Anaheim Erupts in Protest Over Police Shooting of Gustavo Najera
Tensions between police and protesters simmered Friday night in Anaheim. A crowd of roughly 60 people gathered outside Anaheim Police Department headquarters to protest the deadly shooting of 22-year-old Gustavo Najera by one of its officers at Sage Park early Tuesday morning.
Details into the incident are scant but it's been reported that police responded to calls that a person knocked on a door of an apartment near the park, left and came back knocking again. It's unclear if that person was Najera, but what is clear is that the young man was unarmed when an officer gunned him down around 12:40 a.m.
Protesters and family arrived to Harbor Boulevard looking for answers and remembering the life that was taken. "Gustavo was really into the arts," says Irving Sosa, Najera's cousin. "Music and drawing was his escape." Najera's father also showed up but declined to speak at the advice of his attorney.
Sosa mentioned that Najera recently broke his left arm and wore a cast up to the elbow. He wonders if that hampered his cousin's ability to raise his hand to comply with police commands. But with little in the ways of details, the circumstances of the police shooting remain presently unknown to the public. The Orange County District Attorney's office is currently investigating the matter.
Anaheim police are outfitted with body worn cameras and television news reports say the still unnamed officer wore one at the time of the shooting. The family has asked about the footage but the investigation is keeping them in the dark. "They keep on saying that if the camera was on, they don't know if it actually recorded anything," Sosa says of police.
Angry protesters slowed traffic down on Harbor until police ultimately arrived to block the street off. A skirmish line formed along Broadway. The gang unit made a brief appearance but retreated in their riot gear. Punk rock music blared from a mobile sound system. At one point, officers wearing helmets and holding sticks moved in front of their cars. A young woman sliced through the tension by dancing in front of one cop and protester.
The officer, Marcus Zappia, shoved the woman in front of this reporter, escalating the situation, but protesters didn't return the gesture in kind. The cops took position behind their cars again and the crowd dissipated into the night. But the anger of the youth remains.
"Gustavo's not my blood brother, but he's my family, you feel me?" Angel Flores said at the protest. "He didn't deserve this at all. I'm fucking mad, man."
In the meantime, the family is taking donations for Gustavo Najera's funeral online.
