Santa Ana demands jailing killer cops still employed by SAPD

Santa Ana, CA – On February 26, 20 community members marched along Civic Center Drive to confront the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD). Chants of “Jail killer cops!” and “La migra la policía, la misma porquería!” echoed throughout the neighborhood while passing locals honked in solidarity. Attendees waved signs about Noe Rodriguez that demanded justice, as well as other recent victims of police violence.

Noe Rodriguez was killed while unarmed and experiencing a mental health crisis in December of 2024. Public records requests made by Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) revealed that the SAPD Officers responsible for his death, Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra, still work for SAPD and have been quietly moved to other units.

Jocelyn Pacheco of CSO’s Police Accountability Committee (PAC) presented the facts of Noe’s case, stating “Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra, the officers responsible for his murder, continue to serve on the force, even after shooting him 29 times. How can that be justified as self-defense?”

Erika Armenta, Noe’s widow, called out anti-accountability council members, stating “Some representatives tell us we can’t fire the officers while they are under investigation for an incident, but who can guarantee that our communities are safe from repeated violence?”

Both officers have been involved in other cases of misconduct and death since killing unarmed Noe Rodriguez. Casillas shot and killed Henry Gonzalez Jr on January 1, 2025, who was also suffering from mental illness, including suicidal behavior.

Ibarra was involved in the brutal arrest and in-custody death of Freddy DeAngelo Washington on January 16, 2025. He later took part in the beating of 15-year-old Mario Diaz, who had to be taken to a hospital for injuries despite surrendering to police – this was documented in a video dated June 9, 2025.

Less than two weeks before the protest, members of CSO OC, including Noe Rodriguez’s two young daughters, were approached by Officer Isaac Ibarra while holding a press conference in front of the department.

Matthew Compton of CSO shared, “When we started filming Ibarra and confronted him with his crimes, he lied and said we threatened and assaulted him. The truth is that he repeatedly tried to provoke us to fight him.”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) member David Pulido spoke in Spanish about how the long pattern of police killings of Chicanos are a feature of national oppression and said, “We need a revolution to establish working-class political power and liberate oppressed nations like Aztlan. That is the solution to these racist police killings!”

The march was led by Noe Rodriguez’s family and CSO OC, and supported by Chicanxs Unidxs (CU) and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Legal observers from the Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC) also came in solidarity with the community.

CSO OC fights for Chicano self-determination, community control of the police and legalization for all undocumented immigrants. They have general meetings every third Thursday in Santa Ana, and can be reached on Instagram @cso.oc and Facebook, Orange County CSO.

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