Police brutality targeted - Alleged victims rally outside the Fresno Police Department.

By Tim Eberly / The Fresno Bee

(Updated Sunday, October 23, 2005, 7:23 AM)

Joe Estrada's eyes were black and blue.

He looked like he had gone 10 rounds in a boxing ring — and lost.

But Estrada, 50, isn't a boxer.

He claims he got the injuries during a May 11 encounter with Fresno police officers at his home in southeast Fresno.

Estrada had several photos of his battered face on a large poster Saturday afternoon. He and about 40 other people gathered in downtown Fresno for the 10th annual National Day Against Police Brutality.

"It's a time for people that have something in common to come together," said the Rev. Floyd Harris Jr., one of the event organizers.

The gathering came just days after Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer announced three officers were placed on administrative leave amid allegations they had used excessive force against 25-year-old Rolando Celdon during an Oct. 10 arrest.

"There's been a lot of talk about that incident," Harris said. "We've always known that it's been going on."

Holding lit candles, the group stood in a circle on a grass lawn across the street from the Fresno Police Department, with the Fresno County Jail as a backdrop.

Civil rights activist Gloria Hernandez, who organized the event with Harris, passed around a megaphone for people to tell their stories — most of which involved allegations of police brutality.

Later, they marched around the block, past the Police Department and the jail, yelling chants like, "We won't back down!"
People gather in a circle at Eaton Plaza in Fresno on Saturday for the 10th annual National Day Against Police Brutality.

Estrada said his brush with police came after his 26-year-old daughter called 911 during an argument. He had told his daughter not to close her bedroom door when she and her boyfriend were in there, he said. She called police after he wagged a screwdriver in her face, saying he would take the hinges off the door if she didn't leave it open.

That's when several Fresno police officers came over — one of whom got physical with Estrada while the others watched, he claims.

"He rushed me. He knocked me down," Estrada said. "He socked me in my face — over and over."

Saturday night, Fresno police Lt. Herman Silva said he did not have any details about the incident and could not retrieve the police report.

Unlike Estrada, Everardo Torres actually was a boxer — until his death by a Madera police officer in October 2002. He was shot while handcuffed in the back seat of a police cruiser by an officer who said she mistakenly used her handgun instead of her stun gun.

Torres' father, 55-year-old Melchor Torres, attended the protest with several family members.

"One sees the injustices that the police commit," Torres said through a translator. "For that reason, we need to struggle and fight so that we are heard. We see the need to let others know about these injustices."

One man, 38-year-old Bernabe Santillan of Reedley, had his left arm in a sling — the result of an Aug. 10 arrest by Reedley police officers that turned physical, he said.

"I'm one of those people who didn't believe it went on until it happened to me," Santillan told the crowd. "I'm here to say that it does go on."

The reporter can be reached at teberly [at] fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6465.
for photos go to Fresno Bee article...