Colorado Springs, CO – On July 5, the family of Alex Martinez-Sarmiento gathered in the parking lot where Martinez-Sarmiento was killed one year before by Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) officer Connor Jacob Wallick.
More than 30 people gathered around a shrine for Martinez-Sarmiento, including members of Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Many attendees held signs and banners demanding justice for Alex and the indictment of Wallick. COSAARPR member Brandon Rincon led the group in chants like “Running away, don’t shoot” and “Indict, convict, send that killer cop to jail.” As the sun set, people in attendance held up candles and released balloons to honor Alex.
On July 5, 2025, Wallick chased and shot Martinez-Sarmiento in the back three times as he was running away, killing him. In the year since then, members of the family and COSAARPR led dozens of actions demanding that Wallick be fired and charged with murder.
On December 10, 2025, District Attorney Michael Allen ruled the shooting justified, angering the family, who continue to fight alongside COSAARPR to get justice and accountability for their loved one. Recently, the family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Colorado Springs.
“It’s heartbreaking being out here,” said Rincon, “We shouldn’t have to be out here demanding justice. We shouldn’t have to have our loved ones gunned down in the streets by racist, crooked, cowardly police officers like Connor Jacob Wallick.”
Rincon echoed the demands of the family, stating “This family deserves justice, this family deserves peace of mind, this family deserves transparency, accountability and answers, and Connor Wallick deserves to rot in jail.”
FRSO member Bug Peterson condemned the killing as a case of national oppression, saying that “here in Aztlán, the Chicano nation, there’s a long history of racist police violence against Chicanos, Mexicanos and Latinos.” Peterson described how American imperialism brutalized not just nations around the world, but also nations here in the U.S., noting that “police are on the front lines of enacting that brutality.”
As the family mourns, they continue to fight. Alongside COSAARPR and FRSO, they are determined to win justice for Alex and to get violent police officers off the streets of Colorado Springs.
#ColoradoSpringsCO #CO #InjusticeSystem #KillerCop #COSAARPR #OppressedNationalities
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