Andres Perez, Eyewitness- Anaheim Police Actions Just Wrong

On July 21, police shot and killed 25-year old Manuel Diaz in Anaheim, CA. The killing sparked days of protests and received widespread media attention.

Diaz was unarmed and was the eighth Anaheim Police shooting in a year.  Only one is still alive to tell the story of being shot twice in the back. Most of those shot have been Latino.

Media stories about the police attack sometimes included references to "an unruly crowd", "throwing rocks and bottles."
Andres Perez was there. He saw it and has video, and he says the tale about throwing things at the cops is "a big lie". Here is a link to a video he made right afterward (parental advisory re language).

In this 30-minute interview, Mr. Perez describes what happened in Anaheim shortly after police shot and killed Manuel Diaz, in broad daylight, on the front lawn of an apartment house.
As Manuel Diaz bled out on the lawn, the neighbors on Ana Drive did what anyone would do under the circumstances: they gathered and demanded to know what had happened.
They in turn received a dose of Anaheim PD firepower: rubber bullets, pepper spray, bean bag projectiles, and even an attack dog -  all of it unleashed upon an assemblage that included children and infants.

Most media accounts have left out the disturbing connection that more unarmed civilians are killed by police in the U.S. every year.

This interview first aired on bilingual KBBF-FM 89.1, Calistoga-Santa Rosa, CA. The interview is bilingual, English-Spanish, and the Spanish version will soon be added to this podcast. Please support public community radio.