Families to rally against police brutality on Sunday’s National Day of Protest in Sacramento
Every year on Oct. 22, families around the nation rally against suspected incidents of police brutality that killed or injured someone they love, and this year, Sacramento-area families will demand accountability at a rally in Southside Park.
Marissa Barrera, whose brother Michael Barrera died in 2017 after Woodland police used a stun gun on him, said in a news release that these events are an opportunity for families to demand political action and raise awareness about killings involving police. Researchers document these fatal encounters at www.fatalencounters.org.
In 2020, Barrera wrote an op-ed piece for The Bee in which she talked about how she was transformed into an activist: “The day they stole my brother, we joined a family that I never knew existed: the community of all those who have lost a loved one to police violence. Losing my brother opened my eyes to the culture of impunity for abusive cops that has put all of our communities at risk.”
National organizers, in explaining the history of this event, said they fixed upon the Oct. 22 date back in 1996 because children would be back in school and elections would be held soon after in November.
Known as the National Day of Protest, the local Oct. 22 event will begin at noon Sunday at 2115 6th St. in Sacramento and will feature speeches by those who lost family to police violence.
Planning to attend? It may take extra time to get to the event because some streets and freeway ramps in the area will be closed Sunday because of the Ironman California race, including a key exit off nearby Highway 50, and there are also lane closures on Highway 50 because of road construction.
