The September 28 killing of unarmed Brandon Lopez in Santa Ana, by Anaheim SWAT officers Paul Delgado*, Bret Heitman, Caitlin Panov & Ken Weber, got a lot more attention than most police killings in Orange County, mainly because Brandon’s cousin is Santa Ana Councilman Johnathan Hernandez, a politician who was already focused on police reform, and also because Brandon had a huge family and was well known and loved by many. Last week the Anaheim Police Department released their 21-minute “Critical Incident Community Briefing” video, which we post below.
Due to recent reforms, police departments now release these videos six weeks or so after each incident, and obviously they present the police’s case in the best light possible. Highly edited, and known for exaggerations and omissions, they attempt to make the case that the police did what they had to do, there was no way around it, and the person killed was a really dangerous bad person. Much of the credulous, fearful public take these videos as gospel truth.
One thing you always see is a concerned-looking police spokesman explaining to the audience, “This is what you are going to see here…” followed by a chunk of video where you often DON’T see what they describe – a recipe for gaslighting. But, people being suggestible, it works to a degree. The Fullerton Police’s Hector Hernandez video last year was a classic of that genre.
This Anaheim video goes there too, toward the end (16:16 to 17:40) when it repeatedly shows you how Brandon, when driven blindly out of the car, “appears” to have a black object in his hand, which cops should be forgiven for assuming it was a gun … but *I* don’t see any black object in his hand. A shadow, maybe, as he ran in the dark. And he was NOT running toward any officers, but off in a random direction in a rush to get away from the gas. They say they found, underneath his corpse, a plastic water bottle in a black pouch, but it doesn’t even look like he had THAT in his hand when he ran.
The main thing Anaheim police are trying to prove in this video is that they were right to suspect Brandon was armed, and to make that case they list all the crimes he was wanted for, including armed robbery. A few things:
- Doing that may have some relevance in this case, but it’s really offensive when they list a victim’s alleged past transgressions when the killing officer didn’t even know about them, as in the case of Manuel Diaz and many others – that is all aimed to make the public think, “Ah well, we’re better off without that menace alive.”
- When a victim has a perfect or not-so-bad record (like Hector Hernandez), police departments never see fit to mention that.
- Brandon was never convicted of any of those charges so it’s wrong for the public to assume he even necessarily did those things. They mention ONE conviction on his record – resisting arrest – and that can be running from officers, or even wrestling a little when they grab you.
The APD spends a quarter of the video – over five minutes – showing footage of the car chase to Tustin and back (to Brandon’s family neighborhood.) Sure, people like to watch car chases, but this happened hours earlier and has (or should have) no bearing on why he was shot by 22 rounds exiting his car that night. Unless the point is to make him out to be a big menace, unworthy of our concern.
Big Questions Remaining:
Why did the APD & SAPD PHYSICALLY PREVENT FAMILY MEMBERS from going up to the car to peacefully talk Brandon out? Several family members told police that Brandon was having a mental crisis and that THEY could talk him out peacefully, but they were forcibly kept away from the scene. The SAPD even locked Brandon’s dad Tony Lopez (right) in the back of a cruiser, till all the killing was over.
The “suicide by cop” report. It’s mentioned at 13:00 that some relative or friend of Brandon had reported to Santa Ana police that they’d spoken to Brandon by phone and that he “intended to commit suicide by cop.” That’s a weird thing to tell the cops, if that was really what the caller said. Even if they did, I’m pretty sure (aren’t you?) that that’s not all they said. Did they also say he was unarmed? I think we need to hear a tape of that call. These critical incident videos DO include recordings of such calls, when they’re helpful to the police’s case.
Brandon probably figured, reasonably, that he had a good chance of being shot fatally if and when he left the car under any circumstance. But if he wanted to commit “suicide by cop,” why did he sit there for hours, drinking water, getting high, writing a note, and apparently falling asleep, before being forced out by an explosion and tear gas?
The “NOTE.” Santa Ana Police watching from above saw him writing a note, and they say they found it. I assume it was left for his family and friends in case the worst happened, and I hope they’ve been able to see it. But that also doesn’t show that he wanted to commit suicide by cop, or that the cops should oblige.
