Bay Area counties have set up locations as cooling centers and for wildfire smoke relief. Information and hours subject to change, and COVID precautions are required. Check local city offices for updated information.

Last updated: Monday Sep 28, 12:30pm. For questions or updates, email Corinne Smith [email protected] 

Current List of Open Cooling Centers

Pleasanton Senior Center, 5353 Sunol Rd Pleasanton

Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak Street Alameda

Robert Livermore Community Center, 4444 East Ave Livermore

Dublin Senior Center, 7600 Amador Valley Blvd Dublin

Dorothy Day House, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Berkeley

Current list of open cooling centers in Contra Costa County. 

Nick Rodriguez Community Center, 213 F Street, Antioch.

Antioch Water Park, 4701 Lone Tree Way, Antioch.

Brentwood Community Center, 35 Oak Street, Brentwood.

Concord Senior Center, 2727 Parkside Circle, Concord.

Martinez Senior Center, 818 Green Street, Martinez.

Contra Costa County’s Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) Office, 4545 Delta Fair Blvd., Antioch

Sonoma County Office of Emergency Management is currently coordinating wildfire shelter locations and resources, locations and information subject to change, follow updates here.

Evacuees can go to the following locations:

Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma (accepting sheltering in cars and RVs. Not ready for congregant sheltering at this point.)

Petaluma Veterans Building, 1094 Petaluma Blvd. South, Petaluma (Temporary Evacuation Point and shelter)

Sonoma Raceway, 29355 Arnold Drive, Sonoma (Temporary Evacuation Point, car sheltering and camping)

A Place to Play park, 2375 West Third Street in Santa Rosa (Temporary evacuation point, staff speak English or Spanish.)

Finley Community Center, 2060 W College Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95401

For a map of current evacuation zones, click here.

No information available.

Cooling center information here.

Campbell Community Center, 1 W. Campbell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008

Milpitas Senior Center, 40 N. Milpitas Blvd, Milpitas, CA 95035

Morgan Hill Library, 660 W Main Ave, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Community Center,201 South Rengstorff Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94040

Mitchell Park Communit​y Center, 3700 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303

City of San Jose

Camden Community Center, 3369 Union Ave., San Jose, CA 95124

Vietnamese American Community Center, 2072 Lucretia Ave., San Jose, CA 95122

Edenvale Branch Library Community Room, 2072 Lucretia Ave., San Jose, CA 95122

Joyce Ellington Branch Library Community Room, 491 E. Empire St., San Jose, CA 95112

Santa Clara Senior Center, 1303 Fremont Street, Santa Clara, CA 95050

Saratoga Library, 13650 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga, CA 95070​

Murphy Park Building, 260 N Sunnyvale Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Cooling Centers offered at all County Libraries during regular hours, usually 9am – 5pm. Check city offices for additional locations.

No information available

San Francisco Weather Relief Centers information can be found here. The following locations are open Sunday Sep 27 – Monday Sep 28, from 10am – 5:30pm

San Mateo County libraries are available as cooling centers. Locations and operating hours may be found here.

The post Bay Area Cooling Centers for Sep 28 – Oct 1, 2020 appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – On “Mondays with Mitch,” Cat and Brian talk with Letters and Politics host Mitch Jeserich about the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the political pressure by the Trump Administration to confirm her replacement

0:34 – COVID questions, latest research, and taking your calls.

John Swartzberg is clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. We discuss the second case of transverse myelitis in Astrazeneca trial; the CDC reverses guidance re: aerosols; the White house shuts down proposed FDA changes to vaccine approval rules and more.

1:08 – Trump picks Supreme Court nominee: Amy Coney Barrett

Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) is Senior Editor of Law and Policy for Rewire News Group. She also co-hosts the podcast Boom! Lawyered.

1:34 – CalFire update: Three fires are burning in Napa and Sonoma Counties, and over 10,000 people have been evacuated in the Santa Rosa area

1:40 – How climate change influences heat waves and fire season

Eugene Cordero is professor of the Department of Meteorology and Climate Science at San Jose State University, and founder of Green Ninja, an education provider that uses climate and environmental topics to teach middle school science. 

The post What does Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court mean for reproductive rights? Plus: Updates on 3 new fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties, over 10,000 people evacuated appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – In November, the Trump Administration will argue before the 8 Justices of the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act. For analysis on the political battle, we speak with Marjorie Cohn is a professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild. 

