Monday, April 06, 2015

We were not able to control our government's forces before they got you ...

Last Saturday, a memorial service was held at St. John the Evangelist for Amilcar Perez-Lopez, who was killed by the San Francisco Police Department.

I believe that it is the love that Amilcar expressed in his life that is the power that has brought everyone together ... we've had some beautiful ceremonies here tonight from different religious and spiritual traditions ... in almost all faiths, there are these invisibles ... there are things we can only see with our hearts in faith ... I believe it is in this sense that that love operates, that family operates, that we are brothers and sisters ... Amilcar: ... we failed you because we were not able to control our government's forces before they got you ... And humbly we must accept that challenge, and not just when it is our personal friend, our brother, our sister, because we are all brothers and sisters ... I pledge myself I will never forget this, I will never forget you and the light you shown ... and we will continue to try to make this a better place.

Amilcar Perez Lopez was a 21-year-old immigrant from Chiquimula, Guatemala. He was a construction worker and worked in restaurants throughout San Francisco. Amilcar was killed by SFPD on Thursday evening, 2-26-15. While SFPD contends he had a knife and refused to drop it, witnesses contend that he had already dropped it when 5 to 6 shots were fired at him.

The official autopsy that preceded release of Amilcar's body for memorial and return to his parents in Guatemala confirmed the witness statements.

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