They Treated Him like a Statistic

http://hellaoccupyoakland.org/they-treated-him-like-a-statistic/

Derrick Gaines, a 15-year-old of multiracial descent, was shot and killed by a South San Francisco Police Department officer on June 5, just before 9 p.m.

According to police, on the night of the shooting, an officer approached two teens who they said appeared to be “acting suspiciously.” Then, the police say, one of the teens–Derrick–ran, drew a gun from his waistband and pointed it–at which point the officer gunned him down.

Eyewitnesses tell a different story of events that night, and say that Derrick never drew a weapon and was instead shot down by an officer who brutalized and restrained him first–throwing him to the ground with such force that a shoe was knocked off his foot.

Derrick’s friends and family have staged multiple actions at the Arco gas station where the shooting happened. Despite their overwhelming grief, Derrick’s mother and great aunt, Rachel Guido-Red and Dolores Piper, are courageously demanding that the truth be heard.