President Enrique Peña Nieto made a recent statement, calling the incident that led to the death of an unarmed Mexican migrant “disproportionate use of lethal force” by police officers in Washington state
Shooting victim Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a Mexican immigrant, was throwing rocks at cars around 5 p.m. on February 10, 2015 near Fiesta Foods in the town of Pasco in Washington state, when police were called. He hit two officers with rocks and allegedly refused to listen to their commands. Police gave Zambrano-Montes orders to surrender and started shooting after unsuccessfully trying to taser him. The officers chased him across the intersection of 10th Avenue and Lewis Street and eventually shot him in front of a business on Lewis Street. The shooting was captured on video by several bystanders at the busy intersection and it has caused outrage and protests on and off of American soil. Protests revolving around this case are being compared to those recently ignited by the Mike Brown and Eric Garner cases.
The Zambrano family feel strongly that the police were out of line when they shot him and that officials should have used less lethal force to get him under control. Zambrano-Montes, according to court documents, had a history of criminal behavior. He was convicted of assault in 2014 after a confrontation with Pasco police, who tried to stop him from hitting cars with a broom. During the incident he threw a rocking chair, and tried to grab an officer’s gun from his belt while under the influence of methamphetamine.
Ryan Flanagan, Adam Wright, and Adrian Alaniz, the three officers involved in the shooting, are currently under investigation. Pasco Police Chief Bob Metzger held an eighteen minute press conference, in which he revealed few details about the death telling reporters it could be months before officials even discuss the case while it is being investigated.
We always stand behind our officers unless they are proven wrong. We are at this point doing a thorough investigation. If the officers are wrong they will be dealt with accordingly. If they are not wrong, that will also come out.”
This is the fourth deadly police shooting in Pasco in the last six months.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington released a statement regarding the incident,
Fleeing from police and not following an officer’s command should not be sufficient for a person to get shot. Lethal force should be used only as an absolute last resort. Police need to understand how to de-escalate confrontations and use force only as necessary.”
-ACLU Executive Director Kathleen Taylor
-Infinite Wiz(@InfiniteWiz)
