‘Investigation lacks objectivity’: Lawyers slam report into Zambrano-Montes killing, shot 17-times by police

A man carries a wreath and a banner as relatives and friends of Antonio Zambrano-Montes carry his coffin toward the cemetery in Pomaro, in the Mexican state of Michoacan March 7, 2015 (Reuters / Alan Ortega)

A man carries a wreath and a banner as relatives and friends of Antonio Zambrano-Montes carry his coffin toward the cemetery in Pomaro, in the Mexican state of Michoacan March 7, 2015 (Reuters / Alan Ortega)

Lawyers representing Antonio Zambrano-Montes, who was shot by police in February, in Washington state, say a police investigation into his death was “disappointing,” while they have doubts whether it was carried out “impartially.”

There has still not been a verdict about the case, which happened
almost six months ago, on February 10, in Pasco, Washington.
Three police officers shot the undocumented Mexican migrant
Zambrano-Montes dead as he fled after throwing rocks at nearby
cars. No charges against the law enforcement officers have yet
been made.

Jose Baez, a lawyer, who is representing the Zambrano-Montes
family, has been critical of the investigation so far, due to
what he perceives as a “lack of objectivity.”

“I see cases across the country where instead of a hardnosed
investigation, which would normally be conducted by law
enforcement, it appears these types of cases, and particularly
this one, are investigated not as an investigation, but more of a
process of protection,”
he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Videos from witnesses, who watched the incident unfold, appear to
show that the 35-year-old Mexican was raising his hands when
police decided to open fire. Zambrano-Montes, who had been living
in the US without documents for about a decade, was shot 17 times
by the officers on duty. Some were critical of the police, saying
they overreacted.

“I could not believe they were shooting guns. There were cars
and people everywhere,”
Pasco resident Benjamin Patrick said
at the time.

“I am really upset about what I saw,” he added.
“Yes, he was resisting. Yes, he was wrong. But it looked like
there might be something wrong with him. And he wasn’t hurting
anyone. He had a rock, not a gun. It seems it could have been
handled differently.”

While the lawyers say they have confidence in the Franklin County
Prosecutor Shawn Sant, who is overseeing the case, the same
cannot be said of the investigation process itself.

“These officers were not interviewed in timely fashion and it
was weeks, weeks later when they were finally interviewed and to
say that those interviews were conducted in our opinion, in a
fair, impartial, rigorous basis, I have that same doubt about it,
that this investigation carried out by the SIU was done in an
impartial and unbiased manner,”
said another lawyer involved
in the case, Charles Herman.

READ MORE: ‘Ferguson everywhere’: Hundreds
protest cops killing Latino worker in Washington

Eyewitness video captured the incident and appeared to show
Zambrano-Montes raising his hands when police opened fire as he
turned towards them. The death was investigated by a special
investigation unit (SIU) comprised of police officers from
neighboring jurisdictions, who in May handed their report to
Sant.

Both the lawyers were flanked by Zambrano-Montes’s parents, who
also attended a meeting with Sant.

All three officers have been placed on administrative leave until
officials conclude their investigation. However, last week, one
of the police officers involved in the incident, Ryan Flanagan, a
nine-year veteran and traffic safety officer, resigned from his
job. Officer Adam Wright, an eight-year veteran who is a firearms
instructor and field training officer; and Officer Adrian Alaniz,
a two-year officer assigned to patrol, were also involved in the
shooting.

The incident was condemned by the Mexican government, who urged
US police to revise their use-of-force policies.

Protests followed the shooting. On February 11, a day after the
shooting, around 60 demonstrators gathered outside the Pasco City
Hall, chanting “We want justice!” in English and Spanish. One
sign read, “Stop police brutality! It was rock!” More
than 100 people took to the streets near to the location where
the shooting happened, chanting “Use your training, not your
gun,”
the Tri-City Herald reported.

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