Activists in West Hollywood held a vigil for 13-year old Adam Toledo and 20-year old Daunte Wright outside the Chase Bank on Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street on April 17. The candlelight vigil and march began at 8 p.m. Saturday evening and ended early Sunday morning.
Demonstrators filled the empty fountain outside the bank with candles and posters with messages such as “rest in power” and “justice for them.” The young men’s names were written in chalk spread out on the concrete.
The memorial was still in place the next day, and people passing by could take pictures and pay their respects.
Claire Scanlon stood in front of the memorial with her six-year-old daughter, Juliet Bala. Scanlan explained to her daughter what the monument was for and educating her on racial injustice in America.
“I am raising my child to be completely aware of what is going on, how the world is not fair, how she has advantages due to the fact that her skin white and how she should stand up for people who are being treated differently than her,” said Scanlon.
Scanlon said she regularly discusses police brutality and injustice with her daughter.
“I think that if kids are getting killed by police, then kids should know what’s going on,” said Scanlon. “We are very careful when we are around police officers. We are not always assuming that they are bad, but we are not always assuming that they are good either.”
Corinne Simon-Duneau was walking down the street when the memorial caught her eye.
“It’s beautiful, and it’s needed,” said the Hollywood resident. “The police have no business being the judge, jury and executioners. Due-process and de-escalation are what’s needed.”
“Mistaking a gun for a taser doesn’t make sense to me.”
13-year old Adam Toledo was killed in Chicago by Officer Eric Stillman on March 29.
The officer’s body camera footage shows Stillman chasing Toledo down a dark alley, ordering the teen to raise his hands and turn around. Toledo is seen in other footage tossing what appears to be a firearm behind a fence before turning to face the officer with his hands in the air.
As he turned, Stillman shot the child in the chest.
The officer has been placed on administrative leave for 30 days.
20-year old Daunte Wright was killed in Minneapolis by Officer Kim Porter on April 11.
Porter’s body camera footage shows that she and two other officers pulled Wright over for expired registration tags and then discovered a warrant for his arrest. When attempting to take him into custody, Wright tried to get back into his vehicle.
Porter took out her firearm and told the young man she would tase him, but she shot him in the chest.
The 26-year veteran of the police force claimed she meant to deploy her taser but mistakenly used her sidearm. She and Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon resigned the following Tuesday.
She now faces charges of second-degree manslaughter.
