Hispanic Group Calls for US Probe Into Police Slaying of Mexican Immigrant Eric M. Johnson - Reuters
go to original February 18, 2015

Erika Zambrano holds a 2010 photo of Antonio Zambrano-Montes during a rally this week outside City Hall in Pasco, Washington. (Associated Press)

A Hispanic advocacy group has urged the U.S. Justice Department to conduct its own investigation into the fatal police shooting in Washington state of an unarmed Mexican immigrant who ran from officers after throwing rocks at them.

Consejo Latino Chairman Felix Vargas complained of an inherent conflict of interest in having local authorities investigate the Feb. 10 slaying of Antonio Zambrano-Montes in Pasco, a small city in an agricultural hub with a large Hispanic community and a largely white power structure.

"It appears inescapable that the lethal force applied by these police officers was excessive in the extreme and, as such, it constituted a violation of Mr. Zambrano's constitutional rights," Vargas wrote in a letter to the Justice Department.

Vargas noted that police officers have been cleared of wrongdoing in three shootings over the past six months.

His organization's call for a separate inquiry follows similar demands in the wake of the police killings of two unarmed black men last year by white police officers in Missouri, and in New York City.

Read the rest at The Huffington Post

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!