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STOCKTON, Calif.—Stockton police say a teenager who was fatally shot by officers had escaped from juvenile hall, where he was being held on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy and torture.

James Rivera died on Thursday after two officers and a sheriff’s deputy fired on his van. The 16-year-old was suspected of having stolen the vehicle at gunpoint a day earlier.

Police spokesman Pete Smith says officers opened fire when they believed the van was moving back toward them as they approached it on foot. Police had rammed the vehicle following a chase.

About 20 people protested the shooting as unjustified outside police headquarters on Friday. Rivera’s family says he did not steal the van, but bought it.

The shooting is under investigation.

Police say Rivera escaped from juvenile hall last spring.

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Tags: California, Police Brutality
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News One Links

 
  • http://www.blackplanet.com/NotTrapped/ NotTrapped

    WHEN WILL WE AS PEOPLE OF COLOR STAND TOGETHER?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/CAROLINAGIRLSRDABEST/ CAROLINAGIRLSRDABEST

    Here is yet another black child/boy who case will be looked at as(COP) my life was at risk,he threaten me with the van,he had a gun pointing at us,he shot at us,and the van was stolen. Yes this child did wrong but,should he loose his life over it and the cop get a slap on the back and higher pay? What happen to the court system trying you…is this the new law now shoot to kill and get a higher pay?(JMO)

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/ProBlackfist/ ProBlackfist

    Wake up ?
    I wonder how many black’s can see that we have been souled and set up to be
    done like how we are bearing witness to now.
    With the promotion of all this media ignorance,talk shows,dumb urban
    ghetto hood type books,sell-out commercial coonery type minstrel show
    ignorant rappers.
    Plus all these watered down so-called black movies.
    The division between black women and men is at such high level.
    Black women don;t trust black men and black men don’t trust black women.
    Who really created and made this division even worse ?
    slavemaster
    Wake up !! Read a book BluePrint for Black Power by Amos Wilson
    The real bible of real liberation

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MIKE83/ MIKE83

    we need to all come together black ppl and start killing them instead of ourself.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Cashuwant23/ Cashuwant23

    tru tang we need to wake up BLACK PEOPLE STAND TOGETHER IT AIN’T GONNA GET ANY BETTER BUT WORSE!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/msveevee1/ msveevee1

    well now he won’t have to live in misery no more.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/0VancouverHurts/ 0VancouverHurts

    @ MIKE83 Yes, this is a great piece of advice for our people. lol

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/TC_Illustrations/ TC_Illustrations

    I agree with mike83 becuz I want my shots to count for something, but this is were the patience of the saints come in. Evil abounds, information flows to and fro. The wh0re of Babylon has just unrobed herself so the end is drawing near.

    The Son’s of Satan will die on their knees with their eyes open. RIP MAKAVELI you won’t be dead for long.

    I don’t believe in returning evil for evil but I do believe in protecting the children.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/get_wit_eman/ get_wit_eman

    Sad how the “Willie Lynch” teaching of 1712 is STILL affecting our Black people today…No matter how much we down play it and say it doesnt..it DOES!!

    If Black people could let go of the “teachings” that Willie Lynch assured the other “slave owners” to instill in us, and GUARANTEED they would last for 300 YEARS and beyond….we would be a GREAT People…

    Im not saying it cant be overcome, BUT..when we STILL dont respect one another, KILL one another and so forth over the Most “Trivial” Shyt..we cant even begin to stop this “continued attack” from the other races against us.

    *One quick example…the young lady who got her brains blew out for her “shorts too tight”…I mean..its these kinds of Things that “Lynch” described as a means to keep us down, and un-focused to HELP and STICK together with each other.

    I Know i got off topic, BUT dayum…when …when..when…can we STOP our Own assault on each other, which would then begin to stop the assault on us by the REST…

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/mddarch/ mddarch

    what r all yall talking about? this kid was probably TROUBLE MAKER and a stupid one at that….some brother are just stupid as hell

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/PrincessLisback/ PrincessLisback

    Cant believe this thats Y i hate police out here in Cali they are some of the most corrupt sets of MFers Willie Lynch aint got nothin on these dudes …RIP to this boy…

    I dont care what he did he aint deserve to die for it

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/I_Like_Thugz/ I_Like_Thugz

    but think about how troubled that youth was. im not sayin the cops were right, but none of this wouldve happened if her escaped jail, stole a van, and caused a police chase. think about it.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MELLO1204/ MELLO1204

    This is so very sad, yet not surprising to me. California PD is always killing these young black men. I think they trying to make sure there is less of them to handle, in the future. I am so tired of seeing young black men/ boys being shot and killed by California Police Officers, and they quickly make up excuses why they did it as if it’s justified. No weapon was found one this boy at all, the same sh*t happened when my 15 year old nephew was shot in the back by an Oakland Police Officer,July, 2007(no weapon found on him)…… this mess is sickening…….

