Tampa, FL – On the evening of Monday, October 12, activists from Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee (TampaIRC) held a press conference with the family of Adelaido Chavez Mariano, a Tampa Bay husband, father and Mexican immigrant, to demand transparency and justice following his brutalization and abduction.
Present were community members, Adelaido’s son Gandi Chavez, daughter Lizette Chavez and activists with TampaIRC and the Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (TAARPR). The press conference served as a way to get Adelaido’s family’s demands and the truth of his story out to the public.
TampaIRC member Yunqing Zheng spoke about the day that Adelaido was arrested and the brutality that he faced during that arrest. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Deputy Ryan Fisher delivered multiple blows to Adelaido’s head that resulted in a hematoma, which Adelaido’s daughter, Lizette, a medical assistant, was able to recognize.
Adelaido was denied medical care at the scene of the arrest, with the police turning away the emergency medical technicians, and was subsequently denied care in Falkenburg Road Jail. He was left visibly bruised, bleeding, unable to stand, and, in an effort to isolate him from his family, placed under a suicide watch, despite having no previous suicidal ideation.
Adelaido was then abducted by ICE and taken to the notorious “Deportation Depot” of Baker Correctional Institute, outside Jacksonville, where he was further denied care.
On October 2, Adelaido was bonded out by his family after being separated from them for two months.
It was revealed at the press conference that Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Joseph Mauer called Lizette several times during the workday and visited her residence. When she returned his call, he disclosed he was calling her on his personal phone, insisted they meet in person, and that she disclose her father’s location. When Lizette declined to disclose her father’s whereabouts, he threatened that he “can make arrangements to find out where he is.”
Gandi discussed the many inconsistencies in HCSO’s story, including whether the arresting officers’ body cameras were turned on, where the body cameras were during the arrest, how Adelaido was brutalized, and to the fact that arresting officer Deputy Ryan Fisher had his gun drawn on Adelaido when he approached him. Gandi stated, “We’re calling for a complete explanation and disclosure of the relevant evidence.”
Lizette Chavez, drawing on her medical background, discussed the obvious injuries that her father suffered that day that she could observe from video footage and the medical documents that she acquired after repeatedly requesting them from Falkenburg Road Jail. She explained how these injuries could be debilitating and life changing, given how they were unaddressed for a prolonged period. Describing Hillsborough Fire Rescue’s clearing of her father for booking, Lizette stated, “This is concerning, as the booking image presents a noticeable trauma to the head, and the statement in Officer Fisher’s preliminary report verbatim states using closed fist strikes – with an ‘s’ at the end.”
Both Lizette and Gandi also related the enormous amount of work that they have done to get their father’s records released, and to demand his release from ICE custody.
TampaIRC member Erain Boxtha placed Adelaido’s arrest in the context of the sweeps of arrests that have been taking place in recent months all across the country, in Trump’s effort to deport millions during his term. In August, ICE arrested over 50,000 people, setting a new record for immigration arrests in one month.
Owing to how obvious a case of police brutality this was, Laura Rodriguez of TAARPR spoke about other instances of HCSO misconduct and brutality, as in the cases of Jamel Daniels and Sandra Zikry, as well as Pastor Carl Soto, with HCSO’s brutalization of Zikry and Soto leaving them with permanent physical conditions.
The family and all attendees were united behind the family’s demands, among them releasing all digital media relating to Adelaido’s arrest, firing and charging the arresting officers, and closing Baker Correctional Institute. The plan to keep pressure on HCSO until these demands are met.
#TampaFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #TIRC #TAARPR #ImmigrantRights
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