Anger still lingers in the community after four men in separate incidents were shot and killed by Salinas police this year.
About 25 people gathered Sunday to protest Salinas police at the corner of Williams Road and Bardin Road, yelling and holding signs that read “Jail racist killer cops” and “Stop destroying Latino families.”
Last week, Salinas Against Police Brutality, a local activist group, announced plans for the protest. A flyer said they want the officers involved to pay for their crimes of killing more residents of Salinas.
The group originally had planned a forum to address officer-involved shootings in the community room at Cesar Chavez Library, but did not get permission to use the room. A librarian said it was because the application materials were incomplete, but a group announcement said it was because the city was censoring them. “There will now be a protest against the city silencing of the community at the same time and place,” an announcement stated.
Sunday’s protest came about a week after riots broke out in Ferguson, Missouri, after police there shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager.
As cars passed by on Sunday, protesters chanted, “How do you spell racist? SPD!” and other similar messages. They also requested that city officials release the names of the officers who killed the four Salinas men.
Angel Ruiz, 42, who was linked to multiple crimes, was shot and killed on March 20; 26-year-old Osman Hernandez was shot and killed on May 9 when he was allegedly reaching for a lettuce knife in his waistband; 44-year-old Carlos Mejia, who was carrying garden shears and allegedly threatened to assault a woman and tried to kill her dog, was shot and killed by police less than two weeks later; and Frank Alvarado, a 40-year-old parolee, was shot and killed after allegedly issuing threats and charging police officers while holding a cell phone as if it were a gun.