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MELLO1204/ MELLO1204

    R.I.P James Rivera…. no matter what your past reveals, you still did not deserve to be gunned down like an animal……..WE LOVE YOU BROTHER

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/digg_it_up/ digg_it_up

    he is black…he is one of me…of course amma be mad…what yall take this shyt for?…huh….yall must be outa yall mind to think you go shoot us up like that and we be quiet about it….

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/real1ist05/ real1ist05

    i understand why this would anger the black community, but as a teacher at an alternative school, in which 90% of my students are black and have been convicted of juvenile crimes and adult crimes…we have to open our eyes.

    Where is the community when the child is growing up and becoming a problem.

    Where are the mentors and role models to set the examples.

    We know as a society we are more prone to harsher punishments and police violence….so why do our young youth continue to put themselves in certain situations. Especially, if they have been in trouble with the law before.

    Accountability must go both ways.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/daeondrapearl/ daeondrapearl

    How come no one is ever mad that he was robbing people with guns and could have harmed someone innocent not to mention the pain and problems he caused his victims. You live by the sword you may die by the sword.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzpast/ jazzpast

    its not about UNITY, it is about COLLECTIVE AWARENESS.when we are all aware that we are at WAR here, right now, at this very moment then we can ALL UNITE. The problem that majority of us has is, WE BELIEVE AND WE HAVE FAITH IN ASKING FOR JUSTICE FROM UNJUST PEOPLE(OUR OPPRESSOR).

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzpast/ jazzpast

    SAD,SAD,SAD! Is that all as a people are we capable of feeling? Another black life taken from us, someone’s son, brother, cousin and friend; and all we ever say as a people is WE ARE SAD ABOUT IT. SMH. Being sad doesnt do anything, it doesnt force or pushes you to take an action. Yet, none of ya’ll are MAD. I AM MAD, I AM FURIOUS, and I AM READY TO TAKE ACTION. But ALONE, I AM NOTHING. I HAVE NOTHING. WE HAVE POWER AS A COLLECTIVE, BUT WE WILL NEVER KNOW IT AS LONG AS WE CONTINUE TO BE UNAWARE and NAIVE. I CALLED OUT FOR THOSE THAT ARE DOWN TO MAKE CHANGES, and NO ONE took on the challenge. Nigggas will be nigggas.its not time to get rid of the word, not anytime soon. What you dont know will kill you! FUK ALL ARMCHAIR REVOLUTIONARIES AND INTELLECTUAL MASTERBATORS!!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/doraindeville/ doraindeville

    Sistas and Brothas… are we that messed up these days? this is a 16yr old who ESCAPED from juvie, ROBBED, and TORTURED someone. what about the person he tortured? i guess its OK to do that because thats what we expect from each other these days. as usual Black Folk and (the very messy) NEWS ONE say the police are wrong even though he was trying to run them over. as for me: BLACK or WHITE, IF U ROB OR TORTURE SOMEONE, 16 OR NOT, U ARE DANGEROUS!!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/echoe63/ echoe63

    EXCUSE ME BUT HE WAS UNDER SUSPICION OF THOSE THINGS. YOU HAVE NO IDEA IF HE DID IT OR NOT. HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE OF RACIAL PROFILING NOT HARD EVIDENCE. OR MAYBE IT WAS HARD EVIDENCE. POINT IS YOU DON’T KNOW. THEY KILLED HIM. I DOUBT THAT WAS NECCESSARY. BUT TO SAY OH HE DID XYZ SO HE DESERVED IT – WTF???

