Rally in Salinas Demands Justice for Frank Alvarado, Killed by Salinas Police
[ Photo by Bradley Allen. Frank Alvarado holds a sign on May 14, 2014 stating “Invest in Protecting and Healing, Not in Caging” before speaking at a Sin Barras rally at the Santa Cruz Courthouse for building strong communities in California, not more jails! ]
Rally in Salinas Demands Justice for Frank Alvarado, Killed by Salinas Police
On July 10, 2014 at around 5 AM, officers with the Salinas Police Department reportedly shot and killed Frank Alvarado at a private home in East Salinas. Frank was a member of Santa Cruz-based Sin Barras and spoke out against prison expansion at a rally in Santa Cruz on May 14. His killing was at least the fourth murder by Salinas Police Department cops since March 21, 2014. All four police killings have been of Latino men, and all have occurred in East Salinas.
At the May 14, 2014 rally in Santa Cruz, Frank spoke passionately about the need to budget state money for social programs instead of prison expansion. Frank also shared his personal experience of incarceration, and described his release from prison in July of 2013. He cautioned that building more prisons at the sacrifice of schools and parks will lead to devastating results for California. "You will have your hell if you build those prisons," he said.
In response to the killing of Frank, the Direct Action Monterey Network called for a rally on Saturday, July 12, 2014 at the corner of S Sanborn Rd & Fairview Ave in East Salinas against police violence and to demand justice for Frank Alvarado. Demonstrators, including friends and family of Frank from Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, held signs with messages such as "Stop Police Brutality. Justice For My Uncle!," "SPD Don't Shoot Me. I'm On My Phone," "Another Murder Brought To You By The SPD," and "Stop Giving Cops Paid Vacation For Murder!"
Speakers at the July 12 rally included Frank Alvarado's sister, Angélica Garza; Frank's niece, Natalie Mendoza; as well as Courtney Hanson and Tash Nguyen of Sin Barras, a prison abolition group based in Santa Cruz.
Frank's sister Angélica said she was born in Watsonville and Frank was born in Salinas. Angélica's statements included, "I want justice for Frankie," "He had a big heart," and "I want to thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart."
Frank's niece Natalie was calm, sad, well-spoken, and angry. She righteously proclaimed, "It's not right. I've never had this much hate in my life for anything else. I'm sad, but I'm more angry than anything else because of how he was gunned down. There was no reason for how he was killed; no way to justify their actions. He wasn't even armed. We just need justice for him, and everybody else, all the other cases that have gone like this. There needs to be justice, and SPD needs to have a taste of their own medicine."
Tash and Courtney read a bilingual statement by Sin Barras in memory of Frank Alvarado.
"As we mourn Frank’s death and send warmth to his loved ones, we are thinking about how to address histories of racism, interpersonal, and state violence in a way that will move us toward a different society, where premature death doesn’t happen. All people, and particularly people who have experienced incarceration, need and deserve support. Because of criminalization, poverty, and tough-on-crime politicians and cops, law enforcement killing people of color has become a long-standing pattern. As an organization, we believe in holding individual people accountable for their actions, and that includes the police. But we see this as a problem that must be addressed collectively and on a systemic level. The police and prisons create cycles of trauma. These cops are not bad apples; they are taught to pull the trigger. If we want to stop the murder, we need to address the fact that police brutality is systemic and ongoing."
For more information, please see:
- Police Officers Kill Fourth Person in East Salinas: Frank Alvarado (July 2014)
- Peace Police and Counterinsurgency in Salinas (May 2014)
- Families, Residents and Statewide Supporters Fight for Justice in Salinas (May 2014)
Bradley Allen is a photographer, Indymedia volunteer, and website developer living in Santa Cruz, California. All content is free for non-commercial reuse, on non-commercial websites. For other use, please contact me. Photo credit and a link to this article is appreciated. Support local independent media.
Call the Cops - Rob Hustle ft. Liv
Call the Cops LYRICS
Rob Hustle
Ft: Liv
Produced By: Rob Hustle
[Chorus - Rob Hustle + Liv]
This is what happens when you call the cops (x3)
You get your rights violated or you all get shot
[Rob Hustle - Verse 1]
I'm sick of people getting victimized by criminal cops
Psychopathic predators terrorizing neighborhood blocks
Equipped with pepper spray, mace, cuffs tasers and Glocks
They like serial killers acting out subliminal thoughts
Forget what you're taught
These cops have got a license to kill
Witness intimidation means that they can use it at will
Code of silence means that the pigs'll never let out a squeal
And if they go to court they know the judge'll make em a deal
For real...
That's why they stoppin me, lockin me up and stompin me
Confiscating my property, targeting my demography
Making the poor commodities, profiting off of poverty
Enforcing policies supporting prison economies
Yeah
No one makes money when the violence stops
Hate and brutality's the way to make a criminal crop
Blood in the gutter's how the rich butter their bread at the top
That's why this is what happens when you call the cops
Come on!
[Chorus - Liv]
[Liv - Verse 2]
I'm mixed up in the system and these pigs's trying to murder me
They mace me, they tase me, they trained em to hate me
Degrade and detain me in chains just like slavery
Hands up, face down, left hook, right quick
Throw you down, hold you down, smack you with that night stick
Night shift, ridin round, see you with ya J's on
You'll get sprayed on over skittles
Word to Trayvon
All the people sayin is it's crazy down in Florida
What you sayin, is you playin? It's the same in California
They gangin like they bangin and they'll hang you down in Georgia
Frame you in the cage for what you say without a lawyer
Swarmin with no warnin, now they sortin through ya residence
Storm in with no warrant now they snortin all the evidence
You better just, learn to dodge or box
Cuz this is what happens when you call the cops
Come on!
[Chorus - Rob Hustle]
[Rob Hustle - Verse 3]
"We got a baby in the living room"
Get the grenades. Pull the pin, throw it in the crib, blow him away
"There's a homeless guy camping here"
Well tell him to pack. When he gets up and starts leaving, shoot the bum in the back
"This guy rolled through a stop sign"
That's drugs for sale. Get some doctors to rape him, send him a bill in the mail
"We got a black man knocking on a white woman's door"
Well 10 shots point blank, he ain't gonna knock no more
Look
The problem starts at the academy
New cadets are indoctrinated with a military mentality
With them as the soldiers and us as the people they're battling
We're either collateral damage or combat fatalities
Either way the reality's that it's not gonna stop
Cuz this is what happens when you call the cops
THIS is what happens when you call the cops
COME ON
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CALL THE COPS
[outro]
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.