Vol. 80/No. 28 August 1, 2016
Actions condemn Fresno police killing of Dylan Noble
“Nothing is going to bring my son back. But I want those cops to pay. I want them to go to jail for murder,” Darren Noble, a 49-year-old truck driver, told the Guardian newspaper July 7, following the release of a cellphone video of the incident taken by a bystander.
“I’m outraged the police would shoot my son and say it was his fault,” said Veronica Nelson, Dylan Noble’s mother, at a news conference the same day.
From the beginning, the police characterized Noble’s death as “suicide by cop,” and say they thought he was armed when they pulled him over for speeding. In response to community pressure, the Fresno police department released body camera videos July 13, which show the unarmed youth being shot four times. The last two were fired as he lay on the pavement, barely moving.
Friends set up a memorial at the gas station where he was killed and for days gathered at the shrine there, covering the curb and pavement with messages and trying to wash out the blood stains from the pavement. A July 3 “vehicle cruise” drew 300 to demand “Justice for Dylan” and raise money for the family.
At a memorial vigil the day after his death, a sign was displayed that said “White Lives Matter,” and someone waved a Confederate battle flag, bringing charges of racism. Noble was Caucasian. “There’s people making it about race, and the one thing I knew about Dylan is that he wasn’t racist at all,” Megan Sullivan, a former classmate of Noble, told the Fresno Bee July 10.
Justice Medina, 19, and like Noble a resident of the suburb Clovis, called a rally July 9 that drew 500 people. They marched for six hours, ending up outside the Clovis police station.
“There’s been too many lives lost,” Medina told KVPR radio. “Dylan Noble really struck a nerve in me,” Medina said, “I am Hispanic and Black. I don’t see race, I don’t see color. That’s something that’s created by the institutions to keep us separated.”
After escorting the march for the entire route and busing participants back to the starting point, police got a warrant for Medina’s arrest and charged him with violating a city ordinance against blocking traffic.
“I saw the video, and you saw it,” Johnny Ramirez told the Militant at a small street corner protest for Black Lives Matter July 16. “There was no need for them to keep shooting him. Fresno PD has a history of that.”
Related articles:
Thousands at funerals keep spotlight on cop brutality
UK rallies protest cop brutality in Britain and US
Strengthen fight against cop brutality
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