The “less-than-lethal projectile.” At 17:50 we’re informed that, after pumping 22 rounds into Brandon and felling him, they were spooked that he might come back to life and fire on them, so they hit his limp prone body with a “less-than-lethal projectile” to make sure he was dead and unresponsive. HELLO??? Where was that non-lethal round seconds earlier, when he ran out of the car in a blind panic? Those non-lethal rounds will make a guy scream and fall, just watch the Daniel Ramirez video from 2019.
We’ll see what AG Rob Bonta comes up with, and we’re glad that a new law sends the investigation of the killing of an unarmed person to him rather than our DA Todd Spitzer, who we’re sure would come up with a way to claim that these four heavily armored SWAT police “feared for their lives®.”
But it sure looks like Delgado, Heitman, Panov and Weber had no justification for opening fire on Brandon the moment they forced him out of the car. That was NOT STARTLING, for him to jump out and run. They had just blown up his window and filled his car with gas, what else did they THINK was gonna happen next?
If they had just let family members talk Brandon Lopez out, or if they had hit the confused running man with a non-lethal projectile…
Then he’d be in jail now facing his previous charges, as well as reckless driving, car theft and resisting arrest. And his four kids, parents, siblings and cousins, could be visiting him in jail. And he could be getting the help he needs. And some year down the road he could be a productive citizen and attentive father. And we wouldn’t be going through all this shit.
*************
OK. The police spokesmen like to say “This is what you’re about to see.” Now I’ve done my version of “This is what you’re about to see.” Watch:
*Officer Paul Delgado previously shot and paralyzed fleeing Kenneth Yamashita-Magarro in 2018, after pursuing him to Irvine, causing Anaheim an expensive lawsuit.
Mr. Vern Nelson’s public comment at Anaheim Police Review Board Meeting 11/18/2021 regarding the Sept. 28th killing of Brandon Lopez in Santa Ana.
https://youtu.be/q8xPGvKiM4g
That’s embarrassing. I wasn’t prepared, and those are most of the above thoughts “in embryo.”
For those who (like me) were trying to find it, the asterisk next to the name of Paul Delgado is explained below the video.
Thanks for this post Vern. This really boils my blood. APD is run by a bunch of crooked soulless murderous gang, and Mayor Sidhu and Anaheim City Managers NEEDS TO BE FIRED.
Fired? These racist killers masquerading as politicians and police are going to rot in Super Max prison.
Well said. He had nothing in his hand. They made it seem or edited the video the justify it. Those items were probably in the car. I have a water bottle and sunglass case in mine as we speak. No reason to do what they did that horrible night!
There is so much more to this story that will come out in time. His mom is not even sure that mugshot is even him but if it is it is over a decade old and he now looks nothing like that. People are so easy to judge when they do not know the person or the family.
My son is a drug addict and I finally was able to get him to go to rehab. It literally took me 2 full days of calling rehabs to find out a lot closed due to covid or because of covid they only take so many. Unless you have great insurance you end up getting put on a very long waiting list then you pray they live long enough to get the help they need.
That mugshot DIDN’T look like him, did it? That’s weird…
LOL you people are a bunch of fucking stupid uneducated pieces of shit. A violent thug got what he wanted. If you blame the cops for this shooting you should 100% kill yourself and I am not joking. I will even give you the rope.
Fucking cowards. You are literally sitting here defending a guy who committed armed robberies and led cops on a chase in a stolen car before exiting and brandishing an ambiguous object in his hand instead of putting his hands up + this is after a very long standoff.
You have the nerve to call the cops murderers when they were trying to protect the community? Fuck all of you I hope dogs shit on your graves. Suck my fucking american dick if you have a problem with it.
One of the few people refusing to use his name on his comments is calling the rest of us “cowards”?
Ok’ let’s meet up. You bring the rope and your “american dick” and we’ll swing you around for a while.
Same guy wrote me a long email arguing with a buncha points in the article, some of which he misunderstood, a few of which he actually made decent points. He sounded like a cop or someone that knows a lot about “police work.” Donna thought the email was “threatening.” Mostly he just called me a “bald pussy” and told me to kill myself a buncha times.
Hahaha all of you lying faggots in these comments amuse me. Fuck you for defending thugs. Justified shooting 100% go kill fuck yourself in the face if you disagree, stupid cowards
You go, girl!
Actual American you sound like a little bitch. Use your real name. Talking that shit about thugs, talk is cheap… Come thru and we can handle some shit, motherfucker. Homophobic, unsecure, and last but not least cocksucking power bottom… Lol
you have the wrong idea about thugs little bitch…
drink some cranberry juice and your cramps will go away and you wont be in a pissy mood. i understand you menstrating and all but its gonna be alright.
