On
June 20, the Long Beach Campaign to Stop Police Violence, a project
of the ANSWER Coalition, along with recent victims of police violence
John Cabrera and Elizabeth Bustamante, gathered with concerned
community members for a press conference and rally in front of the
Long Beach Police Department headquarters to demand that all criminal
charges against Cabrera be dropped and to announce a lawsuit against
the LBPD.
On
May 14, Cabrera and Bustamante became the
latest victims of police violence in Long Beach. Cabrera was met with
an LBPD officer’s gun leveled at his head when he opened his door
after a neighbor called anonymously to report a domestic disturbance.
He shut the door, fearing for his life, and moved to the back of the
apartment just before police fired more than two dozen shots into the
apartment from the street outside, hitting him four times. Bustamante
was detained outside in her underwear for hours before being moved to
a nearby police station, where she was held and interrogated until
the next morning.
Cabrera
is currently being charged with a felony for allegedly
resisting arrest, but the officers who
came to his door with guns drawn had no warrant and at no time
announced that he was to be placed under arrest.
The
press conference received widespread coverage throughout southern
California, including ABC, CBS, Azteca,
Univision, Telemundo, NPR, KPFK, the Los Angeles Times, the Long
Beach Press-Telegram and the Long Beach Gazette. The organizers of
the Long Beach Campaign to Stop Police Violence, along with Cabrera
and Bustamante, vowed to continue the struggle until justice is
served.
