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Dozens of residents came out on Sunday to protest the death of Tyrell Wilson, a man who died after being shot by a police officer in Danville. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
Dozens of residents came out on Sunday to protest the death of Tyrell Wilson, a man who died after being shot by a police officer in Danville. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
Dozens of protesters marched through Danville on Sunday. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
Dozens of protesters marched through Danville on Sunday. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
From left: Marvin Wilson (Tyrell Wilson’s father) and the family’s attorney, John Burris. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
From left: Marvin Wilson (Tyrell Wilson’s father) and the family’s attorney, John Burris. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
The route took the group through a section of downtown to the police station. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
The route took the group through a section of downtown to the police station. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
The Wilson family has retained a civil rights lawyer John Burris of Oakland — pictured here speaking to protesters and media — to investigate death of the 32-year-old homeless man. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan) -
The Wilson family has retained a civil rights lawyer John Burris of Oakland — pictured here speaking to protesters and media — to investigate death of the 32-year-old homeless man. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan)
Dozens of protesters marched through Danville on Sunday, coming out to condemn the death of 32-year-old Tyrell Wilson, who died after he was shot by a Danville police officer on March 11.
Wilson’s family, social justice advocates and community members gathered for a walking rally that ended outside the Danville Police Department headquarters, where attendees spoke of Wilson and called for justice.
Wilson, a Black man living unhoused near the freeway in Danville at the time of the shooting, was shot by Danville police Officer Andrew Hall at the intersection of Sycamore Valley Road and Camino Ramon on March 11.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office alleges Wilson advanced knife-in-hand toward Hall, who was responding to a report that Wilson was throwing rocks from an overpass onto Interstate 680. Wilson succumbed to his injuries at the hospital during the next week.
“I want to start off by saying Tyrell, he was a good kid,” said Wilson’s father Marvin, who is a 31-year law enforcement veteran. “I loved that boy to death.”
“A lot of people that I work with, our main goal first thing — if it takes 15 minutes, if it takes an hour — (is to) de-escalate. These younger officers, deputies they’re trigger-happy. And the thing is they’re not just going after people like me, they’re going after people that have mental issues going on and a lot of this can be solved by deescalation and they are not doing that,” Marvin Wilson added.
Protesters began their march at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Sycamore Valley Park and Ride, near which Tyrell Wilson had been living outdoors, before marching through the town to the police station while accompanied by a police escort that cleared the roads ahead of them.
Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris, who represents Wilson’s family, also spoke at the protest and contested police’s claims revolved around the shooting, stating that he has been in contact with an eyewitness that directly contradicts the sheriff’s office accounts.
“After hearing all that I have heard about Tyrell, he was a decent man, polite and kind,” Burris said. “I want to say this, the witnesses that I have interviewed have said that Tyrell did not have a knife in his hand at the time and he was not attempting to strike police, Tyrell’s hands were up … and he was shot and it was a kill shot, directly to his face.”
“For those of you in this community who knew that he was homeless, some of you knew him from that environment and you knew what a kind and respectful person he was, so this issue that the police claim that he had a knife and he tried to attack with a knife seems totally out of character,” he added.
Sheriff’s spokesperson Jimmy Lee declined to comment on the allegations.
On the day of the shooting, investigators released a photograph with their press release which they said showed Wilson approaching the officer with a knife. The photo (which had the subject’s face blocked out by editing software) appeared to be pulled from a police body camera; the video footage of the incident has not been released.
Hall, who has worked as a sworn law enforcement officer for 7-1/2 years, is employed as a sheriff’s deputy and assigned to Danville PD under the town’s contract with the county for police services. He is on paid administrative leave while Wilson’s death is being investigated by the county’s sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office.
Hall is the same Danville police officer who fatally shot 33-year-old Newark resident Laudemer Arboleda at close range while Arboleda tried to drive around police vehicles trying to block his path in downtown Danville on Nov. 3, 2018. Burris also represents Arboleda’s family, which has sued over his death.
A “Nice Kid” doesn’t throw rocks onto the freeway from a bridge endangering innocent people.