0:20 – What Losing the Affordable Care Act Could Mean for Californians

Laurel Lucia is Health Care Program Director at the UC Berkeley Labor Center. 

0:34 – New film examines organizing for change, beyond the myths and stereotypes

Organizing is the New Cool explores the origin of The FTP Movement and how they mobilize against social injustice and oppression, in Atlanta, GA. The film “stands as a multimedia renunciation of out molded stereotypes about activists.  It showcases how a new cadre of activists reinvent collective organizing and animate an admirably authentic and unabashedly hip leadership style which attracts followers and provokes reconsideration.”

We’re joined by director and narrator Kalonji Jama Changa to discuss the filmmaking project, histories and insights into this historical moment.

The post The fate of the Affordable Care Act will be decided by the Supreme Court in November, plus Trump’s nominee; Plus: A new film for hope: ‘Organizing is the New Cool’ appeared first on KPFA.

Listen to the full radio report here, first aired September 24, 2020:

By Ariel Boone (@arielboone), KPFA elections reporter

OAKLAND, CA – Ride-hailing and delivery companies Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Postmates and Instacart have spent at least $182 million in support of Proposition 22, which California voters will decide in November. 

At issue is the basic question: are drivers independent contractors, or should they be guaranteed all of the rights of employees, like minimum wage, overtime, workers compensation and unemployment insurance? Proposition 22 would permanently classify drivers for app companies as independent contractors.

“What Prop 22 would do is protect the ability of app based drivers to choose to work as independent contractors, with control over where, when, how long and for whom they wanna work,” says Geoff Vetter, a spokesperson for the Yes on 22 campaign. “What we know from speaking with rideshare and delivery drivers is that more than 70 percent say that they want the ability to remain independent contractors.”

Driver John Mejia disagrees. He drove for Uber and Lyft for just over four years, and he says the flexibility is a myth. He wants to be treated as an employee, in accordance with AB 5. For years, Mejia recalls, he would log into the Uber and Lyft apps to drive, and see a notice informing him his pay rate would decrease. Each time, he pressed “accept” — that was the only way to continue working.

“They’ve always controlled how much I make when, when I get paid the most and under their algorithms,” Mejia says. “Is that independence? Not really. Is that, is that flexibility? Not really.”

The workplace rights of John Mejia and thousands of other app drivers became a state policy fight in 2018, when the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision called Dynamex. It created a simple test to determine if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. 

To pass the Dynamex ABC test and classify their its drivers as independent contractors, Uber, Lyft, Doordash and their industry would have to prove that, A – Their drivers are “free from the control and direction of the company”; B – that the driving they do would is “outside the usual course of the company’s business”; And C – That the driver is engaged in an independent trade or small business.

Though lawsuits are currently making their way through courts deciding the matter, labor experts tell KPFA that multiple federal judges have agreed that app companies fail the ABC test — and that drivers are employees. Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, the author of AB 5, a bill that incorporated the Dynamex decision into state law, agrees.

“There is no way for a delivery driver, an Uber driver, to fit into this idea of being a small business,” she says. “They don’t set their own rates. They don’t make their own decisions. they’re told where to go, when to go. there there’s just a lot of control in the entire aspect of it.”

“What I realized after driving with them almost for four and a half years, was that it was never about the relationship with the driver. It was really about their relationship to making money.” – John Mejia, driver for Uber and Lyft

Six weeks after Governor Newsom signed AB 5 in 2019, delivery and ride-hailing companies filed paperwork to put Proposition 22 on the ballot, and exempt themselves from the law.

Proposition 22 has support from police unions, multiple chambers of commerce, and the California Republican Party. In fact, the Yes on 22 campaign this month transferred $2 million to the California Republican Party to support campaigning efforts for the measure.

It’s opposed by labor unions, including the Teamsters, SEIU, United Food and Commercial Workers and the California Labor Federation as well as high-profile Democrats, like presidential nominee Joe Biden and senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.

Prop 22 would would permanently classify drivers for the app companies as independent contractors, not employees. It also contains some things that look like worker protections:

It bars companies from stealing tips from drivers, a practice which is already illegal for employers to do to employees.

It mandates drivers rest after working for 12 hours — though drivers could easily flout the law by switching to a second app. 

