Vallejo for Racial Justice + Anti Police-Terror Project + Justice Teams Network
100 signatures reached
To: Attorney General Xavier Becerra, CA Department of Justice
Life or Death: It's Time To Act in Vallejo!
Investigate into the Vallejo Police Department's unconstitutional practices in order to prevent more serious, and even deadly, harm from being inflicted on innocent persons.
Why is this important?
On the night of September 2, 2012, 23 year old Mario Romero was shot and killed by the Vallejo Police Department while sitting in his car. The police never identified themselves and fired 31 rounds into the vehicle.
On the night of January 23, 2017, unarmed Angel Ramos was shot and killed for engaging in a fist fight. VPD initially said Angel had a knife but no weapon was found anywhere near his body.
On the night of February 13, 2018, Ronell Foster, Jr., an African American father of two young children, was riding his bicycle in his neighborhood when Vallejo Officer Ryan McMahon decided to hassle Mr. Foster for the petty infraction of riding his bicycle recklessly. Officer Ryan stopped Mr. Foster who got off his bike and ran. McMahon chased Mr. Foster down in an alley, tased him and struck him several times with his flashlight splitting open Foster's head while Foster laid on the ground In fear for his life. When Mr. Foster got up and turned to run, Officer McMahon shot Mr. Foster several times in the back and the back of the head.
Less than a year later, on February 10, 2019, Officer McMahon shot another African-American young man, Willie McCoy, in a Taco Bell drive-thru. McMahon, along with other Vallejo officers, unsafely roused a sleeping man in his vehicle, who allegedly had a pistol without a clip in it, on his lap. As soon as Mr. McCoy awoke, with several officers shining their flashlights and pointing guns at him, Mr. McCoy appeared to be orienting himself when officers opened fire shooting him more than a dozen times.
Other community members have escaped with their lives but have suffered racial profiling, false arrest, wrongful death and excessive force at the hands of Vallejo police officers.
In January 2019, Officer David McLaughlin arrested and caused a concussion to Adrian Burrell, a Stanford graduate student & Marine veteran with a spotless record. At the time, Mr. Burrell was performing his citizen duties filming an unlawful arrest by Ofc. McLoughlin from his own porch when Ofc. McLoughlin decided to retaliate by using excessive force and injuring him.
This is the same Officer McLaughlin who pulled out his off-duty weapon and aimed it at a father walking out of a pizzeria on his way to his child's birthday party. Once detained by Walnut Creek police, Officer McLoughlin took gratuitous strikes on the father's head without any lawful basis.
On April 24, 2018, Vallejo Officer Murphy responded to a welfare call for a woman, Sherry Graff, who is disabled. Officer Murphy called her from inside her house onto her porch where he allegedly found her to be intoxicated, threw her from the porch, cracked her head open (requiring staples to close) and fractured her arm. Ofc. Murphy refused to call an ambulance and insisted transporting her himself. Ofc. Murphy also refused to Ms. Graff's request for a female officer and bruised her breasts.
These are just a sample of the many pending cases and acts of violence Vallejo community members have endured at the hands of the Vallejo Police Department. Despite this egregious behavior - there has been zero accountability - even for officers who are repeated bad actors.
In addition to these acts of violence, the VPD then harasses and intimidates family members who speak up and demand justice. They shine their lights into their homes, follow them down streets, pull them over for no reason and even approach them in nightclubs and other social settings with verbal threats to their physical safety if they don't "back off".
Enough is Enough!
We are imploring you to use the power of your office to intervene and immediately launch an investigation into this pattern and practice of civil rights violations. The VPD, the City Council and the Mayor have shown themselves to be woefully inadequate in both investigating and holding accountable the police department. We need the power of your office to step in and prevent the needless and tragic loss of anymore lives.
On the night of January 23, 2017, unarmed Angel Ramos was shot and killed for engaging in a fist fight. VPD initially said Angel had a knife but no weapon was found anywhere near his body.
On the night of February 13, 2018, Ronell Foster, Jr., an African American father of two young children, was riding his bicycle in his neighborhood when Vallejo Officer Ryan McMahon decided to hassle Mr. Foster for the petty infraction of riding his bicycle recklessly. Officer Ryan stopped Mr. Foster who got off his bike and ran. McMahon chased Mr. Foster down in an alley, tased him and struck him several times with his flashlight splitting open Foster's head while Foster laid on the ground In fear for his life. When Mr. Foster got up and turned to run, Officer McMahon shot Mr. Foster several times in the back and the back of the head.
Less than a year later, on February 10, 2019, Officer McMahon shot another African-American young man, Willie McCoy, in a Taco Bell drive-thru. McMahon, along with other Vallejo officers, unsafely roused a sleeping man in his vehicle, who allegedly had a pistol without a clip in it, on his lap. As soon as Mr. McCoy awoke, with several officers shining their flashlights and pointing guns at him, Mr. McCoy appeared to be orienting himself when officers opened fire shooting him more than a dozen times.
Other community members have escaped with their lives but have suffered racial profiling, false arrest, wrongful death and excessive force at the hands of Vallejo police officers.
In January 2019, Officer David McLaughlin arrested and caused a concussion to Adrian Burrell, a Stanford graduate student & Marine veteran with a spotless record. At the time, Mr. Burrell was performing his citizen duties filming an unlawful arrest by Ofc. McLoughlin from his own porch when Ofc. McLoughlin decided to retaliate by using excessive force and injuring him.
This is the same Officer McLaughlin who pulled out his off-duty weapon and aimed it at a father walking out of a pizzeria on his way to his child's birthday party. Once detained by Walnut Creek police, Officer McLoughlin took gratuitous strikes on the father's head without any lawful basis.
On April 24, 2018, Vallejo Officer Murphy responded to a welfare call for a woman, Sherry Graff, who is disabled. Officer Murphy called her from inside her house onto her porch where he allegedly found her to be intoxicated, threw her from the porch, cracked her head open (requiring staples to close) and fractured her arm. Ofc. Murphy refused to call an ambulance and insisted transporting her himself. Ofc. Murphy also refused to Ms. Graff's request for a female officer and bruised her breasts.
These are just a sample of the many pending cases and acts of violence Vallejo community members have endured at the hands of the Vallejo Police Department. Despite this egregious behavior - there has been zero accountability - even for officers who are repeated bad actors.
In addition to these acts of violence, the VPD then harasses and intimidates family members who speak up and demand justice. They shine their lights into their homes, follow them down streets, pull them over for no reason and even approach them in nightclubs and other social settings with verbal threats to their physical safety if they don't "back off".
Enough is Enough!
We are imploring you to use the power of your office to intervene and immediately launch an investigation into this pattern and practice of civil rights violations. The VPD, the City Council and the Mayor have shown themselves to be woefully inadequate in both investigating and holding accountable the police department. We need the power of your office to step in and prevent the needless and tragic loss of anymore lives.