Speak Out Against the Unjust Shooting of a 17 year old youth in Santa Ana!

Santa Ana Police shot and killed seventeen year old Elmer Bustos late January. Police justify the killing by claiming that he shot at them, but several witnesses assert that he did not have a gun, nor did he fire at police. On Tuesday, February 18, at 6:00 PM, concerned community members will speak to Santa Ana City Council to demand police accountability and to ensure that appropriate action is taken to ensure that police shootings and harassment of youth does not continue. Do not allow police brutality to go unpunished. Being a young person is not a crime! Being a Mexican in the City of Santa Ana should not be, either. Let your voice be heard.

The City Council meetings take place at 22 Civic Center Plaza in Santa Ana, in the Council Chambers.

For more information, please call (714) 303-0004 or (714) 505-9975 and leave a message.

Correction to the title. It should have read "Speak Out Against the War On Mexican Youth in Santa Ana." I say this because there has been a war going on here in "United States" for a long time. The pending war in Iraq is important, too, but the continued war on poor people and people of color in "US" needs to be addressed too. Here's your chance.

i hate santa ana just as much as the next guy but i hate when i see people jumping on board the "police brutality" bandwagon without any facts or investigations. I live in Santa Ana and I dont know if anyone's noticed the cops in Santa Ana are by a far majority MINORITIES. maybe if you would be pissed that parks and recreation were taking away after school programs, teen clubs, and most programs that they offer to the community we could be moving progressively forward. or the fact that parks and recreation are grossly understaffed and inadaquately trained to be taking care of the kids they have in the few programs left. Come back with more facts than you'll have a story.

an update and a comment:
i tried to attend the city council meeting to voice concerns about the shooting of elmer bustos, however i was detained and questioned for 45 minutes without any explanation by santa ana police upon entering the civic center plaza. i was with two friends and we were told that all individuals entering the plaza for the purpose of going to the meeting to voice concerns or attending any sort of demonstration (a first ammendment right, i believe) were being detained or arrested. no joke. they finally let us go, however only on the condition that each of us say out loud, in the presence of two officers, that we did not think that they were intimidating us or that we were being treated with disrespect (!). i hope that others trying to go to the meeting/demonstration are alright and that no one has been arrested (if anybody could post to let me know, that would be great).
in response to sista brown: i think sista brown's analysis missed the point a little....the police shot somebody. dead. it's not an issue that after-school programs can solve (unless we can get some programs for the out-of-control cops to learn some restraint). the issue that needs to be addressed is unneccessary police violence. the santa ana police, with the input of this community, need to deal with the racism and violence shown in this case and others, and those officers responsible for the shooting need to be held accountable in order to prevent this from occurring again. ideally this would be accomplished with the implementation of a community-based (not internal police) review board.
as a side note: if you don't believe the police is a racist institution, then you could find out and compare the number of white kids killed (or arrested, or convicted or sent to juvie, or beat up) by police versus the number of kids of color - and you'll find that kids of color are targeted way more. you could look up the copwatch organization for these numbers, or in fact the federal department of justice would have them too.
alright, that's all.
my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of elmer bustos.

i didnt "miss the point". I think what happened was that a kid had a gun and pointed it at a cop and was shot. duh. i would like you to show me what race that cop was and then tell me if he/she was "racist". i believe that police brutality is a problem. i think the santa ana pd extensively abuses its power (25 million dollar brand new station) and that all cops have power trips but i am almost certain that in this case, a cop didnt kill a kid "cuz they were mexican". this whole thing is a misguided attempt for some silly orange county kids to cry racism. please. dont pull a gun on a cop and you wont get shot by a cop.

Update- Local Activist Arrested After Trying to Express His Grievances to the Santa Ana City Council

A local activist youth from the City of Santa Ana was arrested yesterday evening, after exiting the Santa Ana City Council meeting. There was a heavy police presence, including officers in riot gear, at this event. Their intimidating presence essentially barred the community from speaking to their elected representatives about grievances they have with police conduct.

Matt Martinez, of Santa Ana, showed up to speak against the unjust police shooting of a 17 year old Mexican youth in late January. After the meeting, he attempted to leave on his bike, and was detained by police. Police stated that they arrested him for lack of identification, and because his bike was not licensed. Matt spent the night in the Santa Ana jail, even after his friends pleaded with police to allow them to drive his ID to the station.

This situation is yet another example of police repression. There is no reason why the community should be prevented (BY POLICE) from speaking to the City Council. It also appears that Mr. Martinez was targeted for his political activities and beliefs. Police complaints will be filed, and updates will be provided about this situation. If you want to help confront police repression in Santa Ana, please call (714) 303-0004, or e-mail atlachinolli_front@yahoo.com Don't let the cops go unpunished!

Will you please e-mail me? Thanks.

If you look at a city, such as Santa Ana, and look at the numbers of Hispanics arrested it will look rather high as compared to a city such as Irvine. However, the Hispanic citizens of Santa Ana are the majority. Also given that young males (of all races) commit most of the crimes it would be easy to conclude that those are the most likely to be arrested. Further, the vast majority of violent crimes (or crimes against persons) are commited by the same race as the victim. So if the police go to where crime is being reported then they are more likely to find suspects who are the same race as the victims. So a blanket statement that police target minorities is incorrect.
In regards to Elmer not haveing a gun, why would it have taken more than two weeks for that information to come to light. And have those people that say he did not have a gun go to the Orange County DA to be interviewed? This shooting is being investigated by the District Attorney's office. This office is headed by an elected official. While you might not trust the police to investigate do you think that any DA (especially this one) would jeopordize his carrer over two cops? In this climate I cant help but believe this will be very complete investigation.