Memorial service for Rubén García Villalpando
Just days after Pasco, Washington, police
shot and killed Mexican immigrant Antonio Montes for throwing rocks, another Mexican immigrant, Rubén García Villalpando, a father of four, completely unarmed,
has been shot and killed by police in Grapevine, Texas:
As he stepped out of his pickup on the shoulder of the Texas 121 service road Friday night, an unarmed Rubén García Villalpando raised his hands and repeatedly asked Grapevine police officer Robert Clark to stop calling him foul names, a relative who has seen the police video of the encounter said Thursday.
At one point, García asked Clark, “Are you going to kill me?” said García’s brother-in-law Fernando Romero, in an interview with the Star-Telegram.
“I’m right here,” García said, according to Romero. Then García, a Mexican national who lived in North Richland Hills, stepped out of view of the camera. Two gunshots could be heard.
A police spokesman confirmed that the officer used profanity before shooting García.
After what appears to be an uptick in fatal police shootings of unarmed Mexican immigrants in the United States in 2015,
the Mexican government has called for the Department of Justice to investigate the shootings as being an alarming pattern of police violence and discrimination against Mexican immigrants.
Widely known for police corruption, when the Mexican government has an honest criticism of American police, our country has a real problem.
Supporters and family members are now calling on police to publicly release the police dash cam video of the entire incident. Family members who were allowed to see it are stating that Villalpando is clearly seen putting his hands up just seconds before he is shot twice in the chest by the officer.
This is unacceptable.
We have crossed a threshold where we need new, revised national guidelines on when police are reasonably allowed to use lethal force. Simply imagining a grave threat, when one does not truly exist, should not and cannot be reason enough for police to kill anyone. Furthermore, a new national standard must be set on all things related to dash cams and body cameras with law enforcement. The public should not have to beg for them to be released in fatal shooting or in any case in which the question of police brutality is on the line.