ANDRES GUARDADO

Andres Guardado, 18, was killed by Los Angeles Sheriffs on June 18th at 6 pm while at work in Gardena, CA. Andres is the son of Cristobal Guardado, a hardworking cook and loyal member of UNITE HERE Local 11 for over 14 years. To cover for the family’s financial hardship during the pandemic, Andres had taken a second job. He was killed as he was starting his shift.

Two-Year Anniversary of Andres Guardado’s Death

On June 18, 2020 while working as a security guard in Gardena, LASD deputies shot eighteen-year-old Andres Guardado five times in the back, as reported by two independent autopsies.
Following the two-year anniversary of the death of Andres, we are asking the LA County Board of Supervisors to pass a charter amendment that would bring accountability to the Sheriffs Department. #AdiosVillanueava #JusticeForAndres

In Honor of 2nd Angelversary of Andres Guardado Allies and Family Rally Outside Hall of Justice Call for Accountability and Charter Amendment

Two years after the killing of Andres Guardado at the hands of Los Angeles Sheriff deputies, UNITE HERE Local 11 and allies continued the call for accountability, justice, and  transparency.

Although an independent investigation was launched by the FBI into the killing of Andres in late 2020, allies say more needs to be done within the department to make sure this never happens again. Saying true transparency and accountability could be achieved through a charter amendment.

The union and allies also heard testimony from the Guardado family and other families impacted by violence within the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

“It has nearly been two years but it feels like just yesterday our son was taken from us.” said Cristobal Guardado, father and UNITE HERE Local 11 member. “ It means the world to me knowing that my son and his memory is not being forgotten.”

On June 18, 2020 while working as a security guard in Gardena, LASD deputies shot Guardado five times in the back, as reported by two independent autopsies. The eighteen-year-old had gotten the job to help provide for his family after his father, a hotel worker and UNITE HERE Local 11 member, was laid off due to COVID-19.

Shortly after, UNITE HERE Local 11 and other allies called for Sheriff Alex Villanueva to resign. Thousands of people and groups like CLUE, ACLU SoCal, Check The Sheriff,  and Black Lives Matter Los Angeles have joined the call. Most recently, voters across Los Angeles County overwhelmingly voted for new leadership to lead LASD, with Villanueva only receiving 31% of the vote so far, a runoff election is set to happen in November.

“Voters across Los Angeles County spoke up this past primary election. They want change. They want justice, accountability and transparency within the Sheriff’s department. As a union, we will do whatever it takes to make sure justice is served for the Guardado family and all families impacted by the recklessness of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11.

”We are urging the Board of Supervisors to refer to voters a County Charter amendment to finally establish meaningful checks and balances of the sheriff and the department—no matter who the sheriff is,” said Pastor Cue, Clergy for Black Lives and Pastor of The Church Without Walls in Skid Row.

2-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE KILLING OF ANDRES GUARDADO

UNITE HERE Local 11 Supports LACDP’s Vote for Sheriff Alex Villanueva to Resign

UNITE HERE Local 11 Supports  LACDP’s Vote for Sheriff Alex Villanueva to Resign

Passage comes ahead of one-year “Angelversary” marking the death of Andres Guardado

 

Los Angeles, CA: Tonight, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party voted 91% in favor of a resolution calling for the accountability and resignation of Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The party initially endorsed Villanueva during his election.

The killing of Andres Guardado was outlined as key evidence for the approval of the resolution. On June 18, 2020 while working as a security guard in Gardena, LASD deputies shot Guardado five times in the back, as reported by two independent autopsies. The eighteen-year-old had gotten the job at an auto body shop to help provide for his family after his father, a hotel worker and UNITE HERE Local 11 member, was laid off due to COVID-19.

The resolution was led by UNITE HERE Local 11 who first launched efforts for Sheriff Villanueva to resign in July 2020 with groups like Black Lives Matter, ACLU, and CLUE. 