It makes app companies pay a healthcare subsidy for drivers to buy insurance through Covered California. But the subsidy is based on the price of a “bronze” plan, known for high deductibles and fees. 

Plus, Prop 22 creates a minimum pay system, something drivers have long demanded, which the app companies say is a historic wage guarantee. The initiative promises 30 cents a mile and 120 percent of minimum wage for hours worked. But there’s a catch: labor attorneys say the companies found a way to undercount work hours.

“The ballot proposition would only pay drivers for about two-thirds of the time that they’re actually working, because it only pays them for engaged time,” says Rey Fuentes, a legal fellow at the Partnership for Working Families. 

“The companies funded research that clearly indicates drivers spend about a third of their time waiting, logged on, engaged to work — or essentially engaged to wait. And that time is compensable. Under California law, you should be paid for that time.”

Another study by UC Santa Cruz researchers suggested the unpaid waiting time for San Francisco gig drivers could be closer to 20-24 percent of their working time. Whatever the proportion, under Prop 22, waiting time would remain uncompensated. 

The Yes on 22 campaign told KPFA that they intentionally limited driver pay to this so-called “engaged time” to prevent drivers from double dipping, earning money to wait on two apps at the same time.

But two drivers told KPFA they feel the apps keep them waiting without pay on purpose to “maximize profits” and increase the availability of instant rides and deliveries for customers.

Another thing Proposition 22 does: restrain lawmakers. If the state legislature wants to give app drivers a legal right to unionize or collectively bargain, they have to amend Prop 22, and that requires a seven-eigths supermajority vote. The part of the measure that makes drivers independent contractors could never be amended, Rey Fuentes says.

Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez says she’s “never” seen a ballot initiative with a seven-eighths threshold. “Sometimes it requires a three fourth vote of the legislature, but seven-eighths is almost laughable.”

Geoff Vetter, the Yes on 22 spokesperson, says it’s intentional. “We think it’s important that the voice of drivers and voters be protected, so that if Proposition 22 passes in November, the legislature can’t come back in January and completely undo it.”

Another impact Prop 22 might have: keeping drivers on the job while they’re sick. Independent contractors don’t get the paid sick leave that state and local laws require for employees. 

Labor rights lawyer Rey Fuentes says this means Proposition 22 would even override more generous local laws in places like San Francisco, where employees are currently guaranteed access to up to nine days of paid sick leave. “The ballot proposition would make that law inaccessible to workers for companies like Doordash and Uber and Lyft, and leave them with zero paid sick leave,” he says.

KPFA spoke with a driver named Edan Alva, who had no legal protections or sick leave when he fell seriously ill with the flu in January. Driving has been Alva’s primary source of income since 2018, and seeing a doctor would have cost him $120, which he could not afford. 

“I had to work sick, putting myself and my passengers at risk,” he says. “And I hated myself for doing that. But the choice was between working sick and losing the roof over my head. I worked as much as I could just until I earned enough money to pay my rent. And then I just physically couldn’t work or really move much anymore.” 

Edan Alva now volunteers for a group called Gig Workers Rising, which is campaigning against Prop 22. He stopped driving when the pandemic started, and says he won’t go back unless he feels safe. The CDC currently recommends companies pay for worker sick leave — so they don’t go to work sick, and possibly spread a deadly disease.

Thousands of drivers have also struggled to access pandemic unemployment insurance, because Uber and Lyft have declined to report driver earnings to the state. John Mejia filed for pandemic unemployment insurance, but the companies wouldn’t confirm to the state that he worked for them, even though he had his earnings documented on a 1099.

“They made it difficult for me,” Mejia says. “I actually got some unemployment insurance, but it took me just under six months before I saw any money from them.”

The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education conducted analysis that found Uber and Lyft would owe the state of California’s unemployment insurance fund $413 million, if they had classified their drivers as employees. For now, California is continuing to pay out, despite the companies not paying in.

Rebecca Smith of the National Employment Law Project says, “if you are an employee, you’re entitled to all of those things. You’re entitled to minimum wage, and overtime, and health and safety protections, and paid sick days. And in California, paid family leave and unemployment benefits when you lose your job and workers’ compensation when you’re injured, much of that is taken away by this initiative and it’s taken away permanently.”

A 2020 study from UC Santa Cruz of gig drivers in San Francisco said 45% of the workers couldn’t handle a $400 financial emergency without having to borrow money. The study also estimates that up to 1 in 5 drivers might be earning nothing at all once expenses are accounted for.

