Community Action After Tyrell Wilson

TYRELL WILSON MEMORIAL & COMMUNITY ACTION, SUNDAY, APRIL 11

Tyrell Wilson killed by Danville Officer Andrew Hall on March 11, 2021. Hall also shot and killed Laudemer Arboleda in 2018. Both men were mentally ill.

April 11th marked one month since Tyrell Wilson was senselessly shot by Danville Police Officer Andrew Hall. This day was a celebration of Tyrell’s life and an opportunity for community engagement and organization around the issues of police accountability, racial justice, and mental health services.

On behalf of the organizers of Sunday’s Tyrell Wilson memorial and community building event, thank you for showing up and taking a stand against police brutality, racial injustice, and inadequate emergency services for people in mental health crises. Tyrell was a peaceful man who had a place in our community and we are in solidarity with his family’s mourning and fight for justice.

We would like to thank all of the featured speakers: Gigi Crowder (NAMI Contra Costa), Taun Hall (The Miles Hall Foundation), Wanda Johnson (Oscar Grant Foundation), Tiana Day (Youth Advocates for Change), Chloe Taufer (Students Demand Action), and Sanjev deSilva (Director of DEIS, The Athenian School). Thanks also to the many members of Moms Demand Action and Save Democracy who showed up to further educate our community.

As we have all been reeling from the endless announcements of lives lost to gun violence, including police violence, all of you have committed to take action locally. Two young men, Laudemer Arboleda and Tyrell Wilson, have already lost their lives at the hands of a single Danville Police Officer, Andrew Hall. Right now, our tax dollars are supporting Andrew Hall’s paid leave as he seeks to transfer out of the Danville PD to work in another part of Contra Costa County. Is this acceptable to you? We didn’t think so.

Help us demand that The Contra Costa County (CCC) Sheriff, CCC DA, and Town of Danville:

1. Commit to a transparent investigation by an independent agency which includes expedited release of all video footage related to the shooting of Tyrell Wilson
2. Halt Andrew Hall’s pending transfer request
3. Remove Andrew Hall from both the Danville Police force and the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department
4. Decertify Andrew Hall so he can never serve as a Police Officer again
5. Issue public apologies to the families of Tyrell Wilson and Laudemer Arboleda

Certain action items, such as the firing of Andrew Hall, lay entirely in the hands of the Contra Costa County Sheriff, David Livingston. Other demands, such as the complete decertification of Andrew Hall, are contingent upon him being convicted of his crimes so that his Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certification is revoked.

There are also several upcoming town and county level meetings that you may attend and make your voice heard:

CCC Racial Justice Oversight Body:
April 15th, 1-3 p.m., Zoom

CCC Board of Supervisors Meeting:
April 20th at 9 a.m.

Danville Town Council:
April 20th, 5 p.m., Zoom

We are open to any suggestions going forward. One attendee, Teresa Stroin, echoed the forceful words of Chloe Taufer, in calling on white community members to speak up when they hear hate speech and educate peers about white privilege. Hopefully, we can help facilitate peer-to-peer working groups in the future. Please let us know if you would be interested in attending a workshop on this topic.

Finally, though the wheels of justice turn slowly, we do have a direct say in the process. There are many pieces of newly passed and proposed legislation which impact Sheriff oversight (AB 1185 and SB 271), decertifying officers (AB 17 and 60), as well as providing a mental health crisis line (AB-988). In our next email we will provide more details about all of this legislation and how you can support it.

Thank you for your commitment to making Danville a community that stands up to hate and injustice in all of their forms.

In service,

Veronica Benjamin and the Justice for Tyrell Wilson Action Committee

Please look out for the national call to action from Together We Stand:
http://www.twsrevolution.org/home.html

https://momsdemandaction.org/ part of https://www.everytown.org/

https://www.justiceformileshall.org/get-involved

https://https://oscargrantfoundation.org/.org/

https://youthadvocatesforchange.org/

Resources for being a white ally:
https://www.dismantlecollective.org/resources/

Federal Civil Rights lawsuit filed against Danville by John Burris on behalf of the Wilson family:
https://johnburrislaw.com/Wilson-v-City-of-Danville-Complaint.pdf

Just in case you haven’t already, please sign and share these petitions so that we can demonstrate broad community support:
https://www.change.org/p/contra-costa-county-sheriff-department-help-get-justice-for-tyrell-wilson

https://www.change.org/p/allan-shields-justice-for-laudemer-arboleda-killed-by-danville-pd?redirect=false