Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Comunidades Unidas is decrying the shooting death of Jose Hernandez in an encounter last October with Salt Lake City police.
- The immigrant advocacy group seeks to raise awareness of day laborers' struggles.
- Hernandez, seeking work near a home improvement store, fled police responding to a call involving the man and was shot after he threw a rock at an officer.
SALT LAKE CITY — An immigrant advocacy group is decrying the death of a Salvadoran day laborer in an encounter in October with Salt Lake police, hoping to draw attention to his case and the plight such workers increasingly face.
"First and foremost, we want Jose's story to be known," said Maria Montes, director of power building for Comunidades Unidas, a West Valley City-based organization that advocates for immigrants and day laborers. "In order for us to be able to change the conditions that led to this happening, this horrific attack happening on our community, more people need to be aware that this is happening to begin with and need to be involved in changing the way that policing happens in our city."
Comunidades Unidas led a vigil last Saturday, Nov. 29, near the Salt Lake City Home Depot where Jose Hernandez was shot and killed by a Salt Lake City police officer on Oct. 29 after fleeing authorities. He had thrown a rock at a pursuing officer, according to the Salt Lake City Police Department, prompting the officer to fire on him.
Police released body camera footage of the encounter on Nov. 10, and though the matter remains under investigation, Hernandez's advocates say the force police used was out of proportion to what was unfolding. Hernandez, who had been at the location around 2100 South and 300 West waiting for work leads, died after the encounter at a hospital.
"To anybody who has eyes, who sees that video, it's pretty evident that that's an excessive use of force," Montes said. "A rock will never be equivalent to a bullet."
A California-based group that works with day laborers, or jornaleros in Spanish, is following the case, and a rep from the organization, Luis Valentan, also decried the turn of events. He said Hernandez had suffered an epileptic seizure and that, as he was recovering, a homeless person started harassing him, leading to some argument. The homeless person left, but when police, who had been called to the scene, arrived, Hernandez was disoriented and still trying to regain his senses, according to Valentan.
"He didn't represent any threat. He didn't really do nothing for the officers to take his life. A rock?" Valentan said.
A critical incident protocol team made up of representatives from area law enforcement agencies is still investigating what happened, said Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Greg Wilking. When the investigators are done, they'll forward their findings to the office of Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, who will make a determination on what comes next, if anything. "There's not much else that can be said at this time," Wilking said.
Valentan and Comunidades Unidas representatives are trying to unearth more information about Hernandez. He was apparently in Salt Lake City without family, and though he's from El Salvador, the Salvadoran Consulate in Salt Lake City hasn't provided much help, Valentan said.
'They are not alone'
Montes said day laborers at the Salt Lake City Home Depot have regularly faced "over-policing" at the location — frequent requests by authorities for identification, for instance, and tickets for trespassing. They've also faced harassment from the public. Day laborers are typically immigrants from Latin America, some of them in the country illegally, and Comunidades Unidas has advocated for the population for around 10 years. They'll stand in public areas outside places like Home Deport, seeking short-term landscaping, construction and other jobs from the public.
With the crackdown on immigration pursued by the administration of President Donald Trump, however, federal immigration authorities have stepped up enforcement around the Home Depot, Montes said, exacerbating an already tense atmosphere. The heightened tension also figures in Comunidades Unidas' involvement in the Hernandez case.
"We want to make sure that jornaleros, or the day laborers, know that they are not alone, that there is a community of people who are actively behind them, supporting them in their right to continue seek out employment," Montes said.
According to Montes and Valentan, Hernandez is originally from El Salvador and had recently traveled from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Salt Lake City in search of work. Additional details about the man, including the location of other family members, are limited. Other day laborers around the Salt Lake City Home Depot said he liked "to be alone," according to Valentan, but that they nevertheless got along with each other. Montes said Hernandez's fellow day laborers were aware he was prone to epileptic seizures and watched over him.
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Voces de Utah
Looking for more news from Utah's Latino community? Visit our Voces de Utah section for more stories, events and features."He seemed very, very kind," said Valentan, who regularly visits sites in the Salt Lake City area where day laborers congregate and had previously spoken with Hernandez. He seemed cognizant of the "political change" that has resulted in increased enforcement action against immigrants and level-headed in contending with it.
Going forward, Montes said Comunidades Unidas plans to keep telling Hernandez's story to build awareness of the situation that day laborers face, a priority issue for the organization. Valentan, for his part, is anxious to track down the man's family members.
"We're going to continue to talk about Jose and his story. We're going to continue to bring community members together to process what happened and to think through together what are the next best steps. We know that it is going to be up to us to fight for justice and Jose's name," Montes said.
