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The hillside shack in Chiquimula, Guatemala that housed the family of Juan Perez and Margarita Lopez didn’t have electricity the day their eldest son, Amilcar, left for the United States.

But it did the day he died.

During an April 24 press conference, with more than 3,000 miles between Chiquimula and San Francisco, both Juan and Margarita addressed via Skype the media and supporters of Amilcar Perez-Lopez—the 20-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who was fatally shot on Feb. 26 by two plainclothes San Francisco police officers in the Mission District.

“I’ve suffered greatly about my son,” said Margarita, through her Mayan Ch’orti’ accent in the best Spanish she could muster. Margarita couldn’t hold back her tears. “I ask for justice for my son, because I’m feeling this deeply, that they took my son.”

Arnoldo Casillas, the attorney representing the Perez-Lopez family, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against San Francisco Police Department on April 24 after private autopsy findings challenged the official police version of the fatal shooting. The lawsuit implicates SFPD Chief Greg Suhr, officers Eric Reboli and Craig Tiffe, and the City and County of San Francisco.

“The Mission District has a cancer,” said Casillas. “Over and over, young Hispanic men are being abused of their civil rights—being trampled.”

Perez-Lopez was shot on Folsom Street between 24th and 25th streets after plainclothes officers Reboli and Tiffe responded to a call that a man armed with a knife was chasing another man. On the night of the shooting, Suhr stated that Perez-Lopez (who hadn’t yet been identified) lunged at officers with the knife raised overhead, prompting Reboli and Tiffe to open fire.

“It’s a lie. There is no other way to characterize that version,” said Casillas. “He was shot in the back four times. If I’m charging you, you can’t shoot me in the back.”

The private autopsy, conducted by forensic pathologist Jay Chapman of Santa Rosa, concluded four entry wounds in Perez-Lopez’s back: one near the upper right shoulder, two to the mid-lower right back, and one to the mid left back. There was also one that entered through the back of Perez-Lopez’s right arm, grazing his chest, and one to the back of his head.

Casillas argued that the shots to the back and the wound through Perez-Lopez’s arm indicate that not only was Perez-Lopez running away from the officers, but he also had his arm at his side at the time of the shooting.

“This isn’t the person that Chief Suhr spoke of,” Casillas said. “It’s physically impossible to get these trajectories through his body unless he’s running away.”

Though Perez-Lopez’s legal team is still waiting on the results of the official autopsy, they have seen the photos of the entry wounds and expect the results to mirror that of the private autopsy.
In addition to the private autopsy, three eyewitnesses and a Feb. 26 photo taken by neighbor Chris Carlsson seem to contradict Suhr’s version of events.

Mr. Perez, the person whom Amilcar was chasing with a knife following an altercation, claimed Amilcar was grabbed from behind before dropping the knife and being shot by police. The two other witnesses (referred to as Mr. V and Mr. D for their own safety) support Mr. Perez’s claim.

Carlsson’s photo also showed Perez-Lopez dead in the street between two parked cars, and not on the sidewalk where Suhr has stated the shooting occurred.

Casillas is calling for both officers to be charged, yet admits that isn’t likely.

Casillas’ team has given their entire case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco in hopes of landing a federal prosecution.

The families afterward
On Feb. 27, a day after Amilcar was killed, Officer Eric Reboli’s wife Marilu wrote on her Facebook page: “Thank you to everyone who has reached out to Eric through me. He is doing well and I will pass on the messages. Thank you for the support. Life is fragile and sweet. Be safe out there.”
Jonathan Melrod, one of the attorneys participating in the lawsuit and member of the California advisory board to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said he had seen Suhr interviewed on TV regarding the officers’ families.

“He [Suhr] said, ‘You know, it’s been really hard for the families of the two officers.’ This is the family that it’s hard for,” Melrod said, pointing to a photo of the Perez-Lopez family. “The family that depended on Amilcar for a living. The family that sent their son here to provide [them] a better life. I didn’t hear Chief Suhr talk about that family. And that’s the family we’re here to talk about today.”

Later that evening, hundreds of people marched in the Mission, starting at the location where Perez-Lopez was killed. Two of those people were Refugio and Elvira Nieto, who endured the loss of their son Alex last year at the hands of the police.

“I’m here with a lot of sadness,” said Elvira, remembering the expression on Margarita Lopez’s face. “Because I know the pain of having to go through this.”