Hold the Mesa, AZ SWAT team accountable for shooting Lorenzo Jones Jr.
Hold the Mesa, AZ SWAT team accountable for shooting Lorenzo Jones Jr.
Why this petition matters
The goal of this petition is to see the Mesa, AZ SWAT team held accountable for shooting Lorenzo Jones Jr. with bean bags while his hands were up in the air and his children were right next to him.
This incident was carefully reviewed many times and the officers have been found to have violated a few of their own policies:
DPM 2.1.5 Section 4
“Officers shall use only the force that is objectively reasonable to effectively bring an incident under control, while protecting the safety of officers and lives of others"
Mesa police failed to do this because the victim's fiance and children were in close proximity to where he was shot
He was not posing an immediate threat, actively resisting arrest, or evading arrest by flight
His hands were practically up all 3 times he was shot, and shooting him while he was on the ground was completely unnecessary.
Under: De-escalation 2.1.5 page 3
The officer failed to give proper warnings and acted in a manner that jeopardized the safety of others
According to DPM 2.1.20
"Whenever a firearm is discharged, exercise reasonable caution for the protection of the lives of innocent persons and for the protection of property."
The officers did not exercise reasonable caution for the protection of the lives of innocent people
This petition is also set out to hold Mesa, AZ Police Media Relations Specialist Irene Mahoney accountability for lying about the facts of the video that's on social media. Irene said in a statement that Lorenzo Jones Jr. had a fannypack strapped around his chest when he went to go meet the officers that were in front of his apartment, she said that officers were told that he keeps a gun in that fannypack. Only problem is Lorenzo Jones Jr. was NOT wearing a fannypack that was strapped around his chest. You can clearly see in the video that that was a lie.
She also lied about Jones Jr. bringing his right arm under him while he was shot on the ground, implying that he was reaching for a weapon. You can see in the video that that was a complete lie. He was clearly in motion to put his hands up when officers shot him.
PLEASE sign and share this petition.
You can watch the video of the incident here:
And you can find more information at:
Facebook: Justice Project
Instagram: @nathanjtrott
Decision Makers
Mesa, AZ Mayor Giles - City Attorney Jim Smith - Mesa, AZ City Council: Mesa Police Chief Ken Cost- Mesa, AZ City Council Members: Jeremy Whittaker, Francisco Heredia, Kevin Thompson
- Police Liaison Geoffrey Balon, Mesa Police Media Relations Specialist Irene Mahoney