Justice for Gary King Jr.

A strong united gathering of nearly 100 people held a candle light vigil Saturday night in front of a new mural designed and painted by local artist Paul Barron and Gary King Sr. at the spot where his son Gary King Jr. was brutally killed by Oakland Police Officer Patrick Gonzalez on September 20. Family and friends had turned the spot of the murder into a shrine with candles, and messages of love and anger that were repeatedly torn down by the City of Oakland. It was only after family and friends launched a struggle that the city approved the permanent mural to be created.

Gary King Jr., a 20 year old African-American, was murdered by Officer Gonzalez after he was badly beaten, tazered numerous times and then shot twice in the back. Witnesses report that before Officer Gonzalez called an ambulance, he dragged Gary King Jr. a few feet, stood on his back and hand-cuffed him.

Outraged and devastated, family, friends, neighbors and supporters have built a determined grassroots movement to demand that Officer Gonzalez be removed from the Oakland Police force. The North Oakland community is also demanding that sweeping changes be made to prevent this from happening again, bringing into question the entire code of conduct of the Oakland Police Department.

Faced with this community outcry, early public justifications for this vicious murder by a cop with a record of deadly brutality have crumbled and an investigation of the murder continues. Officer Gonzalez has a long history of harassment and brutality as an Oakland Police officer that includes the murder of at least one other African-American young man, and the shooting of a 17 year old that has left him paralyzed.

At the unveiling of the mural Cathy King, the mother of Gary and his father thanked those attending for their continued support and solidarity. Others spoke out against police violence including Rev. Donald Sanders whose 15 year old son Laronte Studesville was also shot by the Oakland police, Mesha Monge Irazzary, whose son Idriss Stelley was murdered by the San Francisco Police, political activist and family friend Keith Shanklin and Chris Banks of the ANSWER Coalition and others.