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Families of Victims Shot by Cops Forge Activist Bonds
Multiethnic group commemorates Tran shooting,
seeks greater accountability
By Raj Jayadev, Pacific News Service
September 2, 2004 - It felt perfectly appropriate when
Raul Cardenas bent down and kissed the stairs of San Jose's Superior
Court. Twice. State Drug Agent Michael Walker, the killer of his brother
Rudy Cardenas, had just been indicted for voluntary manslaughter after a
weeklong open grand jury session.
It was a triumph for the grass-roots movement to stop needless police
shootings and may mark a turning point in police accountability in the
San Francisco Bay Area. A new fraternity of families -- Latino, black
and Asian -- who have lost loved ones to police shootings cheered the
indictment.
From the beginning, the Cardenas family knew the district attorney's
office would be more accountable if the grand jury hearings were open.
This was a lesson learned from the family of Cau Bich Tran, a
25-year-old Vietnamese woman who was shot by a police officer in her
kitchen in San Jose in July 2003. The Tran family pushed for an open
grand jury. Tran's was only the second open hearings in San Jose
history.
Although Officer Chad Marshall wasn't indicted for Tran's death, the
open hearings led to media coverage and touched off a public debate that
went beyond the Vietnamese community. "The Tran family even wrote
letters to the district attorney's office about getting our grand jury
case open," says Regina Cardenas, Rudy's 26-year-old daughter.
Gary Woods, of the Coalition for Justice and Accountability, says the
multiethnic group has effectively challenged the police. "The police
have become very good at spin when they can target a specific
community." Woods recalls that after Tran's shooting San Jose police
responded to the bad publicity "by placing ads on Vietnamese radio
within 24 hours and sending reps to community centers to say how
unfortunate the incident was." He says that with a movement that extends
to Latino, black and other Asian communities. "The police have more
pressure on them to actually change things."
When the families marked the first anniversary of Tran's death, the
memorial service grew to include the family of Chila Amaya, a
35-year-old Latina from Union City; the family of Cammerin Boyd, a
29-year-old black man who was killed in May in San Francisco; and the
family of Rudy Cardenas, who was shot in the back by Walker in downtown
San Jose.
The families testified to their common experiences - the needless
shooting of a loved one, their inability to get answers, the
vilification of the deceased in the media as drug users, mentally
unstable or criminals, and court sessions that move painfully slow. The
gathering was remarkably diverse. When Tran was killed, the memorial
service was almost exclusively Vietnamese. Now,
the families have a new collective identity.
Lonny Amaya's sister, Chila, 35, was shot by a policeman in 1998 in her
house in Union City. When Lonny first heard about Tran's death he went
to her apartment in downtown San Jose. "I met her boyfriend, and we just
stood outside arm in arm for hours. I knew exactly what he was going
through." He adds, "Color stops being an issue once the officer pulls
the trigger."
Two months ago, the Union City Council gave Chila's shooter, Officer
Woodward, an "Officer of the Year" award. The Amayas, led by Chila's
mother, went to protest. "After my mother yelled at all the officers,
the mayor asked her to go out to the lobby. As we were walking, Cammerin
Boyd's mother came. I introduced them and they both cried and held each
other," Lonny says.
Marylon Boyd finishes the story." At the time,
right after Cammerin's death, I was so traumatized, I felt like my voice
had been taken. Seeing Mrs. Amaya, this small woman getting in their
faces, gave me my voice back. I told her,'I get strength from you.'She
said, 'Don't worry, later the words will come.'"
Marolyn's son, Cammerin, 29, was killed last May by undercover officers,
as he was getting out of a car. Cammerin was a paraplegic from a prior
accident, a fact Marylon is certain the police were aware of.
Marylon knows the ties the families are making in the larger community.
"When I go to the shops near my office that have Vietnamese owners, they
tell me how happy they are to see me on TV talking also about Cau Tran.
They felt there was not enough attention on her case, and my voice was
helping getting their story out as well as Cammerin's."
The Coalition recently met in the San Jose Vietnamese Community Center
to discuss Walker's grand jury indictment with Tran's lawyer. They
planned a meeting with the San Jose Independent Police Auditor about the
unusually long delay in medical help to both Rudy Cardenas and Cau Tran.
They had already pressured the city to invest in non-lethal weaponry to
prevent more needless deaths.
Turning to the mostly Vietnamese audience Marylon Boyd said, "The
indictment is not just a victory for our family, but it's for all of our
families."
Readings of Related Interest
Little Saigon Flexes New Political Muscles in Rare Unity
By Andrew Lam, PNS
August 2003 - Vietnamese Americans are known for their passionate
protests against the Communists ruling their homeland, but they are
not known for militant responses to issues they face in this
country. The recent police shooting of a Vietnamese housewife in San
Jose, Calif., may be changing all that.
Ray Jayadev is the director of Debug, a magazine
for young people in California's Silicon Valley, and a project of PNS. |
