Please, please, please stop the violence

Mom condemns violence in wake of police shooting. Police maintained a heavy presence on the streets of Anaheim to guard against further violent protests in the wake of the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by officers.

The mother of Manuel Diaz condemned the unrest that has roiled the city, saying she did not want them to become her son's legacy.



"I watched as my son took his last breath. I watched as his heart stopped beating for the last time," Genevieve Huizar said Wednesday, breaking into sobs. "Please, please, please stop the violence. It's not going to bring my son back, and this is the worst thing any mother could go through."



Her news conference followed a night of protests where as many as 600 demonstrators surged through downtown, smashing shop windows, setting trash fires and hurling rocks and bottles at riot-clad officers who used batons, pepper balls and beanbag rounds.

Twenty-four people, including four minors, were arrested on suspicion of crimes ranging from failure to disperse to assault with a deadly weapon, Police Chief John Welter said.

The violence downtown left 20 stores with shattered windows, authorities said
Mayor Tom Tait also appealed for calm and said the U.S. attorney's office had agreed to review two officer-involved shootings over the weekend including the one that left Diaz dead and that he planned to meet with members of that office and the FBI on Friday.

"We will have a clear and complete understanding of these incidents" followed by a public dialogue on what actions should be taken, Tait said at a news conference.

Police were out in force Wednesday night and there were no immediate reports of problems.

Police said Diaz was shot Saturday after two officers approached three men who were acting suspiciously in an alley before running away. One officer chased Diaz to the front of an apartment complex.


via yahoo