Mario Gonzalez was killed by Alameda police officers on the morning of Monday, April 19, 2021, in the area of Scout Park, near South Shore Center. Officers were responding to two different 911 calls from men in Alameda. (Content Warning: police violence) Audio of the calls say: "He's not doing anything wrong, he's just scaring my wife." Mario was not committing a crime, nor did the officers cite Mario. Even though he was not committing a crime and not required to present ID, the officers put Mario's hands behind his back, pulled him to the ground, and pressed their knees on Mario's body until he was no longer breathing approximately five minutes later.
Mario Gonzalez was a loving brother, father, and son. He cared for his younger brother who is autistic and relied on Mario very much. He leaves behind a 4 year old son and a loving family. Mario Gonzalez should be alive today.
Please sign this petition whether or not you live in Alameda. Everyone should be safe here. Mario should have been safe here.
On May 8, Alameda City Council will hold a special meeting on a resolution that would address some immediate actions that council could take and to hear from the community on how they should proceed. Alameda's first priority must be supporting the Gonzalez family's demands, which are listed below:
Demands from Mario's Family:
Some demands have been met, like release of body worn footage of one involved officer. The following are the remaining family demands:
Release the records of the named officers, names and records of ALL officers or non-sworn officers involved.
A complete and unbiased investigation of the police officers and APD's policies, training, and supervision of these officers.
Fire the officers involved in Mario's death
Civilian-led alternatives to police for crisis response.
Community Demands:
Immediately limit APD contact with the community. APD should no longer be the first response to a person in a non-violent crisis. Enough is enough. Calls not violent or criminal in nature should be rerouted at the dispatch level to other community resources. A community member in a perceived crisis should be met with compassion and care, not with a badge and a gun.
Unarmed Mental Health First Responders. We want a hybrid system of community-led and city-employed mental health professional response to better serve our community. For example a police-free, MACRO-like program similar to what has been adopted by Oakland working in tandem with a civilian-led group like APTP's MH First.
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