Posted on 07/24/2021 11:28:02 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Gerardo Martinez, 19, who spoke the Mexican Indigenous language Zapotec, was shot around 8:30 last Friday night ...
A neighbor called 911 shortly after eight to report that Martinez was “really drunk” and had pointed a black handgun at him...
[O]fficers ordered him in Spanish to come out with his hands up, the D.A. account said. Instead...Martinez walked in and out of the side door several times while officers continued issuing commands
Martinez re-emerged from the door and raised the gun... pointed the weapon at an officer, who fired three rounds from a rifle, striking Martinez in the torso.
Latin American Indigenous advocacy groups from across the state issued a joint statement saying that Martinez did not speak English and had a limited understanding of Spanish. They’ve called for training for Salinas police officers to better understand and communicate with Indigenous people and for the state to investigate the shooting.
“As a monolingual Zapoteco speaker, he did not understand the commands to come out of his home and to raise his arms,”
[Hall, district attorney’s office]said...“We now know the deceased spoke conversant Spanish based on a body-worn camera from a prior contact with law enforcement,”
There is no census count on the number of indigenous people from Mexico and Guatemala living in California, many of whom may have only a basic grasp of Spanish. A 2010 study by farm labor researchers and a nonprofit estimated there are 165,000 Indigenous farmworkers and family members in [California]
Advocacy groups have for years raised concerns about police departments’ ability to interact with Indigenous people.
“These are populations that are in constant fear in law enforcement because of previous experiences in their own countries...”
Martinez moved to the U.S. from the small town of San Vicente Coatlán in the Mexican state of Oaxaca
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Pointing guns at police is dumb in all cultures. The response is likely to be in a language understood by all.
Used to be when you moved to another country you had to learn their language.
Now we have to learn theirs.
Of course. For him to work he would have to understand at least a little Spanish.
There are farmworkers who mainly speak their tribal language but when you point a gun at a policeman, thats pretty much universally understood to be bad karma.
If I go to Mexico, will the local heat speak English to me?
You know, Nonlanguage and all that....
Don’t be silly, you know they won’t bother.
I have a better idea...
all police who are not fluent in “Zapotec” .. in all communities across USA
most be removed from their jobs
IMMEDIATELY!
/s
Language nope , just another Stupid Drunk
I do not care what country I am in. If surrounded by police, I am not waving anything at them. Especially not a BB gun that looks like a real gun.
Oldest looking 19 year old I’ve ever seen.
Doesn’t everybody know some Spanish these days? I went to high school in the 60s and we took two years of Latin and 2 years of French-—which I chose over Spanish. At that time no one in my small suburban city spoke it as a native. It could have been mistaken for Leave It To Beaver’s Mayfield.
Note: The other language problem has to have translators like the Barbara Billingsley character in Airplane.
Example: I never heard this 90s expression until I saw news stories of people (mostly young ones) being surrounded and having their expensive running shores stolen. “Dude shoulda come up off ‘em.” Meant “The crime victim should have taken off his shoes and surrendered them to us, the urban thugs, and we might have beaten him less severely.” Heard one “He shoulda come up off his jacket.”
Try this crap in another country. Go to China or India and tell them their cops need to speak a foreign language before they shoot a foreigner waving a gun at them.
There are millions of people in Mexico who do not speak Spanish. There are at least 5 different indigenous languages down there and they have no written language. Good luck learning how to speak Zapotec.
“They’re not sending their best.” - PDJT
Here’s a novel idea: How about indigenous Latin Americans remain indigenous ?
How are these people going to survive in a high tech future 21st century American economy
Somehow, the 19-year old was able to get access to alcohol and a firearm, and migrate to Salinas with his limited Spanish skills. Maybe we give the cops credit for trying to handle an unwinnable situation for once and let that be that.
Then what language barrier? I would be willing to bet that some or all of the police officers spoke at least enough Spanish to make themselves understood.
I think it needs to be asked. How and why does a Zapotec-speaking individual end up in Salinas, California. Was he here legally? If so, what was his immigration hearing like? Was he interviewed in Zapotec? Does America face a need of Zapotec speakers?
My grandfather immigrated to this country from Denmark in 1899. He had to prove that he had the means and skills to support himself and would not be a burden to American society before he was let in. Did the late Sr Martinez have to offer such assurances? If not, why not?
Next election, I’m going to ask for a ballot written in Zapotec.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.