Protesters demand criminal charges against school security officer who shot 18-year-old • Long Beach Post News
âThere is no justice right now, and there is no peace because⦠the school security guard has not been arrested,â said Valerie Garcia, a friend of the family of Mona’s boyfriend who said she helped raise Mona.
Mona, who was due to be removed from the resuscitation system this weekend, is survived by a 5-month-old son. Sunday’s rally was held on behalf of the family of 20-year-old Rafeul Chowdhury, Mona’s boyfriend and the baby’s father. Mona’s family had previously said they would not participate in the protest, but they also demanded that the officer be prosecuted.
Mona Rodriguez. Courtesy his family.
Police said the school security guard shot Mona on Monday after he broke up a fight she started with a 15-year-old girl. Chowdhury and his 16-year-old brother were also allegedly involved in the brawl, police said. The officer, who was identified by the Long Beach Unified School District as Eddie F. Gonzalez, shot them as they tried to escape in a gray sedan. Video posted on social networks shows him approaching the car before it passes him.
Mona’s head injury left her brain dead and her family kept her on life support to donate her organs.
âI feel like she died then,â Garcia said of the time she was shot.
Anthony Bryson, an activist from Long Beach, said Sunday’s rally was used to pressure law enforcement and prosecutors to arrest and severely indict Gonzalez.
âWhat kind of community do we create if we kill our children,â Bryson said.
This Sunday afternoon, a few dozen people, including media, lawyers and locals gathered outside the LBPD headquarters in downtown Long Beach to demand that the school security guard be prosecuted. who shot 18-year-old Mona Rodriguez after fighting with a high school student. pic.twitter.com/o5E7xwulF4
– Crystal Niebla (@crystalniebla) October 3, 2021
School security officers work for the Long Beach Unified School District, which has a policy of not shooting at moving vehicles or at fleeing suspects.
Speakers on Sunday also shared stories of other people killed by police officers. While many rally fans agreed that Mona fighting a 15-year-old girl was a mistake, they don’t think she should have been shot for it.
“This is an injustice that should bother everyone,” Cal State Los Angeles professor Alejandro Villalpando said in Spanish.
Family asks Attorney General to prosecute school security officer who shot 18-year-old