Statement by the Family of Juan Luis Rodriguez

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 16, 2013

Contact:

Jorge Rodriguez-Feo: 305-972-9685

Nidia Grissom: 305-898-2739

Martha Trino: 305-790-0596

West Kendall, Miami - The family of Juan Luis "Johnny" Rodriguez today released the following statement regarding his extrajudicial killing by Miami-Dade County police officers on Wednesday, March 13, 2013.

As we mourn the tragic loss of our family member, we are deeply troubled by the official story of Tuesday night's incident as released by police department officials and as reported in the news media. Simply put, the details of the official account as reported in multiple news sources do not add up, and are not consistent with the Johnny Rodriguez we knew and loved.

We call upon the Miami-Dade County Police Department to fully disclose all details of the March 13 incident in West Kendall that led to the death of our beloved family member, and ask them to provide us the full and honest rationale behind the responding officers' decision to take a human life.

Based solely upon the coverage we have seen in the local news media, it is not clear that the responding officers were in mortal danger when they decided to fatally shoot Johnny Rodriguez. We cannot comprehend how Johnny --a physically unfit man recovering from recent shoulder surgery -- was able to overpower multiple responding officers and escape their attempt to arrest him. We also do not understand why he was not restrained by non-lethal means before the incident was allowed to escalate to a point at which the responding officers believed lethal force was necessary.

The mission statement of the Miami-Dade County Police department is to "promote a safe and secure environment, free from crime and the fear of crime." When police are too eager to use deadly force against an unarmed subject, the environment promoted is neither safe nor secure, and only instills fear of the very police charged to protect us.

Today our entire family is in mourning. Siblings have lost a brother. Nieces and nephews have lost an uncle. A young man has lost a father, and a father and mother are grieving the loss of a son.

We know that Johnny was a man with a troubled past, but we also know him as a man who had spent his recent years working to better himself and put this past behind him.

The family of Juan Luis Rodriguez request that any individuals who personally witnessed the March 13 incident in West Kendall, or who may have captured any video of the incident on home surveillance cameras, to come forward and provide us with their account of the death of our loved one. Please contact Jorge Rodriguez-Feo at 305-972-9685, Nidia Grissom at 305-898-2739, or Martha Trino at 305-790-0596 if you have any information.

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