Family and supporters of Mona Rodriguez peacefully protested outside of the LBUSD Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, where it was announced that the safety officer involved had been fired.
LBUSD Superintendent Jill Baker said in a statement to the press that the Board unanimously decided to terminate the employment of safety officer Eddie F. Gonzalez during their closed session meeting.
Rodriguez was shot in the head by Gonzalez while in the passenger seat of a car fleeing the scene of a fight near Millikan High School on Sept. 27.
Rodriguez died on Tuesday after being removed from life support, according to the Long Beach Post.
The policy on use of force from LBUSD’s school safety office, states that officers are not permitted to fire a gun at a moving vehicle unless a circumstance warrants the use of a weapon. Upon a review of the situation, the Board determined that this internal policy was violated, Baker said.
“We believe the decision to terminate this officer’s employment is warranted, justified, and quite frankly, the right thing to do,” said Baker.
Outside of the Long Beach Unified headquarters, a group of about 60 protesters clapped and cheered upon hearing the news of Gonzalez’s termination.
The first demand listed by protesters at the beginning of the demonstration, “fire SSO Eddie F. Gonzalez”, was met.
“I feel satisfied for now. I feel safer for the high school kids who go to Millikan or any other high school. I’m hoping that the next step is that he is charged for killing this 18-year-old Hispanic female. We’re going in the right direction right now. The firing was excellent, I was overjoyed,” said protester Ejayme Medal.
Before the LBUSD Board of Education meeting began, Oscar Rodriguez, Mona’s brother, thanked the group outside for showing up and supporting his sister. However, he claimed that he would not be speaking to the Board due to the limited time that was slated for public comments, calling it “disrespectful”.
“This is all so ridiculous how it’s only 30 minutes and we have to ask for extra time. We are all human beings and we deserve our questions to be answered. That’s why we pay you.” said Rodriquez.
However, the public comment session of the meeting was ultimately extended by an additional hour due to multiple requests from community members who wished to speak on the incident.
Many expressed their disapproval of safety officers with weapons on school campuses to the Board members.
“Mona’s murder is not the result of one person who made a bad choice. It resulted from institutional decisions that do not protect the safety of our students, create equity or enhance education. Why was school safety officer Gonzalez armed in the first place?” asked Jane Gould, rector at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church.
Luke Higbee, a teacher at Millikan High School, said his students heard the gunshots and witnessed the shooting. Higbee called for a removal of all school safety officers on LBUSD campuses.
“The biggest injustices that our students face are not just in the classrooms, but it’s this 1.5 million dollars that the district is spending every year on these officers that clearly are not keeping our students safe and are endangering our community,” said Higbee.
Most recently, on Thursday, LBPD announced in a press release that detectives are currently investigating Mona’s death as a homicide.