 “We want to thank the leadership and members of the Los Angeles Democratic Party for their strong and courageous vote. Tonight’s vote is an important moment in our union’s fight to stand up against the atrocities of the Sheriff’s department under Alex Villanueva,” said Ada Briceno UNITE HERE Local 11 Co-President and DNC member. 

“Our job goes beyond endorsing someone. We also need to hold our elected officials accountable. It is important that we make sure their actions are aligned with our values. And if they’re not, we must take a stand and continue to fight for the things that matter most,” said Elise Moore, Corresponding Secretary of the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley and Co-chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party Judicial Interview Committee.

The resolution was supported by community groups like SEIU 2015; NUHW; UFCW 770; Roofers Local 36; UTLA; UNITE HERE Local 11; and many others.

On the one-year “Angelversary” of the killing of Andres Guardado, June 18th, UNITE HERE Local 11 will hold a press conference outside the Hall of Justice and later be joined by the Guardado family continuing the call for justice. The union and its allies also plan to hold a march from the auto shop where Andres was killed to the Compton Sheriff’s station on Saturday June 19, 2021 from 11am-1pm.  

Six-Months Have Passed and There’s Still No Justice for Andres Guardado

 Allies Demand Independent Investigation and Justice on Six-Month Mark of LA Sheriffs’ Murder of Andres Guardado

Posada and Silent Caravan follow Action by Supervisors Exploring Options to Remove Sheriff Villanueva, and Sheriff’s Deputies Refusing to Cooperate in Coroner Investigation

Los Angeles, CA: On the six-month mark of Andres Guardado’s murder at the hands of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies, a coalition of civil rights and worker rights groups held a posada and silent car caravan to continue calls for an independent investigation and justice for the Guardado family.

Nearly a hundred cars participated in the socially distant procession which included costumed figures of angels, Joseph, and Mary, flower wreaths and large posters of Andres Guardado. The posada walkers were met on the corner of Grand and Temple with the lead car adorned by a wreath of flowers.

“My brother was a very bright student and a very good brother and son to my father and mother who did everything he could to provide for our family. I really hope there is justice in his name because what they did to him was unfair and no young man deserves what he got. We can’t bring him back so our pain will always be here but we demand justice and that would at least help our pain” said Jennifer Guardado, sister of Andres Guardado.

On June 18, while working as a security guard in Gardena, LASD deputies shot Guardado five times in the back, as reported by two independent autopsies. The eighteen-year-old had gotten the job to help provide for his family after his father, a hotel worker and UNITE HERE Local 11 member, was laid off due to COVID-19.

“When the deputies shot Andres they tore a hole in all of our flesh. When the deputies took Andres’s life, they stole a piece of all of our souls. When the Sheriff blocks an independent investigation of Andres’s killing, he violates all of our rights.” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11. “Like others killed at the hands of law enforcement, Andres Guardado was not just a statistic. His family & our community deserve answers, not obstruction.”

LASD officials have thus far refused to cooperate with an independent investigation, stonewalling the Inspector General.  Recently, a Sheriff’s deputy who shot Guardado and two other LASD detectives involved have refused to testify in the coroner’s inquest into Guardado’s killing, the first of its kind in 30 years, stating they will invoke the Fifth Amendment. In November, the  Board of Supervisors directed County Counsel to explore ways to impeach and remove the sheriff.

The coalition has called for Villanueva’s immediate resignation. In response, the Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission unanimously passed a “vote of no confidence” resolution also urging Villanueva’s resignation.

Adios Villanueva

UNITE HERE Local 11 was joined by Black Lives Matter – Los Angeles, ACLU SoCal, Justice LA, CLUE, and Check The Sheriff Coalition and more than 60 other labor unions and community groups in the call for Villanueva’s resignation.

“We know an abusive and unjust sheriff when we see one,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11. “Our union successfully unseated Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona in 2016 and we are ready to do the same with Villanueva.”

