The Night Families Were Heard

On the evening of Wednesday May 24th about 200 people joined community leaders and candidates running for Mayor of San Jose and Santa Clara County District Attorney for a unique and historic forum in East San Jose, called “Protecting the Community and Respecting Diversity.” The event was planned by the Justice for Rudy Coalition (a coalition formed after the killing of Rudy Cardenas), other South Bay families who had lost loved ones to police shootings, and Silicon Valley De-Bug. Over nine ethnic media outlets sponsored the timely forum as well as sixteen community organizations.

The aim of the night was to get two sections of the community that have not had the chance to speak publicly to each other to engage in conversation – victims of police brutality and the elected officials who are supposed to govern law enforcement. The panelists were community leaders and candidates for Mayor of San Jose and Santa Clara County District Attorney.

Community panelists included a cross section of the community of people impacted first hand by police violence. Sue Reardon is the mother of Eric Kleemeyer, who was shot to death by Santa Clara police as he sat in his parked car in front of her home in January 2005. Blanca Bosquez belongs to the organization Civil Rights for Children and the Juvenile Hall Advisory Board where she advocates for youth that are currently incarcerated as well as those outside the system. Regina Cardenas is the daughter of Rudy Cardenas, who was killed by state narcotics agent Michael Walker in 2004. He was the first state law enforcement agent put on trial for a shooting death in California history.

Carlos Padilla belongs to the group No More and was one of the six people who were arrested and brutalized by police this past Cinco de Mayo on King and Story Roads in East San Jose. Richard Konda of the Asian Law Alliance and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability has been a long time advocate for the South Bay's Asian community.

The candidates present included Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez, Councilmember David Cortese, Michael Mulcahy, David Pandori, Councilmember Chuck Reed and District Attorney candidates Judge Dolores Carr and Karyn Sinunu.

The evening started with a short video that showed interviews with three different individuals who were unable to attend the night's event, but who were influential in the vision of the forum. A cab driver, Sayoum Asrat, part of the only worker organized cab company in San Jose spoke about how police harass him and his coworkers about permits and even about leaving their former cab company. Angel Luna also spoke about being targeted by police very frequently as a young Latino on the Eastside. He spoke about how police not only pull him over for no reason at all, but also over step their boundaries by asking him for proof of his legal status. Janice Blanco also spoke about the way she was treated by the authorities after San Jose Police shot and killed her children's father. She recommended changes to the next District Attorney to treat families better. Finally, the video ended with footage from this past Cinco de Mayo on King and Story Roads where a peaceful event was overrun by police in riot gear and six people resulted beaten and arrested.

Next, a statement was read by a member of the Coalition of Latino Organizations while a group of people stood behind Raul “Curly” Estremera holding signs that depicted police in riot gear and had messages such as “No more racists gunslingers” and “Stop police terror.”

Being that the topic was police accountability in an area of the city where many believe the residents are disproportionately harassed by police, the night became very emotional and at times tense and disruptive by some audience members who loudly shared every disagreement with what candidates voiced after the community panelists shared their individual stories. Still, the majority of the people involved remained calm and wanted to hear from all the panelists about everything from a civilian review board for the police to open grand juries in officer involved shooting cases.

The candidates revealed positions on issues that they haven't made public statements about until this forum. Cindy Chavez, who is endorsed by the Police Officers Association, said that civilian review boards are often a “mixed bag” and she wouldn't necessarily support having one. David Pandori, who is currently in the District Attorney's office commented that he is proud of the office he is part of. Chuck Reed also defended the police department and their current conduct. In light of the recent report by a grand jury that said there was no evidence of racial profiling, Judge Dolores Carr declared that she does believe racial profiling occurs. Karyn Sinunu stated that she is in favor of open grand juries in every officer involved shooting case. Michael Mulcahy left shortly after he gave his opening comments, but had his staff present to take questions back to him. Dave Cortese moved to work on getting a meeting between the concerned community and the independent police auditor who many complained was too closely tied to the police department to actually be independent.

Despite the overwhelming emotions in the room, the forum accomplished its needed aims. It brought together families who had been victims of grave police misconduct that in three cases resulted in the deaths of innocent people, and they sat themselves at the same table with some of the people that had a direct responsibility in the aftermath of the loss of their loved ones. That night the community set the conversation about what should be done around issues of the police and the community and the candidates could not easily disregard the disheartening stories. The way that night was conducted by the organizers left an impression on the imagination of community forums. We don't only have to be spectators and hear a rehearsed political speech, we can create something new where community and families and candidates all mean the same thing: our community. An environment where no one person's voice holds more authority over another's and we can discuss difficult issues in a respectful manner so that we can arrive at a different place of understanding and change. This forum is leading us on our way there.

Our sincere thanks and appreciation to all of those media outlets and community organizations that signed on to cosponsor the community forum and help make it a success:

El Observador // Ethiopian American TV Network // La Oferta // Punjab News // Open-World TV // Native Voice // Nha Magazine // New America Media // Nichi Bei Times // Silicon Valley De-Bug // Asian Law Alliance // Barrio Defense Committee // Californians for Justice // Civil Rights for Children // Coalition for Justice and Accountability // Community Homeless Alliance Ministry // Golden Star Cab // Justice for Rudy Coalition // Muslim Student Movement // San Jose Peace Center // San Jose State's MOSAIC Cultural Center // South Bay Mobilization // SIREN // South Bay MECHA // Students for Justice