| Local News: October 31st, Officer pulled knife on suspect, police say... more. Click here to read October articles. October 30, Tests in Mesa boy's death clear police, rebut family Report clears Mesa officers who killed teen New Times article: Ice Creamed, Paradise Valley police picked the wrong black man to stop... more. October 29, No charges in Mesa police killing of knife-wielding teen October 23, Assorted groups take to streets in downtown Phoenix... more. October 22, Police give report on shooting September 14, Police records raise questions; Mesa called inconsistant in reporting police shootings... more. September 11, 4 police shootings jolt Mesa citizens Community leaders and citizens reacted Wednesday with disbelief, support or curiosity to Mesa's third officer-involved shooting of a knife-wielding suspect in 17 days... more. September 10, Another shooting tonight by Mesa police Mesa police shot a 22-year-old man Wednesday night who was wanted on a felony warrant for parole violation. The shooting was the second officer involved shooting Wednesday and the fourth in nearly 3 weeks... more. For 3rd time in 3 weeks, Mesa officers shoot knife-wielding suspect... more. September 8, Protest today over 2 Mesa police shootings... more. Mesa police consider more crisis training... more. Pictures of the protest on indymedia 1 & 2. September 6, Mesa police shoot 23-year-old woman MESA - A 23-year-old woman was shot to death Saturday night by a Mesa police officer after authorities said she came at them with a knife. East Valley Tribune: Mesa police kill Woman August 26,The family of Mario Madrigal Jr. staged a protest in response to his murder by police. August 25, Fifteen year old Mario Madrigal Jr. was shot at his home after his family called the police for help. They do not consider the assassination of their son help. Mario was holding a knife but the family argued that they witnessed that he was not a threat to the police officers that fired many times upon the teenager. He had been tasered and the 8 shots or more that were fired were unnecessary. View articles here. August 25, Police kill man who allegedly shot 3 people. A man accused of shooting three other people, one of them fatally, was himself shot and killed by Phoenix police Sunday night... more. August 25, Family sues Chandler over fatal police shooting at pharmacy The family of an Ahwatukee Foothills woman shot to death last year by a Chandler police officer filed a lawsuit Monday against the officer, city and its former police chief... more. August 8, Tempe officer shoots man holding knife There was an officer-involved shooting here in a residential area Friday afternoon...Tempe police spokesman Jeff Lane said that when officers arrived, they saw a man with a large butcher knife. The officers directed the man to drop the knife. He didn't and was maced. The suspect still didn't drop the weapon. Lane said the man made a threatening move against police and one officer opened fire, shooting the man in the arm. The suspect was identified as Robert Sheperdson, 28. He was taken to local hospital for treatment. |
| Contact [email protected] Let us know if you want to be contacted about future protests. Or let us know if you hear about police shootings and response. |
| Links Phoenix Anarchist Coalition Arizona Indymedia Phoenix Copwatch October 22nd Coalition Stolen Lives Project |
| This website is a tool for organizing against police harassment, brutality, shootings, and murder. Locals are attempting to create a quick response network so that more people can learn about such injustices and protests against them to build a stronger movement. |
| Click here to see our press release for the 09/08 Protest.. AZ Rep Letter to the Editor: Police abuses can't be overlooked Sept. 4, 2003 12:00 AM For too long, the abuses of the Phoenix Police Department and its metro counterparts have gone overlooked. For too long Valley residents have remained silent as Valley departments murder, brutalize and abuse us in our own neighborhoods. Remember Mario Albert Madrigal Jr., Dawn Rae Nelson, Rudy Buchanan Jr., Edward Mallet, Ali Altug? These are the names of a few of the innocent people (yes, they are innocent - none of them received a fair trial, or a trial of any sort) in the Valley who were murdered by police officers and their departmental standards of "shoot to kill." Since when did the police officers become judge, jury and executioner? The Madrigal family is standing up to the rampant police abuse of authority. They need community support, not just in Mesa but from around the Valley. The time is now to stand up and take action, or face the same headlines again and again. - Collin Andrews, Tempe The writer is a member of the Phoenix Anarchist Coalition. Members of People United Against Police and other groups met with the Madrigal family prior to the protest. You can see, walking into the house, that the bullet holes are all lower than 3 feet off the ground, and the results of an independent autopsy reports that most of the bullets hit his upper body. The police officers say that they were in danger, but this evidence shows that he was on the ground when the shot him. The family also says that Mario Jr. was not suicidal, that he was only threatening suicide because he did not want to be taken away by the cops, not because he wanted to die, though the AZ Republic characterizes him as such, perhaps to make the murder look justified. A flier was put together which said, "Where are the ethics? I've seen it on TV, in the movies, on the news and when it happens in 3rd world countries where a higher authority can go into a person's home and commit a terrible crime against them, and nothing is done about the situation. It hurts to know that I now can not trust calling 911 when my life is depending on it. Does justice prevail, or does it exist? What I would like to know is what type of training are these officers receiving..." The following list was made after discussion about the Madrigal's demands. We demand that: Mesa Police fire the officers involved in the shooting The officers involved in the shooting be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law The officers involved in the shooting must immediately submit to drug testing A citizens review board be established in Mesa immediately An end to shoot-to-kill policies in valley police departments. Justice for Mario Madrigal Jr. Safety for Mesa residents. Content of the flier that the Madrigal family provided has been uploaded. See first side (334k), & second side (366k), or both sides pdf (1905k). |
| News articles about local shootings starting 08/25/03 can be found here. |
| Repression against PUAP? On the morning of Monday, 09/08, the day of the protest against the shootings, we discovered that our yahoo/geocities account had been deactivated. It was not deactivated by a member of our group. We lost our ability to update this page and to answer emails. On Thursday, one member figured out how to reactivate it, but if the deactivation was intentional by someone who felt threatened by us, or not, it could happen again. We are attempting to set up an account through an independent organization. Keep an eye out for that, and we apologize if you tried to get ahold of us, that we couldn't be reached. |
 |
 |
 |
| Demonstrations: There are protests planned by the Madrigal Family coming up: Protest against Rick Romley's decision to not press charges against Mario Madrigal Jr.'s murderers! Where: In front of the Mesa Police Department just East of Country Club Drive at the intersection of 1st street. When: This Saturday, November the 1st at 6:00 pm. Two more demonstrations to follow the next day. Details to be announced. |