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/NunyaBidniz/ NunyaBidniz

    Thank you Doraindeville…when are we going to stop standing up for criminal behaviour? I’m sorry this CHILD is dead, however at 16 he is able to make choices. Even if he was there wrongly, escaping was not the right choice to fix his situation. It only exacerbated things and now he’s dead. At some point, we are going to have to get out of the mindset that standing by Blacks who CHOOSE to commit crimes is tantamount to Black Unity and Pride.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzpast/ jazzpast

    For older folks to criminalize a young boy whos under SUSPICION, it means it hasnt been proven, still gathering evidence, going to trial, and so on and so forth. Yet, ya’ll have audacity to jump on his neck and back before proven. When did juvenile hall or justice system ever helped rehabilitate and see what our troubled kidss needed in order to be better human beings and citizen?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/mensa517/ mensa517

    Makes me angy that the police just haphazardly decide to shoot someone let alone a 16 yr old…For all u azzholes who side with the police—-don’t you realize most charges are CONTRIVED in order to make them stick and to send another boy/man/brother to jail? There is a time coming when they will wish they had not started a WAR against BLACK men…….I’m just sick of this sh it—forgive my rant….

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Hanma1/ Hanma1

    they wanna put themselves in danger in unnecessary situations just to kill someone. you better beware of being accused of something nowadays because they’ll kill you.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzpast/ jazzpast

    What would happened to so called African-Amerikkkans(negros)if all of a sudden white people are gone? They are going to lose their minds without white people. They wouldnt know what to do without massa or they call em MY FRIEND. SMH

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/blackbizman2008/ blackbizman2008

    This one needs more investigation. Unfortunately, a lot of police officers sometimes “recollect” events after the fact when they file their police reports. I’ve experienced an incident when the police made stuff up after the fact to show favor to a false accuser and covered their tracks to make themselves look like they are “fighting crime and domestic violence.” I have a hard time believing this child backed up a vehicle towards them, thus prompting them to open fire. If anything, all they had to do was move to the side, or shoot out the tires.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/blackbizman2008/ blackbizman2008

    I had a chance to read some of the comments here, and I certainly understand why some would criticize the young man, saying if he did the crime, he should do the time, and that we must stop making excuses for crimes by young brothas. Although there is certainly no excuse for crime by anyone at any age, and we as a race must hold ourselves to a higher standard, we must also be mindful of the fact that we are and have been for years, targeted by a powerful group behind what i call the “criminal injustice industry” (CII). The CII needs a certain percentage of citizens in any country to be criminals so that they have a ready pool of people to do their dirty work. This principle is similar to what economists believe about any country’s economy: that we supposedly need no less than 5% of people to be unemployed to keep wages in check so that the wealth get wealthier. Those of you who studied economics in college know what i’m talking about (or should know). This 5% rule does not benefit the poor – in fact, it helps create a class of criminals as it is the poor who usually are tempted to steal, which then leads to a criminal record, and then leads to them saying “f*** it! I might as well do more crimes,” and so on. It is no accident! the people in the CII know mass psychology and criminalization techniques very well, so open your eyes and recognize the patterns of these demonic people. Having said that, we must not let our minds and bodies and spirits be polluted by their schemes. So we should have a zero tolerance for crimes in our hoods, and for police corruption when it rears its ugly head.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/phazex_female/ phazex_female

    “A BLACK man has no rights a white man is bound to respect.”

    –Dred Scott (from the Dred Scott Decision)

    Truer words were never spoken.

    Parable: If you have your hand in the lion’s mouth? You have to E-A-S-E it out.

    Because even when his eyes appear closed?

    “The beast is not asleep.”

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzpast/ jazzpast

    Hotep my NUBIAN QUEEN @ Phazex

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/cutthashyt/ cutthashyt

    man all u negros who side wit tha kkkracka police need a fukin bullet inbetween yo fukin eyez.. sum u blk folks r fukkin worthless…

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/black_coffee_7/ black_coffee_7

    And no doubt, the officer will be put on ‘administrative leave” pending the investigation. I have this s**t memorized because I have heard this COVERUP so much.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/black_coffee_7/ black_coffee_7

    cutthashyt….GO BACK to school and learn how to speak and spell!! You are embarassing!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/manba1/ manba1

    These police must had been listening to the new york city police with that tired azz old alibi(lie) Their stories even sound the same of the car was trying to hit them, i guess the only difference is that the sick azz nyc police shot over fifty something shot killing sean bell and wounding his other innocent buddies who was celebrating him getting married the next day which will never happen now. I suspect these murderers will be freed also and if this kind of killing continue, blacks is going to be defending themselves against these type of so called police. Obviously they knew this was a child and they smash into him and when you do that the front car will go out of control. I’m not defending this kid as a good kid he obviously was a trouble mind but that don’t mean that he should be shot with that b.s lie of he was aiming the auto at them.

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