Ricardo Diaz Zeferino: Footage of Los Angeles police shooting an unarmed man made public
Federal judge orders release of dashcam footage showing Ricardo Diaz Zeferino being shot and killed by Gardena officers investigating a bicycle theft
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A federal judge has ordered the release of police dashcam footage that shows three officers shooting an unarmed man in 2013.
The footage above shows three men mistakenly suspected of stealing a bicycle, standing in a Los Angeles street, under the glare of police lights and surrounded by armed officers.
The officers order the men to keep their hands up. Two men comply while Ricardo Diaz Zeferino appears confused by the instructions. He repeatedly drops and raises his hands and paces slightly forward and backward. A green laser can then be seen on his person as police officers take aim.
After he removes his baseball cap from his head, three officers open fire, killing Diaz Zeferino with eight bullets. One of the other men was also wounded in the shooting.
The officers feared that Diaz Zeferino was reaching for a weapon when he removed his cap. But, the 34-year-old was unarmed and the stolen bicycle in question actually belonged to his brother – which he was trying to find.
The city of Gardena paid $4.7 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit with Diaz Zeferino’s family and Eutiquio Acevedo Mendez, the other man wounded in the shooting.
The city agreed to the settlement in the belief that the video would not be made public. They argued that releasing the video would deter police from using dashcams in the future and would endanger the safety of the officers.
But, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said it was in the public interest that the videos were released, especially after the settlement was paid using taxpayer money.
The Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and Bloomberg had filed a lawsuit to release the footage.
Paul Colford, a spokesperson for the Associated Press said: “We applaud the court's decision to unseal the video… The Associated Press, joining with other news organizations, believes it's important that the public has access to videos like this to better understand the actions of their police officers.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments