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Los Angeles sheriff deputies frequently harass the families of people they have killed, including taunting them at vigils, parking outside their homes, and following them and pulling them over for no reason, according to a new report: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/04/los-angeles-sheriffs-harass-families-of-victims-report
The families of Paul Rea, 18-year-old killed during a traffic stop, and Anthony Vargas, 21-year-old shot 13 times, describe constant harassment by LASD deputies when gathering to grieve and honor their loved ones -- mocking, taunting, threats, stops + searches, arrests + more:
LASD has driven by the Paul Rea memorial and filmed his 14-year-old sister, according to the report. At one point LASD responded with helicopters and patrol cars when seven family members, including Paul's grandma, were visiting the memorial to drop off a cross:
LASD also arrested his sister Jaylene at the memorial + took her to jail for the night. They cited her for "obstruction of justice" after officers were arresting a friend who handed Jaylene an extinguished blunt. Jaylene had given her first protest speech earlier that day.
LASD pulled over Paul's mother Leah + her daughter Janae (15 yo) for alleged seatbelt violation, making them sit in back of a patrol car for 45 mins. Leah said she told deputies, “Please don’t kill my daughter.” Leah was cited for expired tags. Jaylene was later pulled over too
The same deputy has shown up twice on the family gatherings for anniversary of Anthony Vargas's death, both times threatening to issue parking tickets despite them not illegally parking, the report says. Anthony's mom said she was followed home by LASD after one memorial visit.
“It’s like they have nothing to do but harass families,” Charles Twyman, Ryan Twyman's father, told me. “You never know when they're going to act out. Everyday in the news we see somebody is getting pulled over and harassed and shot, and we never know when that is going to be us"
I personally witnessed three LASD cars slowly drive by a small family vigil + gathering for Paul Rea last year. The deputies briefly stopped by, leading to a lot of anger + fear among the friends + family gathering. Photographer @DamonCasarez who was with me that day captured it:
Stephanie Luna, Anthony's aunt, said she would continue protesting: “We’re not going away. We’re not going to be intimidated. We’re not going to be silent.”
full report here: https://www.aclusocal.org/sites/default/files/final_lasd_family_harassment_report.pdf
LASD declined to comment.
LASD declined to comment.
thread from @andreskwon at the @ACLU_SoCal who has been advocating for these families for years and directly witnessed some of these encounters https://twitter.com/andreskwon/status/1389716653169020929
