This story was originally published by East Idaho News.
Eight blocks away from where it happened, the grandfather of a boy who died after being shot multiple times by police officers spoke publicly for the first time.
Victor Perez’s grandfather and guardian, Luis Alicea, made his comments in Spanish and had them interpreted into English at a Thursday evening news conference following the official filing of a civil complaint. This marks the beginning of a federal lawsuit against the Pocatello Police Department, which is accused of violating Perez’s civil rights.
“What he would like to see is that justice be done as soon as possible, because this is about a human being who was killed in his own home, in their home. He was not an animal, and justice needs to be served,” Alicea said via the interpreter.
There will also be a “Truth and Reconciliation Conference” on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Little Wood Room in the Idaho State University Pond Student Union Building.
The city of Pocatello has previously denied commenting on Victor Perez’s death due to the ongoing litigation. The Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force is investigating the incident and will turn its findings over to Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador for review once the investigation is complete.
This conference will allow people to “voice concerns regarding the Victor Perez shooting, as well as any other community-related issues. Another goal of the conference is to match attorneys with citizens and reservation members who need representation,” says a press release from Burris, Nisenbaum, Curry & Lacy (BNCL), the firm representing Perez and his family.
On April 5, four Pocatello Police officers discharged their weapons at Victor Perez as he stood up and moved towards them while holding a knife in his backyard. The officers, who were separated from Perez by a fence, struck him with at least nine bullets, while one fired a beanbag round from a shotgun.
Perez, who was 17 years old at the time of his death, has been described as being autistic and having cerebral palsy. Perez died a week after the shooting, after receiving multiple surgeries and having his leg amputated.
“He doesn’t have words to express the trauma, the shock. This is a member of their family. His grandson was killed in front of the door to his own home, in front of the family,” Alicea said.
John Burris, the civil rights attorney who has represented clients like Rodney King and Tupac Shakur, attended the conference via Zoom and told the press that Perez’s rights were violated that day in early April.
“Young Perez’s civil rights have been violated,” Burris said. “He was shot and killed by four Pocatello police officers under circumstances that were clearly unjustified and uncalled for, and clearly demonstrated the use of excessive force,” Burris said.
Jennifer Call, a practicing attorney in Pocatello, introduced herself at the press conference. She explained that she would be BNCL’s local counsel in the case and why she contacted BNCL to let them know she was available to join them on the case.
“I’m born and raised here in Pocatello, this isn’t chasing money, this is about getting justice for Victor Perez and the family and our entire community. It was shocking what happened, and it shocked my conscience, and that’s why I stood up,” Call said.
Alicea also addressed how the family is processing the trauma from Perez’s shooting and death, explaining how hard it is to come up with words to describe it.
“As soon as he starts to form new thoughts, the images and the memory of what happened just keeps coming back to him, and he’s sort of at a loss. Also, with the rest of his family, they’re sometimes having trouble communicating, because everybody’s angry. His daughter still is in the house, but she won’t stop commenting and kind of dwelling on what happened, and it’s made a situation that turned their house into an unlivable place,” Alicea said, via a translator.
“This is not uncommon. This is the kind of pain (that) people suffer (when) police do outrageous things in their presence. When a loved one is killed in their presence,” Burris replied.
James Cook, the attorney with the firm that has been traveling to Pocatello, said that more people in the area have been approaching them with potential cases.
“We, unfortunately, had to reject a lot of them, and I know it’s frustrating for people,” Cook said. But he later continued, “We have a reservation that’s really close by, and people have bought some really devastating cases.”
The attorneys encouraged everyone to attend Saturday’s Truth and Reconciliation hearing. Call said that this lawsuit, and other potential ones like it, is how “we make change in the community and in our police force. They’re not going to do it on their own.”
