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Protesters Have New Demands After Andrés Guardado's Autopsy Is Released
The protest over the fatal shooting of Andrés Guardado outside the Compton Civic Center, which houses an L.A. County Sheriff's station. (Brian Feinzimer for LAist)
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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.
The deputy backs up and leaves the group of protesters — about 75 people, far fewer than on June 21 when hundreds marched to the station pic.twitter.com/Z9puRx3k5L
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) July 11, 2020
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.
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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.
Outside Compton sheriff’s station, 2 hours into protest in name of #AndresGuardado pic.twitter.com/DFrCDOtyaW
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) July 11, 2020
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.
Protesters have moved to where deputies are standing guard outside the station. The barricade falls— pic.twitter.com/8P4v2WmoSy
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) July 11, 2020
About two dozen deputies here now, some just arrived in riot gear. About 35 protesters pic.twitter.com/GrTkXgcIiJ
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) July 11, 2020
You can see Brian Feinzimer's photo essay of the protest here.
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