Anaheim, CA – Police in Anaheim, California are facing allegations of murder and brutality after fatally shooting two Latino men over the weekend and firing rubber bullets at crowds of protesters. On Saturday, Anaheim police shot and killed 24-year-old Manuel Diaz after he reportedly ran away from a group of officers who confronted him in an alleyway. Diaz was unarmed. One witness reported that Diaz had his back to the officers when he was shot in the buttocks. Police then allegedly fired another bullet through his head as he fell to the ground.
Hours after Diaz’s death, a chaotic scene broke out when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a crowd of about 200 local residents protesting the shooting. A number of people were wounded, included several children. Video was taken of a police dog rushing a man trying to protect his infant child. Footage shows a police dog slipping from an officer’s hand and taking down one of the protesters and biting his arm before being brought under control.
“They just released the dog, and I had my baby and my stroller,” resident Susan Lopez told local television channel KCAL.
Demonstrations have raged in Anaheim since Saturday afternoon when Diaz died of his wounds after being shot by cops.
On Sunday enraged protesters stormed the local police station amid chants of “no justice, no peace” and “cops, pigs, murderers.”
More than 24 hours after Diaz’s death, police shot dead another Latino resident in Anaheim, Joel Acevedo. Police say Acevedo was suspected in a car robbery. The circumstances around his death remain unconfirmed.