Justice for Everardo Torres
By Mike Rhodes
August 9, 2005

On the night of October 27, 2002, Everardo Torres was arrested, handcuffed, and put into the back of a Madera police car. A short time later, police officer Marcy Noriega came over to the car that Torres was in, pulled her service revolver and shot him to death. Noriega says it was all a big mistake, she thought she was using her Taser gun. Torres’s family says Everardo was murdered by the police and they want justice.

Today, a march and rally was held in Madera to demand justice in the Everardo Torres case. The case was going to be heard in Federal Court in Fresno today, but the judge threw the case out of court , claiming that Everardo's killing was accidental, therefore a non-issue. Many of the participants at today’s march and rally held pictures of Everardo. One young woman carried a sign that said "Who’s Next?"

Everardo’s parents led the march to the Madera police station. As the march participants arrived in front of the police station, which is next to City Hall, both buildings were locked down and barricades were put up to prevent cars from driving into the parking lot. When asked about the lockdown, during normal business hours, a spokesperson said "no comment."

At the rally, the Rev. Floyd Harris said he was there in solidarity with the family and in memory of the tragic death of their son. Harris is the director or the National Action Network < http://nancal.org >, which is affiliated with the Rev Al Sharpton in New York. Rev. Harris said he talked to Rev Sharpton this morning and that "we will be filing with the department of justice in Washington DC to start an investigation of the police department here."

Mesha Monge-Irizarry, a Grass Root Organizer from the Idriss Stelley Foundation < http://justice4idriss.com/ > in San Francisco addressed the group in Spanish She said that her group in San Francisco and the people at this march and rally are both a part of the same struggle for justice. She ended by leading the group in a chant of "end the war on black and brown."

During the presentation a provocateur interrupted the presentations. As the provocateur yelled at participants and at the speakers, a crowd gathered. Wearing a "Promise Keeper" shirt the bi-lingual and extremely aggressive guy was eventually removed from the event by Madera Police officers.

Sargent first class Jose Luis Castellanos said he drove all the way from camp Roberts to be at the rally, because he is a member of the Mexican American Political Association. He said "I’m wearing this uniform because after 26 years in the military, I got called back to active duty. You know why? Because all of those so called conservatives, when it came time for them to stand up and step up to the plate, they cut and ran." Castellanos criticized the military’s heavy recruiting in community’s of color and the lack of justice Latino’s and African-Americans experience. He demanded that the Madera police officer responsible for killing Everardo Torres be brought to justice and he encouraged the crowd to live and struggle in the spirit of Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King.

There are several places to go for more information about this case. A new web site has been established to organize support actions. The address is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Everardo_Lalo/

In addition, Madera On-Line has background information and some photos from the night of the incident. That information can be found at:

http://www.maderaonline.com/news/news-9e.html

Also, there will be a workshop later this month to help end police abuse in this area. Here are the details for that meeting:

Copwatch - Help stop the cops from being the judge, jury, and executioners!

Do you want to:

* Stop Police Abuse?
* Help Prevent Police Violence Against Our Children, Brothers, Sisters, and Elderly People?

Do you want to learn to:

* Become A Lawful Witness
* Document Police Brutality and Abuse
* Know Your Rights When Doing This
* Help Victims of Police Abuse

Come to the Fresno Copwatch Meeting which will be held at the Hinton Center, 2385 S Fairview (located at Fairview and Church Ave in West Fresno).

For More Information call or email:

NAN (The National Action Network, California Chapter ) Rev. Floyd Harris, Jr. (559) 288-0828 email: xyfloyd@aol.com
San Joaquin Coalition for Immigrant Rights Gloria Hernandez (559) 489-6033 email: iwapgh@aol.com
Mai Vue (559) 227-4571 sunrisevue@earthlink

###