . . .