On the evening of Sunday, May 31st, Marqus Miles "Red Bear" Martinez was hospitalized due to being shot at point blank range with a sting-ball grenade by police in Santa Rosa, California.

At the time he was helping protect a group of youth that were being harassed with tear gas. Moments after the tear gas was shot, Martinez was shot in the face with a sting-ball grenade. The impact knocked out four of his front teeth, lodging three of the teeth into the roof of his mouth and one in his tongue. His lip was split into three, his jaw was fractured and required reconstructive surgery at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto,CA.

After being released from the hospital Mr. Martinez said,

“I want people to stand with me, with us, to peacefully protest against the plague of police brutality that has been a long going on issue in this country. My actions are compelled by what my spirit is guiding me to do, to take action, to set an example, We need to shed light on all the injustices and not allow them to continue to brush these issues under the rug and silence our problems, I kneel in solidarity for all my relations and our Mother Earth, I’m asking for you to do the same to start the change. We are all connected and deserve fair treatment and justice.”

We demand that the Santa Rosa Police Department and Santa Rosa City Council take responsibility to thoroughly investigate and prosecute the officer that used excessive force against Mr. Martinez.

We call on the SRPD to stop using tear gas and pepper spray which are chemical weapons. The continued use of chemical weapons is warfare on our residents. We call on SRPD to stop using sting-ball grenades during peaceful protests.

We demand extensive training and de escalation tactics within peaceful protests,
we demand the rights of protestors be respected, we demand the demilitarization of police and investment in black and People of Color communities. We demand an end to the war against black, indigenous and all people of color.