Thread by @SamTLevin

NEW: I spent time with families of those killed by Los Angeles sheriff deputies. They want the department defunded + dismantled. They want DA Jackie Lacey out. They want officers fired + prosecuted.

Listen to their words here (thread / videos) ⬇️

theguardian.com/us-news/2020/j…

Julie Martinez, grandmother of Paul Rea, 18, killed by LASD during a traffic stop after allegedly driving thru a stop sign: “The sheriffs for decades have been operating like illegal thugs and gang members under the color of authority. They are never held accountable.”

More from Julie Martinez, Paul’s grandmother: “They utilize their badges as a form of protection. They are allowed unfettered access to criminal activity. There’s zero trust. It’s at the point where people fear the sheriffs more than they actually fear crime.”

David Diaz, Paul’s great uncle: “The goal of sheriffs is to arrest as many people as they can and worry about it later. By arbitrarily arresting people and giving them records when they don’t deserve it, it has a negative impact on young people’s ability to succeed.”

David Diaz, Paul’s great uncle, said the men of his family have been arrested by East LA sheriffs for generations and that LASD is irredeemable. “The reforms are not going to happen in Congress, in the state legislature, in the city council. It’s going to happen in the streets.”

Tommy Twyman, mother of 24-year-old Ryan Twynan, shot 34 times by LA sheriffs deputies while he was unarmed in his car: “I just want these officers to take accountability for my son. They murdered my son. There’s a million ways they could’ve got him out of the car.”

“The fight is getting stronger and bigger. They’re arresting officers in other states, they need to do it here. The sheriffs need to remember what you’re out here doing. You’re supposed to be protecting and serving. You’re not protecting anybody.” - Tommy, mother of Ryan Twyman

Tommy Twyman on what it’s like to watch national protests and hear people say her son’s name one year after his killing by LASD: “It’s bittersweet. I turn on the news and I hear my son’s name being called but it also breaks my heart every day. But I still love it.” #RyanTwyman

Chiquita Twyman, Ryan’s older sister, telling a crowd of families of LA police victims to vote out the district attorney. Loud applause:

“We have to vote Jackie Lacey out of office. She’s the reason why we’re not getting justice for all our families.”

“They run from you not because they are guilty, but because they are afraid”- Leah Garcia, mother of Paul, 18, killed by LA sheriff deputy last year as he fled. The father of Leah's youngest son was also killed by LA sheriff's deputies. Paul grew up terrified of police, she said.

Leah Garcia said she has one memory of getting stopped by deputies with Paul when he was around seven years old: “He screamed, ‘Please don’t take my mom.’”

Leah told me she has been pulled over twice by LASD in recent months and forced to sit in their car before they let her go.

Jaylene Rea, Paul’s 22-year-old sister, said she once aspired to join the police, imagining herself as the “officer all the kids know.”

“I literally thought I could be a good cop for the community. But after learning everything they do, there’s no hope.”

Jaylene Rea says she supports calls to defund LASD and that she has no hope the department could be fixed at this point. She said LASD has repeatedly harassed and intimidated her family, especially after they started speaking out.

Photos by Damon Casarez.

Here’s Evelia Granados, sister of Cesar Rodriguez, killed by Long Beach Police Dept in altercation on train platform after he was accused of not paying his fare. She says DA Jackie Lacey has “blood on her hands.”

She says the family wants the officer off the streets before he kills again. A local story on her case here: presstelegram.com/2020/04/01/wro…

Marina Vergara, sister of Daniel Hernandez, 38, killed by LAPD in April.

“We have to abolish the system and we have to create something new.”

“In South Central LA, they’re a military force. They criminalize Brown and Latino lives. They are constantly stopped and searched. They don’t do this in affluent communities. We criminalize poor people” - Marina, sister of Daniel Hernandez, killed by LAPD in April

For more on the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the largest county police agency in the US, and it's long (and continuing) legacy of abuse, violence, killings, deputy gangs + secret societies and racist day to day policing, here's my latest piece:

theguardian.com/us-news/2020/j…

Also do not miss my brilliant colleague @VivianHo's piece #RobertFuller and Antelope Valley, where white supremacists + LA Sheriff violence and brutality continue to terrorize Black communities theguardian.com/us-news/2020/j…