Last month’s fatal shooting of a teenager by Elkhart police was one of the issues highlighted during Saturday’s No Kings rally.
Demonstrators were urged to sign a petition, calling for an independent review of the shooting of 17-year-old Bryan Ramirez Gomez. It also calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor and long-term accountability measures meant to restore trust in the justice system, among other requests.
Bella Chavez said the family has gotten hearsay about what happened but little actual information. “They haven’t even released the bodycam footage to the family who deserves answers and to the community who deserves answers,” Chavez told protesters.
Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker has said the boy shot first. So far, she hasn’t allowed video footage to be released.
"I would love to show all 13 minutes of that video," Elkhart Police Chief Dan Milanese told the city's police merit commission last week. "As soon as we can hit play, if we’re allowed to legally, I will hit play."
Milanese also defended the decision not to ask Indiana State Police to investigate the shooting. He said the Elkhart County Homicide Unit is better equipped to conduct the best investigation possible.
“The resources they have at hand, the amount of people they have to be able to put towards something like this is – and nothing against the Indiana State Police. I like them. I work with them, and a lot of them are my friends. They don’t have the same kind of resources. They just don’t,” Milanese told the police merit commission.
He said investigators were still waiting on the pathologist’s report and were also working on other components of the investigation.
