Indigenous Activists Demand Investigation Into Police Shooting of Zapotec Teen with BB Gun
On 7/28/21 at 12:21 AM EDT
Indigenous activist groups have demanded that the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) investigate the July 16 shooting death of Gerardo Chávez Martínez, a 19-year-old Zapotec. The Zapotecs are one of Mexico s indigenous groups.
Martinez reportedly had a BB gun on him and may not have understood the police s Spanish commands when officers in Salinas City, California shot and killed him.
On July 16 at 8:01 p.m. local time, Salinas City police received a call from a neighbor who said that Martínez had pointed a gun at him. The neighbor said the gun might be a BB gun, but added that it could also be a small-caliber pistol, the police department said in a statement.