A two-day protest in support of the family of Cesar Rodriguez started at Long Beach City Hall on Friday, Feb. 26 before moving to the site where he was hit by a train while Long Beach police officer Martin Ron attempted to detain him on Aug. 29, 2017.
Ron was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Justice System Integrity Division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in an Aug. 11, 2020 memorandum, stating that reasonable force was used.
But Rodriguez’s family is asking that newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon to reopen the case.
Granados also led the crowd in chanting Cesar Rodriguez’s name.
“We gotta make noise, we want to let these city councilmembers [know] that his name, his life didn’t go in vain. We’re here, we’re shutting this [expletive] down because his life mattered more than $1.75. And the [expletive] government, this [expletive] system, needs to know that. It’s enough. Enough is enough,” Granados said.
Granados said she was not only fighting to get justice for her family, but to create lasting change so that future generations won’t live in fear of police violence. (Kristen Farrah Naeem | Signal Tribune)
His family and activists point to Rodriguez’s death as an example of police needlessly escalating an incident until something violent happens. They also believe the situation would have turned out differently if Ron hadn’t insisted on subduing and grabbing onto Rodriguez during the moments when the train was passing.
The memorandum states that Ron removed Rodriguez from the Metro train at Wardlow Station, before questioning and then searching him. Ron alleges that when questioned, Rodriguez gave a fake name, which prompted the search. Ron stated that during the search he found illicit drugs on Rodriguez before he tried to escape from Ron’s grip, pulling the officer forward with him.
There are two different perspectives on what should have happened during the struggle that followed.
“I’m here so that Martin Ron, this cop, they take away his badge, his gun, his job, everything that he has over here. Because it’s not fair that as mothers we’re suffering because they take the lives of our sons away,” said a translator for Moreno in English.
Moreno told the crowd that Ron informed her in person that he had been promoted by LBPD.
Ron was promoted to the rank of Sergeant during a ceremony held at the Long Beach Marriott on Jan. 13, 2020, according to a press release by LBPD.
Rodriguez’s family and many activists believe that Ron should have stopped trying to subdue Rodriguez when he realized the train was approaching, especially considering how close the two were to the edge of the platform when it began.
Meanwhile the law enforcement perspective states in the memorandum that Ron used “reasonable force” in detaining Rodriguez and attempting to stop him from escaping. The memorandum explains the situation as Ron saw the northbound train approaching and continued to struggle with and put his arm around Rodriguez, with a goal of keeping Rodriguez away from the tracks.
As the train came closer, it was loud enough to drown out the sound of human voices.
Granados became emotional as the train came toward the platform where her brother was fatally struck.
Community organizers, such as the Alliance for Community Transit Los Angeles (ACT-LA), and Rodriguez’s family are asking for an end to the contracts between Metro and the Long Beach Police Department, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
ACT-LA compiled a report in response to the death of Rodriguez entitled “Off The Rails. Alternatives to Policing on Transit,” which studied successful community safety programs that don’t use police in other cities.
In the past, memorials set up by Rodriguez’s family have been quickly removed by Metro staff. The organization Voices of Long Beach helped find volunteers willing to take shifts overnight to protect the memorial from being disturbed.
The memorial featured two enlarged photos of Rodriguez, and was created by Classroom of Compassion, a nonprofit organization of artists based in Los Angeles.
Due to community pressure, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board postponed a vote on whether to increase contracts with law enforcement by around $111 million.
Out of the $111 million potential increase, $6.9 million would go to LBPD for patrolling Metro property, raising the total amount of the contract between LBPD and Metro from about $30 million to about $36.9 million.
“Who killed Cesar? LBPD. How do you spell racist? LBPD. How do you spell killer cop? LBPD,” protesters chanted.
As protesters were leaving the platform of the Wardlow Station an announcement came over the Metro station’s PA system telling them that Metro had notified the police of the protest.
“Attention […] please be advised that you do need a permit in order to protest on Metro property […] Long Beach PD has been dispatched to this location,” the announcement said.
After a series of speeches at City Hall, protesters drove their vehicles in a caravan to Wardlow Station, where they spent the night in shifts.
Rodriguez’s family has constructed multiple memorials for him at the station since his death, which are usually taken down quickly by Metro.
To prevent this from happening to the newest memorial, volunteers stood guard over the vigil through the night.
Their efforts worked, and in the morning the memorial remained undisturbed.
