Maxine Waters requests federal investigation into Guardado's death
Rep. Waters will formally request a federal investigation on the 18-year-old's death in Gardena, saying "enough is enough".
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Rep. Maxine Waters said today she will formally request U.S. Attorney General William Barr investigate the killing of 18-year-old Andres Guardado by a sheriff's deputy near Gardena as a civil rights violation.
"Enough is enough," Waters said in the announcement, a day after multiple sheriff's department officials declined to answer questions during the Los Angeles County coroner's office inquest into Guardado's death. The officials cited advice from attorneys.
"It is outrageous that the officers involved in the killing of Andres Guardado are now refusing to testify in the coroner's inquest into Guardado's death. It is this type of obfuscation by the LASD that has fueled decades-long outrage and resentment among the communities who find themselves victims of police violence time and time again," Waters said in a statement Tuesday.
"LASD has a known history of serious abuses and allegations of misconduct that include racist gangs, the targeting of people of color and shootings of civilians."
The deputy who fired the fatal shots, Miguel Vega, did not attend the proceeding, with an attorney saying he was out of the country. An attorney for Vega's partner, Deputy Christopher Hernandez, also indicated he would not testify, noting that Hernandez did not fire at Andres Guardado, who was fatally shot June 18 near Gardena.
Two sheriff's homicide detectives who were assigned to the shooting investigation, Mike Davis and Joseph Valencia, repeatedly declined to answer questions, saying that under advice from counsel they were invoking their rights under the Constitution.
Retired California Court of Appeals Justice Candace D. Cooper, who is overseeing the proceeding, excused them, but said she will determine if their blanket refusals to answer questions was appropriate and they may be called back later.
Waters said Tuesday that she, along with Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan, D-San Pedro, requested that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra investigate Guardado's death, and Sheriff Alex Villanueva requested that Becerra monitor the sheriff's department's investigation, but Becerra has declined both requests.