The post What’s inside Prop 22, Uber and Lyft’s $182M ballot measure on the fate of gig drivers? appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – Breonna Taylor: Officer charged … but not for killing her

John Burris is a civil rights attorney, and represents many families of victims of police killings in the Bay Area.

0:34 – The Kao SaeLee story and how CA prisons are still collaborating with ICE, despite “sanctuary” status

Sam Levin (@SamTLevin) is the Los Angeles correspondent with the Guardian. His latest investigation is He fought wildfires while imprisoned. California reported him to Ice for deportation on Kao SaeLee, who after 22 years in a CA prison and fighting CA wildfires, has been sent to ICE detention to be deported back to Laos, a country his family fled as refugees when he was 2 years old. 

1:08 – The CRISIS Act and community-based alternatives to policing

Sydney Kamlager (@AsmKamlagerDove) is an assembly member representing the 54th District (Los Angeles) in the California legislature, and author of the CRISIS Act.

1:34 – Why is Lyft and Uber bankrolling the opposition against Oakland City Council Rebecca Kaplan’s re-election campaign? Behind the new Oakland Task Force created to defund OPD

Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) is the news editor at the Oaklandside.

The post Breonna Taylor: Officer charged, but not for killing her; movement for justice continues. Plus: the CRISIS Act would create community mental health system in CA, alternative to police, but will Gov Newsom sign it? appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – How the Federalist Society packs the courts

Amanda Hollis-Brusky (@HollisBrusky) is a professor of politics at Pomona College. She’s the author of Ideas with Consequences: The Federalist Society and the Conservative Counterrevolution (2015)

0:30 – Outlook for reproductive rights under 6-3 conservative court

Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) is Senior Editor of Law and Policy at Rewire.News. She also co-hosts the podcast Boom! Lawyered.

1:08 – California may be undercounting COVID deaths

Phillip Reese (@PhillipHReese) is a data reporting specialist and an assistant professor of journalism at California State University-Sacramento. His latest report for Kaiser Health News is titled: California’s deadliest spring in years suggests COVID undercount.

1:34 – There are 7 days left to fill out the census. How’s it going?

Eric McGhee is a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, where he focuses on elections, legislative behavior, political reform, and surveys and polling.

If you enjoyed the show, and value our work, please consider donating to KPFA online now at kpfa.org or call 1-800-HEY-KPFA or 1-800-439-5732. 

The post The history of the Federalist Society, now vetting Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, and the outlook for reproductive rights; Plus: CA may be undercounting COVID deaths appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – Decisions pending before the US Supreme Court this fall

Erwin Chemerinsky is the Dean of Berkeley Law. His books include The Case Against the Supreme Court and We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century.

0:34 – History of the Supreme Court vs. Democracy

Samuel Moyn (@samuelmoyn) is Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and Professor of History at Yale University.

1:08 – Family of Miles Hall reaches $4m settlement with Walnut Creek

Taun Hall is the mother of 23 year old Miles Hall, killed by Walnut Creek PD on Sep 2, 2019 while he was in the throes of a mental health crisis and the family called 911 for help. The family has started the Miles Hall Foundation to prevent any further tragedies and demand reforms to stop lethal police responses to mental health incidence. 

1:34 – Newsom shuts down unemployment claims processing to “reset” in order to address the massive backlog and fraud in the system, leaving workers high and dry.

Daniela Urban is Executive Director of the Center for Workers’ Rights and special counsel to Legal Aid At Work (@LegalAidAtWork)

Today is the first day of our Fall Fund Drive – thank you so much for supporting community radio! Right now, we’re not featuring premiums but continuing to offer breaking news, analysis and insightful interviews on current events of this historic time. If that’s something you value, please show your support for UpFront, KPFA and Pacifica Radio by donating online now at kpfa.org or call 1-800-HEY-KPFA or 1-800-439-5732. 

PHOTO: Claire Anderson for sharing their work on Unsplash.

The post Fall Fund Drive kicks off today! Decisions pending before the Supreme Court this fall; Plus: Family of Miles Hall reaches settlement with Walnut Creek but continues fight for mental health response reforms appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – On “Mondays with Mitch,” Cat and Brian talk with Letters and Politics host Mitch Jeserich about the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the political pressure by the Trump Administration to confirm her replacement

0:34 – John Swartzberg is clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. He takes your COVID questions.

