Colorado Springs cops shoot Chicano man in the back

Colorado Springs, CO – On July 6, the family and friends of Alex Martinez gathered to mourn their loss after his life was taken by the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) the previous morning.

Over 50 people gathered with candles and balloons around a shrine erected in the spot in the downtown parking lot where CSPD shot Martinez in the back. Wails and cries could be heard throughout the crowd as dozens of balloons took to the skies.

CSPD states that on July 5 at 1:30 a.m. they responded to a call about a disturbance involving an adult male displaying a firearm. CSPD’s statement continues that officers monitoring downtown cameras “located an individual matching the description provided,” and that when they approached Martinez, he turned and started to run away while reaching into his waistband, at which point at least one officer shot him. A livestream posted by a community member of the aftermath shows an angry crowd gathered around the officers yelling at them that they didn’t have to shoot him.

This account of events is very similar to the account that CSPD shared after shooting De’Von Bailey in the back three times on August 19, 2019. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office states that it has begun an investigation into CSPD’s fatal shooting.

Martinez’s shooting comes one week after the shooting of another Chicano man, Jesus Ramirez, Jr. During this altercation police fired more than ten rounds into the surrounding apartment complex and afterwards left Ramirez’ body in the courtyard for 12 hours. This shooting also shares similarities with the shooting earlier in the year of a Black man, Johnny Altman, as he was running away from the CSPD in a parking lot. Martinez’ shooting marks the sixth fatal shooting by CSPD this year. Colorado Springs is currently on track to have its deadliest year of police shootings in over a decade.

The Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) attended the vigil. They were invited by a family member after an action for Martinez the night before on July 5. During that action, spokesperson Brandon Rincon said, “We know, time and time again, that when police shoot a person, the person who ends up investigating the police department is the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, and we know, time and time again, that police cannot investigate the police.”

Rincon demanded accountability, saying “We call for community control of the police because we know that we need an apparatus to hold police accountable, so we don’t have to come out here into the streets every time the police shoot and kill one of our community members.”

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