A protest is taking place this afternoon at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department station in Compton. Deputies from the station were involved in the June 18 incident that led to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Andrés Guardado.
On that Thursday afternoon, Guardado was standing outisde an auto body repair shop in Gardena where he worked as a security guard. His family has challenged the official version of the incident, which says Guardado fled from deputies who approached him and was shot after a foot chase during which he produced a gun.
In an unprecedented move, Los Angeles County's coroner on Friday ignored a Sheriff's Department "security hold" and released the results of an autopsy that found Guardado was killed by five shots in the back fired by sheriff's deputy Miguel Vega.
An attorney for Vega claims the deputy acted in self-defense.
Protesters are calling for Vega's arrest and for Sheriff Alex Villanueva to resign. Villanueva, who had requested the hold on the coroner's autopsy, criticized the coroner's actions, saying he had jeopardized the department's ongoing investigation.
The coroner's findings confirm those of an independent autopsy commissioned by Guardado's family, including the conclusion that he did not have any drugs in his system at the time of his death.
You can see Brian Feinzimer's photo essay of the protest here.
