San Jose, CA: Police murder of Antonio Guzman Lopez marked at vigil

San Jose, CA – On Thursday, February 20, the family of Antonio Guzman Lopez, Students for a Democratic Society, Justice for Josiah, the Aztec Dancers and several other organizations and community members held a vigil honoring the memory of Lopez, an undocumented man killed by San Jose State’s on-campus police 11 years ago, on February 21, 2014.

His murder was caught on body camera footage, where he was shot twice by police sergeant Mike Santos. Santos faced no repercussions for the murder, having been reinstated shortly after the incident.

The vigil began at 6:30 p.m., around the memorial on San Salvador Street. A blessing and prayer were performed by the Aztec dancers. The program then began with Laurie Valdez, who was Lopez’s partner, giving a speech, along with Josiah, her son, who was four years old at the time his father was murdered.

Valdez began her speech by not only calling attention to Lopez’s murder, but also the families of other victims of police brutality. “I’m so glad that [Antonio’s] name is still being remembered,” said Valdez. “As long as we continue to say his name, his memory will never die.”

Josiah then gave his speech, reflecting on the difficulties of growing up without his father, and the trauma of the killing. He ended his speech off saying, “I’m 15 years old now, four when [the murder] happened. I’m still fighting, still getting stronger each day. We won’t forget him, or anyone else that was killed.”

John Duroyan, president of San Jose Students for a Democratic Society, led chants and introduced several other speakers, including Uriel Magdaleno from Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, Oli Harter from SDS and Students against Mass Incarceration, and Romaine Charite, San Jose SDS’s political organizing chair.

Magdaleno drew attention to the ongoing attacks on undocumented immigrants, stating, “What is troubling about Antonio Guzman’s case is the rhetoric around it - the rhetoric continuing to accuse undocumented immigrants of being criminals is very harmful rhetoric. The current Trump administration is just increasing that amount of hate against undocumented immigrants, against our community members.”

Harter called back to previous instances of police brutality, and the importance of individualizing and humanizing victims of injustice at the hands of police killings, stating, “The names rotate but the injustice remains. When asked to say their names, we take the time to individualize the martyr.”

The program came to a conclusion with Valdez giving final remarks, and the vigil attendees writing Antonio’s name in chalk all over the street next to the memorial.

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