On Sept. 13, over a dozen community members and activists with the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) picketed the home of a Santa Ana police officer who murdered an unarmed, innocent man named Jason Bitz on Oct. 31, 2011. The protest was the start of a movement to expose the identity of the killer cop who has remained unnamed for the past 11 months due to a cover-up carried out by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
The official story provided to media and played out by the LASD is that the cop found Jason breaking into a car, tried to stop him, chased him and then shot him when Jason somehow got into the driver’s seat of the cop’s car several blocks away. The off-duty Santa Ana police officer did all of this while still wearing his pajamas. The media quickly learned that Bitzwas actually trying to replace the tire on a car he had borrowed from a friend.
An ongoing independent investigation has further revealed that the cop knew Bitz personally and held a grudge against him for having a relationsshipwith a woman who was a mutual acquaintance. Bitz’s friend who dropped him off in the neighborhood reported witnessing the cop come out of his home with his gun drawn, threatening Bitz. Another witness has also come forward stating that the off-duty Santa Ana cop was seen pulling Bitz’s limp body up into a seated position in the driver’s side of his own car.
The LASD listed the killer cop as a “victim” of a crime and used that classification to block any justice by claiming that the shooter’s identity cannot be released.
At the protest, statements were delivered to the community directly in front of the officer’s home from Sandra Bitz, Jason’s mother, and the family’s attorney, Roland Salameh. Sandra said: “The police and the media have tried to make my son out to be a monster, a criminal. He wasn’t. He was a sweet boy and his only crime was trying to fix his friend’s car in a neighborhood where he wasn’t welcome.”
Salameh, speaking about the roadblocks presented by authorities, said: “They have already informed me that they have no one left to talk to. The investigation is basically finished. But they still refuse to release the identity of the officer who killed Jason, and that killer cop is patrolling the streets to this very day, endangering the lives of others. We demand an end to the cover-up and justice for Jason.”
Protesters chanted militantly while picketing the cop’s home, drawing dozens of neighborhood families out of their homes to learn the truth about the case and show their support for the Bitz family. The ANSWER Coalition and the Bitz family will continue to organize to demand justice for Jason Bitz and jail for the still unnamed killer cop.
