Alianza Americas Calls For Justice For Adam Toledo

The city of Chicago recently released gruesome body camera footage of the murder of Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old child who was killed by police last month in the predominantly Latino neighborhood of Little Village. The video showed Adam complying with police when he was shot, putting his empty hands up before being murdered in cold blood.

As a network of Latin American, immigrant-led organizations from across the country and the nation’s largest online Latinx organizing group committed to working towards the well-being and prosperity of communities across the U.S. and the Americas, Alianza Americans put out a statement saying, “Our hearts go out to Adam’s family and his community. We join the public in demanding accountability for the murder of Adam by Chicago police, and for the continued abuse of power by officers in our nation, particularly against members of Black and Brown communities.”

“The Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy initially shared a false narrative about Adam’s murder, leaving us with little confidence and trust in law enforcement. We are tired of responding to yet another case of a person of color, in this case, a teenager of Latin American origin, killed by a police officer. As we’ve stated before, cops who use excessive force resulting in the murder of Black people, Latinos, and other people of color must be immediately fired, arrested, and prosecuted. We call on the city of Chicago to hold this officer and the Chicago Police Department accountable,” said Oscar Chacón, executive director of Alianza Americas.

“At this point, I have personally reviewed more than 5,000 incidents of police brutality, torture, and murder –– 3,000 were people killed by police, like Adam Toledo. I have said all of the victims’ names, attended too many funerals, and cried with the families of too many victims ranging from ages 12-92. State violence is a public health crisis, and we cannot build a long-term movement to undo our inherently racist, violent, and unjust policing and jailing/prison system until we protect the people most impacted,” stated Matt Nelson, executive director of Presente.org. “To the extent that police forces continue to be part of the future, they must be subject to greater community control, including control over their budgets, funding, policies, and most of all, their practices,” concluded Nelson.

“We’ll keep calling on all communities, especially Black people, people of Latin American origin, and other people of color, to keep organizing in order to effectively fight back against structural racism and state violence. Only organized communities can succeed in the struggle to build a better society and a better world where the human rights of every person are truly honored and respected,” Nelson added.

We at LATV Network echo that sentiment.

To sign a petition demanding #JusticeForAdamToledo visit the link below:

https://www.change.org/p/chicago-police-department-chicago-police-should-be-charged-with-for-killing-13-year-old-adam-toledo-he-was-unarmed?source_location=petitions_browse