News and views from the award-winning author of the novels The Skinny Years, America Libre, House Divided and Pancho Land

Friday, May 27, 2011

Social Media resurrected story about Marine slain by AZ SWAT team

The shooting death of Jose Guerena at the hands of a Pima Regional SWAT team happened on May 5. At first, the Sheriff's office reported that some of the SWAT team members had seen muzzle flashes and claimed Jose Guerena fired first. This was later proved false. Four days after the questionable killing, details of the incident were sealed by a judge, barring any further investigation. The story appeared to fade.

But late last week, the story hit critical mass on social media sites. Using Twitter, Facebook and hundreds of blogs across the U.S., outraged citizens asked for answers, unwilling to accept the apparent cover-up of the facts by the Pima County Sheriff's office. Yesterday, the Sheriff's office released over 500 pages of documents and a video that attempts to exonerate their actions on May 5th. Today, the major news sources listed below are covering the Jose Guerena story. Hopefully, more will soon follow.


I applaud everyone on social media who spoke out. You helped shed the light of justice into this case. But this is not the time to let up. We need to press for a federal investigation. This questionable incident demands that unbiased outside observers examine the actions of the Pima Regional SWAT team on May 5th.

Raul Ramos y Sanchez