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In the week following the shooting death of indigenous Guatemalan day laborer Manuel Jamines, community residents and activists are still congregating around the West Lake neighborhood where the incident took place. The LAPD and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa maintain that Jamines was armed with a knife and lunged toward the three police officers on Sunday September 5th, and that his shooting was justified. But at least two witnesses claim that Jamines was unarmed when shot: Juan Lorenzo, a witness cited by Luis Carrillo — a consulting attorney with the Guatemalan Consulate and our guest last week — and a woman named Ana interviewed by the LA Times who declined to give her last name. Spirited demonstrations against LAPD’s actions this past week have resulted in dozens of arrests. Last Thursday two men arrested were charged with criminal misdemeanors for lighting unsafe fires. The press are struggling to understand why the community in Westlake, dominated by immigrants particularly from Central America, erupted with so much anger. Residents have explained it by citing an over-zealous police presence and the on-going harassment of local vendors which erupted into collective anger at the death of Jamines. In particular, the officer who fired the shots, Frank Hernandez, was apparently known by residents and business owners for ticketing street vendors and in 2008 faced a lawsuit accusing him of having improperly used deadly force against an 18 year old man.

GUESTS: Colleen Flynn, Board Member with the National Lawyers Guild, Kelly Flor organizer with the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality

There will be a press conference on Tuesday September 14th at 4 pm in front of the District Attorney’s office, 210 West Temple Street in Los Angeles. The public is encouraged to attend.

There will be a march and demonstration in protest of the LAPD on Saturday September 18th at 10 am on the corner of 6th and Union (where Jamines was killed) followed by a march to City Hall. Find out more online at http://www.answercoalition.org/la/index.html.

The National Lawyers Guild’s website is www.nlg.org.