SUNDAY | Equal Rights and Justice Peaceful Rally and March at Garfield Park

Sunday, August 9, 5:00 p.m. at Garfield Park, South Pasadena

FILE PHOTO: Eric Fabbro | Black Lives Matter demonstration and vigil for Tamir Rice on the day of what would have been his 18th birthday, in Garfield Park

PRESS RELEASE

South Pasadena Black Lives Matter protesters will be holding a rally and peaceful protest march in support of Black Lives Matter and transforming police agencies to better serve and protect all communities.

Fahren James, who was beaten by batons and shot with rubber bullets by LAPD while peacefully protesting in Los Angeles, will be speaking along with her Attorney, V. James DeSimone, and other community activists.

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Despite being brutalized by the LAPD, Fahren and other brother, London Lang, engaged in an ongoing peaceful assembly on the corner of Mission and Fair Oaks in South Pasadena by holding and placing of signs in support of black lives matter and in opposition to police brutality.

There was widespread community support as most Americans agree that the tragic and unnecessary killing of black men like George Floyd must stop for us to attain our goal of equal rights and justice. However, that safe right to protest was infringed upon by Joe Richcreek, who spit in the face of protesters, threw a rock at Fahren James and threatened other protestors.

The rally and march is also to bring awareness surrounding the mishandling of SPPD’s arrest of Joe Richcreek, who committed a racially motivated assault against two protestors in South Pasadena on July 10. We will be looking at ways SPPD can address inaccuracies in the police report, how Officer Wise handled the arrest, and why SPPD maintains a police culture that needs to be examined.

During the arrest of Joe Richcreek, Officer Wise repeatedly blamed the victim, Fahren Jones, and her brother London Lang, for the attack, as has been documented in the press. Officer Wise also grossly mischaracterized the demonstration as “Cop Hating” and an “Anti Police” movement. While the city council voted on a resolution confirming a commitment to diversity and civil rights, there has yet to be an official response to the lack of urgency in assuring safety from Richcreek, who has further threatened protestors since the assault. In response, we are asking for increased oversight and accountability for SPPD.

We will also be rallying to pressure city officials to adopt an amendment to the charter for the South Pasadena Public Safety Commission to increase that civilian appointed body’s role of oversight of the police and to provide critical data to show whether racial profiling is a problem here. It is up to our council members to create more oversight and this decision is an easy one to achieve a first step in this direction. For more information on this, click here to read an Op Ed from South Pasadena Youth for Police Reform.

We encourage all to attend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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