Patrick’s Rants

I’m probably not going to make any friends in certain circles for this post.

On August 18, 2006 Kyle R. Garcia, 23, was shot and killed by members of a state gang task force known as GITEM. The task force is comprised of members from multiple agencies who work and train together. The Arizona Daily Sun reported that members of the task force attempted to stop a car in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Flagstaff because they were unfamiliar with the car and the music was turned up very loud. Garcia then attempted to run them down with his car as reported by both the police and later by his passenger.

The newspaper further reported that six shots were fired at the car by officers and that one bullet struck and fatally wounded Garcia. He drove a few blocks where he fell out of his car and was handcuffed by the officers who called for paramedics. He was taken to Flagstaff Medical Center where he died. Outside the hospital were individuals dressed in gang attire; some snapped photos of the officers involved in the shooting reportedly to make sure what needs to be done gets done. Some might say the words were an attempt at a threat on the officers.

Now, his criminal history, including two convictions for assault on police officers and convictions for drug use is coming to light. His passenger - whose name is unavailable for fear of retaliation - claims that they both were smoking meth earlier in the day and that Garcia was “agitated” when cops attempted to pull him over. His parents had problems with drugs as well and divorced when he was young. This too according to the Daily Sun.

The police have tried to keep the community calm, but it’s difficult at best. There is a make-shift memorial where Garcia fell out of his car, white shoe polish adorns car windows proclaiming that the car or the window or the shoe polish or something is a memorial. A new sign hangs at the corner with a quote from Jesus about having eternal life just by believing in him. A block watch type meeting was setup at the kids’ school where people could voice their concerns. I’m not sure how this is being portrayed to our youngest ones but my step daughter was adamant that we go asking, “do you want us to get shot?” This from a ten year old white girl. This makes me really wonder what they are telling our kids.

The family is quoted as asking why less lethal methods weren’t used to tried to stop Garcia. I have a couple of theories. The first goes something like this: the police didn’t try to use Tazers because the car was speeding toward them and the probes would have just bounced off the windshield. They also didn’t use pepper spray because - oh yeah the windshield.

I work with some people who think that Garcia was “murdered” including one who claims to be a relative. I overheard some interesting conversation and conspiracy theory this past week. For instance, the word is that Garcia was shot at 27 times. He was only hit once which makes the cops horrible shots.

I also heard that he was handcuffed and the cops let him lay “twitching in the street”. And just to “send a message” they left the blood where it puddled and trickled down the street. And you know, to top it all off you can’t wear your colored bandanas anymore. Man it’s gettin really bad out there.