Local 11 and Allies Demand Sheriff Villanueva’s Resignation

LA Hotel Workers Union and Allies Demand Sheriff Villanueva Resign

Los Angeles, CA: Hundreds of community members, led by UNITE HERE Local 11, held a car caravan and delivered a letter demanding the immediate resignation of Sheriff Alex Villanueva because of his failure to reform the Los Angeles Sheriff Department.  Sheriff Villanueva’s refusal to cooperate with an independent investigation of last month’s killing of Andres Guardado by sheriff’s deputies is the last in a dreadful list of malfeasance. The list also includes calling Supervisor Solis a derogatory term and repeatedly blocking internal investigations of deputy misconduct.

UNITE HERE Local 11 was joined by Black Lives Matter – Los Angeles, ACLU SoCal, Justice LA, CLUE, and Check The Sheriff Coalition and more than 60 other labor unions and community groups in the call for Villanueva’s resignation.

“We know an abusive and unjust sheriff when we see one,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11. “Our union successfully unseated Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona in 2016 and we are ready to do the same with Villanueva.”

“Our communities are tired of the lies, abuse, misogyny, and racism that Villanueva consistently hurls at our communities and leaders, said Eunisses Hernandez co-executive director of La Defensa and a member of the JusticeLA Coalition. “It’s time he held himself accountable for his actions and for all the harm he has caused. It’s time he resigns. If not, we’ll make sure he’s out in 2022.”

In 2016, UNITE HERE Local 11 led the successful campaign to unseat the notoriously abusive Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona.   The campaign to oust Sheriff Arpaio was called #AdiosArpaio.  On Thursday, the coalition launched #AdiosVillanueva.

“From the time he was elected, the Sheriff has treated his office as an abusive dictatorship by reinstating an officer who had been fired due to domestic violence, exceeding his budget beyond that of his predecessors, and adding more trauma to the mourning families of murdered loved” said Pastor Cue Jn’Marie of the Check the Sheriff Coalition. “The murder of 18 year old Andres Guardado and the attempted cover up by Sheriff deputies was the last straw that broke our hearts and will break injustice’s back. Adios Villanueva!”

“The ACLU of Southern California calls for the resignation of an elected local official only in dire circumstances when that official presents a ‘grave and imminent threat to civil liberties.’ Sadly, we have reached that point with Sheriff Villanueva, who has turned his back on the people of Los Angeles County and is actively undermining efforts to rein in a department with a long history of abuse and an utter lack of transparency and accountability. He holds a position of the highest trust, and he has betrayed it,” said Hector Villagra, Executive Director of ACLU SoCal.

Andres Guardado was the son of long time UNITE HERE Local 11 member, Cristobal Guardado, who is a cook at the Downtown Grand Hotel.   Andres was killed while working as a security guard at an auto body shop.  Two autopsies – including one by the LA County Medical Examiner-Coroner – concluded that Andres perished after being shot five times in the back by a sheriffs’ deputy.

“Villanueva has proven himself to be the most corrupt sheriff in the nation. His brazen refusal to engage community or show even the most basic level of respect for County residents further emboldens the most criminal, violent and murderous elements within the ranks,” said Melina Abdullah of Black Lives Matter – Los Angeles. “In the names of Ryan Twyman, AJ Weber, Andres Guardado, Mitrice Richardson, Paul Rea, Anthony Varga, John Horton and hundreds of others, Villanueva must go.”

“Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice is appalled at the way that Sheriff Villaneuva has handled the investigation into the shooting of Andres Guardado. This, on top of his dismissive relationship with the Civilian Oversight Commission, his neglect of his legal responsibilities to answer subpoenas and be accountable to the people of Los Angeles bring us to call for the Sheriff’s immediate resignation. In the Jewish tradition, doing the work of justice in the world is acting as a partner of God. Similarly, perverting justice is the undoing of creation itself. Sheriff Villanueva has, unfortunately been perverting rather than doing justice and it is time for him to go home, to pave the way for justice for Andres Guardado, and to uproot the injustice in the LASD,” said Rabbi Aryeh Cohen.