Letter: Antonio Zambrano-Montes is dead but should still be alive

When is it acceptable to shoot and kill an unarmed, mentally ill person instead of getting them the help they need? Pasco police are allowed to give the death penalty to rock throwers?

Antonio Zambrano-Montes’ refrain “kill me” was a call for help, not execution. Antonio is dead but should still be alive. Under current law and with the police policing the police, there may never be a case where police shootings are not “justified,” which is such a low bar.

How can we prevent this from happening again? The city of Pasco should be held liable for this death through civil action, but that may not change behavior. A different police chief with a new policing philosophy and better training would be a good start.

The Justice Department and the ACLU may be able to affect change but that is not a certainty. The attorney general may weigh in and make things happen but that is not assured. A long-overdue citizen oversight committee would help.

But, change will likely only come when the people of the Tri-Cities finally say, “Enough is enough. Antonio Zambrano-Montes is dead but should still be alive.”

Kennewick

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Letter: Antonio Zambrano-Montes is dead but should still be alive."