1:08 – The FBI sent San Jose’s PD fake news on protesters

Jennifer Wadsworth (@jennwadsworth) is a news editor with San Jose Inside, and broke the story on how bad FBI intelligence fueled San Jose Police’s violent response to recent protests.

1:20 – KPFA News: Friday’s death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg prompted memorials and protests all over the Bay Area. There were gatherings in San Francisco, Oakland and Martinez. KPFA’s Sharon Sobotta reports from last night’s gathering in Walnut Creek.

1:25 – KPFA News: San Francisco District Attorney, Chesa Boudin announced his office has formed an Innocence Commission to evaluate criminal convictions that may have been wrongfully concluded. The newly formed, independent, fact-finding commission will bring recommendations to the District Attorney, with the goal of resentencing excessive convictions or overturning wrongful ones. KPFA’s Chris Lee (@chrislee_xyz) reports.

1:34 – Progressive DAs form new prosecutors alliance

Chesa Boudin (@chesaboudin) is the District Attorney of San Francisco. 

Diane Becton (@DADianaBecton) is the District Attorney of Contra Costa County.

The post The politics of replacing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg; Plus: Progressive Bay Area District Attorneys form a new prosecutors alliance appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – In a year of a global pandemic, unprecedented wildfires, and historic protests against police violence and more, on top of all of that, in roughly a month and a half, US citizens face the most decisive presidential election of their lifetimes. In addition to the two primary parties, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins is running and a new Movement for a People’s Party (or MPP) is gaining momentum. What does all of this mean for the future of US democracy?  We speak with John Nichols (@NicholsUprising), National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation.

0:34 – Tomorrow, on September 19 there will be a Bay Area Cruise 4 Justice, against police violence and over-policing in black and brown communities. We speak to George Galvis, the co-founder and executive director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ). And with Marissa Barrera who is fighting for justice for her brother, Michael Barrera, who was killed by Woodland Police in 2017.

Event: Cruise 4 Justice

Saturday, September 19 12 – 5pm

Meeting at Holly Park in San Francisco

The post Third Parties in the 2020 Election and what it means for US democracy; Plus: Cruise 4 Justice event this weekend highlights 2017 police killing of Michael Barrera, many others appeared first on KPFA.

Twenty-two year-old San Francisco resident Sean Monterrosa was unarmed and kneeling with his hands raised when Vallejo Police Officer Jarrett Tonn fatally shot him through the windshield of a moving police vehicle in a Walgreens parking lot during the early morning hours of June 2nd.

The family couldn’t get any answers from the police that night. Instead, it took a day and a half for the police department to admit an officer had killed someone, and the police union filed a temporary restraining order to prevent the release of the names of officers involved. Later it was discovered that vital evidence, the windshield from the police car, had been destroyed, prompting an investigation by the California Department of Justice.

Sean was shot less than an hour from when he sent his last text message to his sisters. Vallejo Police Officer Jarrett Tonn has been involved in multiple shootings in recent years. The Vallejo Police Department is currently under investigation for the alleged practice of bending their badges to commemorate fatal shootings, first reported by Open Vallejo. The Vallejo Police Department is the third most murderous police department in California.

The following is an edited excerpt from a longer interview with Michelle and Ashley Monterrosa, Sean’s sisters:

______

MM: I’m Michelle Monterrosa. I’m Sean Monterrosa’s oldest sibling.

AM: I’m Ashley Monterrosa, and I’m Sean’s baby sister.

MM: And we shared a bedroom with Sean. So no matter what, we were always very close. So we, even though we’re all two years apart –

AM: It felt like triplets.

MM: Yeah. And my little sister, Ashley here, she’s lived through Sean and I, you know, on what to do and not to do.

AM: I feel like an old lady because I’ve lived through them that I know like, okay, I know what not to do. And I feel like I’ve lived so much through them. You know, for me being the younger sister, I was Robin and Sean was Batman. Like I was always with him. He was always on the driver’s seat. And I was always on the passenger seat. And we were just always together. So, you know, there’s nothing we won’t do for Sean. And there’s nothing I won’t do for Michelle, and vice versa.