Since the death of Anthony Vargas, his family has documented repeated instances of alleged harassment by the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Most recently, an officer-involved in Vargas’ death, Jonathan Rojas, showed up to arrest someone across the street from the home of Vargas’ aunt as she was giving a virtual talk about police harassment. A lawsuit by Vargas’ family alleges that Rojas is a prospective member of the deputy gang Los Banditos, a claim supported by two anonymous deputies interviewed by CBS.
Lisa Simpson, the mother of Richard Risher, who was shot to death by the Los Angeles Police Department in July 2016, spoke in support of Cesar Rodriguez’s family. Risher was shot multiple times by police, his mother is not convinced that the firearm officers claim they found 19 feet away from his body belonged to her son. Simpson spoke about the closeness she feels to the Rodriguez family because of their shared loss. Even though she never met Cesar Rodriguez when he was alive, she refers to him as her “nephew.” “I’ve been knowing this family now for like three years and, we just not mothers that’s in the fight, this my family. I hang out with them, I go to they house, all that, cause this is what its going to take for us to really get justice. Us mothers and fathers of all denominations have to come together as one. Ain’t no color lines in my fight. When [they] kill us, ain’t no color lines,” Simpson said to the crowd. 
A car arrives at Wardlow Station after just crossing the intersection of Wardlow Road and Pacific Avenue. It has the message “#JusticeforCesarRodriguez, He Was Kill [sic] By LBPD,” written in one of the rear side windows. The vehicle participated in a caravan from Long Beach City Hall to Wardlow Station on Friday, Feb. 26. The family of Cesar Rodriguez and activists want LA District Attorney George Gascon to reopen Rodriguez’s case and strip Martin Ron of his certification as a police officer. 
Three LBPD officers on motorcycles arrived at the intersection of Wardlow Road and Pacific Avenue as the caravan of protesters reached the Wardlow Station. Rodriguez’s sister, Evelia Granados, used a mega phone to demand that they leave the area. “You guys murdered my brother for $1.75, [expletive]! Get the [expletive] out of here! We don’t need you guys! This is our street!” The motorcycle officers ended up doing a U-turn and leaving back down Pacific Avenue. LBPD units drove past the train station several times during the protest with demonstrators using a megaphone to tell them to leave each time. 
As the sun began to set on Friday, Feb. 26, protesters began preparing a tent in to spend the night in the parking lot of the Wardlow Metro station in order to watch over the memorial for Cesar Rodriguez. Blankets were also laid out in the backs of cars and on top of the bike lockers by the station so people could lay down. Volunteers spent the night in shifts in order to protect the memorial from being removed by Metro staff. Previous memorials have been cleaned away as early as by the next day. When asked by the Signal Tribune, Metro said it would not make exceptions to its cleaning policy for memorials. 
Protesters marched from where they had been camping in the parking lot of Wardlow Station onto the platform where Cesar Rodriguez was fatally struck by an oncoming train while LBPD officer Martin Ron attempted to detain him. Rodriguez was riding the Metro Blue Line in Aug. 2017 when Metro staff and police boarded the train car and started checking passengers for proof they’d paid the fare. Rodriguez was removed from the train at the Wardlow Station for not having a properly loaded TAP card or ID, before being questioned and searched. LBPD alleges that Rodriguez attempted to flee while he was being searched and that is why Ron grabbed onto him and refused to let go even as the train was coming closer. 
Protesters the morning of Saturday, Feb. 27 after taking shifts in the parking lot of Wardlow Station throughout the night to guard Cesar Rodriguez’s memorial. In the morning, snacks and coffee were available for those participating in the demonstration. A fire pit had been set up by the memorial to help those watching over the vigil keep warm. While the Long Beach Fire Department showed up in response to the fire pit, they left peacefully without disturbing the camp or memorial after speaking with protesters. 
Community organizers, protesters, and other families that lost loved ones to police violence continued the protest in solidarity with Cesar Rodriguez’s family on Saturday, Feb. 27. Speeches were given, including by a member of the Alliance for Community Transit Los Angeles (ACT-LA) who spoke about a new vision for community safety on Metro trains and at stations. ACT-LA compiled a 2020 report in response to the death of Cesar Rodriguez entitled “Off The Rails. Alternatives to Policing on Transit,” which studied the methods used by other cities to provide security on public transportation, provide outreach to the homeless, and subsidize rider fares.
