About 50 protesters, demanding police accountability, marched to the Fresno police department headquarters on Friday, October 9th. They were upset at the death of Lonnie Graham on September 23rd, which was the 8th officer involved shooting of the year in Fresno. Adriana Becerra, a member of the Brown Berets who organized the protest, said the account of Graham’s death is disputed. Becerra said “his family did say that he was shot without a warning, as soon as he stepped out of the house. He was called out of the house, he was on his cell phone, and the cops said they believed he had a gun. They shot him and they found out he didn’t have a gun, he had a cell phone."

Juan Avitia, a spokesperson for the Brown Berets, said “we want the police department to get their act together. We want them to look in the mirror and really look at tactics and options that are available to them. Shooting first is an option to them, but it is not the only option and that is what we’re saying. We want them to seriously look at their options... In this case specifically, judging from what The Fresno Bee wrote and Chief Dyer said - they shot this man, there was a cell phone, he had no gun, and under the circumstances, just judging what was said, that in itself raises a lot of questions."

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