Screenshots from the video have been released. There is no doubt he had a knife in his hand with the blade extended. John Burris threw gasoline on the fire by repeating the false narrative that the knife is disputed. People need to be held accountable for intentionally making inflammatory comments for political and/or financial gain.
Another police officer was murdered today while defending our Capital. Where is the outrage? Where are the protests?
In my point of view if a Police Officer tells you to do something, you best do it or you will be subject to what the Officer feels is best way to handle the situation!
I think all statements here are true.
From the report if this person was throwing rocks off an overpass, police intervention is warranted. If this person attacked a police officer with a knife that officer can defend him/herself with lethal force, and it can also hold true we should strive for preservation of life of all parties. Just because the officer was justified in lethal force doesn’t mean that was the best choice.
The community imo, is right to ask how we don’t let someone die that brings a knife to a gunfight…..the adage has been stated for generations, and if the known outcome is one always beats the other, then there should be a way to win without someone dying.
That said I’ll always tell my kids, don’t give a police officer a reason to shoot you, they deal with bad guys all day and don’t know you from them, do what they say. They will protect themselves as they should be allowed to
“ . . . a shot to the face” is not how this should have been handled. A leg, an arm (maybe the one with the claimed knife?); he didn’t need to die. As the father said, de-escalation deserves some thought here.
Kathleen,
Officers are not taught to send warning shots, it escalates the altercation more so than stops it (yes death is the ultimate escalation), officers are taught to hit center mass or headshot. I think when facing a knife assault here you question why no stun gun / taser selection.
Certainly agree, but the knife was a question mark in the article at least. It is just mind boggling to me what police are trained to do (and not trained to do).
I did say to my spouse that people are nuts regarding the dead officer.
And I’ll certainly stand corrected on the knife, but not the shooting—or at least not where he was shot (assuming that is true as well).
Bay Area Native:
Where is the outrage? Where are the protests?
MSNBC reported the Capitol Police killer was White. That was not true.
The Capitol Police killer was a follower of prominent Democrat Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam.
No outrage, no protest!
It might be worthwhile for citizens to attend a Citizen’s Police Academy or at least apply to do some ride alongs with a local police officer. It is instructive to experience what police officers are facing on a daily basis to keep a community safe. Social media has led to some disturbing trends such as trial by video and a declaration of guilt before all facts are known.
“I want to start off by saying Tyrell, he was a good kid,” said Wilson’s father Marvin, “I loved that boy to death.”
“A lot of people that I work with, our main goal first thing — if it takes 15 minutes, if it takes an hour — (is to) de-escalate. These younger officers, deputies they’re trigger-happy. And the thing is they’re not just going after people like me, they’re going after people that have mental issues going on and a lot of this can be solved by deescalation and they are not doing that,” Marvin Wilson added.
“Wilson, a Black man living unhoused near the freeway in Danville”
So, Marvin, you loved him so much that you couldn’t stand having him live with you, and now he’s living under the freeway? And you had his entire life to deescalate his mental issues and failed, but now you expect the police to do what you failed at for decades in seconds?
Go collect your paycheck somewhere else.
There are approximately 1000 people shot and killed by police officers in the United States every year.
The vast majority of people shot and killed in the United States by police officers are white people.
Year 2020:
999 people shot and killed by police officers in the United States:
White people shot and killed by police officers in 2020 – 432 = 44%.
Black people shot and killed by police officers in 2020 – 226 = 23%.
Hispanic people shot and killed by police officers in 2020 – 156 = 16%.
Other race of people shot and killed by police officers in 2020 – 22 = 2%.
Unknown race of people shot and killed by police in 2020 – 163 =17%.
These numbers are consistent over the last five years.
Michael, the thing you are missing in your statistics is killlings/million, in which case, blacks are two and a half times more likely to be shot and killed.
My point:
With white people shot and killed by police, there is no protest, rioting, property destruction, looting, burning of local neighborhood businesses, causing harm to innocent people.
If all 999 people shot and killed by police officers in 2020 had complied to officer’s order, would not have been shot and killed.
An argument can be made that black people are “two and half times more likely” to not comply to police officer’s order.
I don’t think compliance is the only factor: George Floyd is one case. Anyone with mental illness would be another.