Neighbors For Justice 4 Amilcar Perez-lopez (Press Release 3-2-2015)

NEIGHBORS FOR JUSTICE 4 AMILCAR PEREZ-LOPEZ (PRESS RELEASE 3-2-2015)

Town Hall Meeting, March 2, 2015, at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, 22nd and Shotwell

Updates on the case can be found at the Justice 4 Amilcar Perez-Lopez Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/353672264838421/

Amilcar Perez-Lopez was a 21 year old man from Guatemala, living and working in the Mission. Amilcar regularly sent money to his family back home, and supported his friends in the neighborhood. Amilcar and his household were facing eviction at the end of March.

Amilcar and his 24th/Folsom housemates were all acquaintances with a bicyclist in the neighborhood. They were together on Thursday night, February 26. The story is that the bicyclist knew that Amilcar and his housemates were facing eviction, and tried to stop Amilcar from entering his home with the claim that Amilcar didn't live there. Words were exchanged, things got heated.

None of the witnesses interviewed to date support the police claim that Amilcar ever threatened to steal the bicyclist's bike, as stated in the police account reported by the media.

Amilcar gained entry to his home and went back out on Folsom. There is an unconfirmed report that the bicyclist had taken Amilcar's cell phone. Amilcar was reportedly armed with a knife.

At least two plainclothes officers were behind him in their car. They got out of their car, trained their guns on Amilcar, and grabbed him from behind, shouting "drop the knife" without identifying themselves as police officers.

Amilcar was not an English speaker. He wiggled out of their grasp, reportedly dropped his knife, and ran into the street between two parked cars. The plainclothes officers shot Amilcar. The bicyclist was taken into custody and handcuffed at the scene of the shooting.

The neighbors were not allowed to leave their homes and witness the aftermath. They were told things like "lock your doors" and "get away from the windows" by the plainclothes officers.

Amilcar bled to death in the street, rather than being raced to SF General's Trauma Unit just blocks away. His body was was left on the street between the parked cars and left there until taken away in a Coroner's vehicle around 11pm.

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This statement was prepared by Neighbors for Justice 4 Amilcar Perez-Lopez and endorsed by:
The Anti Police-Terror Project https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anti-Police-Terror-Project/513658562107268
The Justice & Love for Alex Nieto Coalition http://www.justice4alexnieto.org and https://www.facebook.com/groups/721427181211650/
The Idriss Stelley Foundation https://www.facebook.com/groups/116337228453342/