MM: You can ask all his teachers, And a lot of teachers say we’re not supposed to favor students. But all his teachers said that he was one person that shed such light. There was a light from him that…  It’s one face you can never forget.  He read 50 books within one semester. It’s hard enough to get kids in high school to even want to read one or two, right? But Sean kept telling her, I need more books, I need more books. Cause he was so… My dad reads and I think he –

AM: He was hungry for knowledge. Always.

MM: I remember his main books that we have at home was The 48 Laws of Power, the Malcolm X autobiography, Assata Shakur, you know, just literature related to social justice. He was always about empowering himself and empowering the people, but also educating himself on history that we’re not taught. He always spoke for the voiceless.

AM: And Sean would always take off his shirt to give to the next person and give his very last dime to help the other person.

MM: And I do believe my brother came to this lifetime to fight. You know, his life was a fight every day. You know, being a young Latino man, you already have all adversities against you.

AM: Yeah.

MM: He was an awesome person. We got a text message from him at 11:49 for us to sign a petition –

AM: On June 1st.

MM: On June 1st, to get George Floyd justice. And we both signed it. So after that, we didn’t think of anything. We were like, okay, he didn’t respond, let’s go to bed, right? I’m already asleep. And then this girl my brother had just met and started kind of talking to calls us saying Sean’s dead, Sean’s dead, hysterically crying. And after that call, I went and instantly got on my knees and prayed in the kitchen. My parents are asleep and they’re freaking out, what’s going on? And this is while we have curfew in place.

AM: We weren’t allowed to go out after 8PM.

MM: And I said, forget the rules. It’s Sean. I got to go figure out what’s going on. So she had mentioned that it was Vallejo. And me and Ashley were like Vallejo, what are they doing in Vallejo?

AM: And luckily we all shared, all three of us shared our locations with each other. So we thought something had gone wrong.

MM: So we go over there. Me and Ashley however, the whole time we were driving out there, the whole time, we were sick. I’ve never felt so sick. And I do truly believe that you’re connected to your loved ones. You know, you instantly feel when something’s not right. And my stomach was upset. I wanted to throw up the whole night.

AM: Yeah, the entire drive to Vallejo, even before getting on the Bay Bridge, Michelle wanted to throw up. And for me, I had really strong stomach pains, like really bad.

MM: And we’ve never felt like that. And I truly believe maybe it was his spirit letting us know.

AM: And just the nerves overall cause we didn’t know what we were going to encounter once we got there.

MM: So we didn’t get many answers there. We knew that the police murdered Sean. We didn’t know how. We just knew that –

AM: It had happened.

MM: It had happened. But we all know at the end of the day, my brother wasn’t over there looking to go shoot a cop or anything, you know.

AM: He didn’t even have a gun at the end of the day

MM: And you know, nothing, nothing in this world will make sense to why Jarrett Tonn did what he did.

AM: He was shot in the neck and out the head. They flipped him over and handcuffed him and kept my brother in handcuffs until the paramedics came.

MM: And it just goes to show how fearful these cops are when unarmed Black and brown men are, you know –

AM: Even dead, you’re still scared of them.

MM: You’re so scared of them. You still have to handcuff and knowing that you already have… That entry wound, we all know it. There’s no really survival chances, you know. And that’s something that still hurts. They didn’t give him a chance.

AM: The car didn’t even stop. Jarrett Tonn was in the backseat. There was no reason for him to quote, unquote, fear for his life.

“At the end of the day, Jarrett Tonn cannot be the executioner, cannot be the judge to take my brother’s life. Whatever my brother was doing, it’s not punishable by death. And it just hurts.” – Michelle Monterrosa

MM: At the end of the day, Jarrett Tonn cannot be the executioner, cannot be the judge to take my brother’s life. Whatever my brother was doing, it’s not punishable by death. And it just hurts. But I promise, I promise to never stop fighting for Sean and the other voiceless in Vallejo.

AM: You know, Sean’s a martyr now. And martyrs never die. And, you know, Sean died for a bigger cause.

MM: And it just goes to show at the end of the day that my brother’s name will not die in vain. And I feel like my brother, with his last text message, it was a message to us to continue to fight.

______

This story is part of the series TAKEN FROM US: Remembering lives lost to police violence.

This piece was reported and recorded by Chris Lee and edited and produced by Lucy Kang.

First aired on UpFront on September 17, 2020.

The post “Sean died for a bigger cause”: Remembering Sean Monterrosa appeared first on KPFA.