Honoring Rolando Esquivel
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On June 26th, 2024, Rolando Esquivel was murdered by Pomona Police Department, gunned down by multiple shots. This GoFundMe will be used by his sister to fund his funeral expenses.
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Rolando for all his comedy and strengths was not an angel by any stretch of the imagination. Rolando was a hustler, forced to grow up fast at a young age. Rolando had a record and spent the second half of his life in-and-out of the prison system. Rolando once introduced himself to a colleague of mine as a "professional car thief". In prison, Rolando became a tattoo artist and often bartered his services for money and goods on the outside. Always the comedian and survivalist, Rolando deflected his life circumstances through humor.
All of this to say, Rolando had an abundance of strengths and an abundance of flaws. The police story is the usual. Man ran away, pulled out a gun, police fired 2 bean bags, less than 1 second later fired 18+ gun shots.
But at the end of the day, Rolando was an American. Rolando served his time for each past flaw. And in the matter of his death, Rolando is innocent until proven guilty - in this case of carrying a firearm and shooting at police. Those closest to Rolando never knew him to carry a gun. For all his in-and-outs of prison since age 17, not once was he arrested with a weapon. We await details from the autopsy, reports, and police body-cam footage, but in the meantime, we honor his memory.
The last time I spoke with Rolando, two days before his death he said the following:
Yeah, you know it's rough out here for me though. I can't get a place to live really. No one wants their place raided and searched, which I understand. So mostly just hop around at people's places.
...
Yeah, mostly staying out of trouble. I forget to check in with my PO, but then I just go back for a few days and come back out. That's about it. But, I just ordered my ID. We'll see if I can find a job.
Rest in Peace, Live Through Us:
Rolando Esquivel
01/27/1984 - 06/26/2024
Thank you for donations and consider supporting organizations to help reduce recidivism in our communities.
Organizer and beneficiary
Adrian Meza
Organizer
Pomona, CA
Magaly Esquivel
Beneficiary