,
The fact that he was unarmed notwithstanding. He would be alive today if he had complied. Instead he fled and continued to disobey commands.
Complied when? There at the end? Having watched the video, I don’t think that there’s a damned thing he could have done to save his life. Open the door and walk out with his hands up? Not after a three hour wait — and particularly not after that one officer claimed to have seen a gun in the car.
There’s one thing that they could have (and I suspect should have) done: block off his exit from the passenger sides with something like a full garbage bin, and then back up a paddy wagon (or whatever they call it) to the other side, covering both driver’s side doors, so that his only exit was into the paddy wagon. Once he’s in, close the doors and take him to the police station. (Alternatively, I wonder if they could have locked the car doors from the outside and just towed it away.) If they did so, the lack of gunshots coming from inside the car should have been a good sign that he wasn’t armed.
In any event, I doubt that your assertion is true.
When you are being pulled over YOU SHOULD PULL OVER SAFELY AND KEEP YOUR HANDS IN PLAIN SIGHT. MAKE NO SUDDEN MOVES AND SPEAK LOUD AND CLEAR.
Instead this guy fled, leading as many as 18 police officers on a chase, which in and of itself a potentially deadly act. How many children were put in danger?
Then again I suppose folks like you thi k the band of smash and grabbers lately are justified because Black’s and Mexicans can’t afford Nordstroms.
The previous comment by Greg Diamond has to be the most idiotic suggestion ever.
That last sentence is known as a conclusory argument, Vince, and it’s used by people who can’t argue their way out of an open bag.
If they wanted to kill him — and by the end if not at the beginning he clearly thought that they wanted to kill him — then it didn’t matter what he did, so he might as well take the Butch Cassidy way out.
I’m not defending what he did, you imbecile, and I don’t have any fever dream opinions like your invocation of Nordstroms. The question in most of these situations is: was there a way to get the person into confinement without killing him or endangering the police.
Far more often than you would apparently suspect, there is a way. But the cops (and from your name I vaguely recall that you might be one or a spokesperson) have the view that someone whose behavior threatens public safety like this is better off dead without a trial — or, in this case, treatment. You’ve basically said that because of what he did in escaping the police, he should die. That may be how our system works, but it is not how it is *supposed* to work. That’s why your puny imagination as to what is possible is completely irrelevant. (Hint #1: don’t use a flash-bang if you want someone to act prudently!)
Your advice in the first paragraph is good for non-scraggly white men over 30 who do not have mental illnesses, like this guy did. So thanks for that. For women in particular, I’d suggest calling 911 to make sure that the car following you is actually a cop rather than an impersonator — but that thought wouldn’t pop into your chowder head, would it?
In case you missed it: Brandon’s family is suing Anaheim for $20 million.
https://www.ocregister.com/2021/11/23/family-of-unarmed-man-killed-by-anaheim-police-seeks-20-million/
And they’re using Dale Galipo, who got Vincent Valenzuela’s family $13.2 million (against Anaheim), $2.69 million for the family of Daniel Ramirez (against Anaheim), a smaller amount for the mother of Manuel Diaz (against Anaheim,), and $17 million for that kid in the Corona Costco (against LAPD.)
And not all the multi-million dollar settlements against Anaheim in recent years have been won by Dale Galipo.
Our city spokesman likes to boast that this doesn’t cost us Anaheim taxpayers anything because we’re part of an insurance pool. I think it’s inconceivable that our premiums haven’t gone up at this point. Anyone want to file a PRA on that, or do I have to?
They always say that. But all cities are self-insured up to a certain point, so there’s that.
I saw Pedroza’s well directed rant on Mayor Sarimento’s shady dealings on the illegal concert and lawsuit.
I thought you public watchdogs and the Voice Of OC would be all over them lighting a hundred grand on fire.
Thought wrong.
Hi again Vern Nelson, some good news is coming to Orange County,CA. This is the decade when the OC Sheriffs Department, Anaheim PD and Garden Grove PD are going to be sued out of existence by their attempted murder and murder victims. It’s the decade when Disneyland isn’t going to be able to sell a ticket to Neo Nazi families let alone families with a functioning conscience. Spread the word. Especially to the families of those deliberatetly killed by the Anaheim police department. These mothers are going to learn in full detail how their sons were murdered.