The Hector Arreola Story - Pursuit of Justice

USA Today
 

Underneath the baseball cap, black hoodie, T-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers was the young man we knew as Hector Rodrigo Arreola. Beloved son of Rodrigo and Concepcion, father to Sophia, brother to Patricia and her husband Jeff, uncle to Ethan and Nadia, and friend to many who are here today.  

Hector always had a way of capturing one’s heart, and sometimes breaking it. He was a very proud and stubborn man, inherited, I think, from both his parents. Sometimes he hid underneath his wild unkempt thick black hair and big bushy beard. Other times he was clean-shaven, fresh faced, showing the world that precious heart he had, looking at life through his soft but piercing, large brown eyes; smiling his beautiful smile with his strong full masculine lips. Hector had an innate ability to make you feel so frustrated, even angry, with him, then somehow in the same moment he would have you laughing and loving him more than ever before. 

On January 9th, 2017, early in the morning, Hector called 911 twice requesting a welfare check on his mother. After the second call, Hector drove over to her house himself to check on her. When he arrived, the police were there and Hector backed away from them yelling at his mom that they were going to taze him, and walked across the street to ask the neighbors for help. The police approached him and as his mother tried to drag him away, they engaged him forcefully, threw him on the ground, handcuffed him and two officers sat on his back, one with his knee to the lower neck region, for over two minutes while Hector pleaded 16 times that he could not breathe. Body camera footage later showed the officers blatantly disregarded his pleas and when the ambulance arrived, originally called for a psychiatric evaluation, they can be seen smirking as Hector’s lifeless body was loaded into the ambulance, still in handcuffs. He flat lined on the way to the hospital and was pronounced dead the next day. 


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Hector was not perfect, but in God’s eyes he was and still is. He will always be remembered in his family’s hearts with love and laughter at the things he said and did. He made choices that others may not have made, but he never stopped being the person he was born to be. 
 

Our mission is to provide a voice, and assistance in healing, to the victims and families who have suffered the injustice of police violence. Our goal is to change the laws that provide immunity from wrongdoing to police and the governments that employ them. 
 
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All donations will go to assisting victims and families in coping with depression, special education for learning disabilities, substance abuse rehabilitation, mental illness counseling services, and coaching/mentoring programs.  
 

God bless you Hector, please rest in peace and tranquility.