Organizers of a group called Enough is Enough plan a press conference in Monrovia this afternoon to decry a recent drive-by shooting there and possibly ask the city to remove Roger Johnson as Chief of Police.
Victim Brandon Black, 23, has been branded by city officials as a member of the Du Roc Crips — one of three warring gangs in the Monrovia-Duarte area. His family said Black is not a gang member and was targeted by members of the Monrovia Nuevo Varrio gang because of his race. Black is Black.
The planned press conference will take place in the 500 block of Royal Oak. It begins at 3 p.m.
Spokesman Henry Clark said the group will demand police term the recent shooting a “hate crime.”
“They are going to have to realize there’s a ghetto in Monrovia and they are going to have to deal with the problems of the ghetto,” Clark said. “Call these crimes what they are.”
Clark also referred to Nathan McIntire’s recent article on the strife in Monrovia and questioned how effective the police department can be against area gangs when allegations surrounding Police Sgt. Dan Verna have not been thoroughly investigated.
“If the city is not going to pay these officers and if they are going to be sitting in a park doing homosexual stuff with gang members the city needs to turn over patrols to the Sheriff’s Department. And turn it over as soon as possible.
“As soon as the CHP and Sheriff’s went away, this stuff started cropping up again. people are afraid its going to escalate like before.”
BTW a Crime Scene poll on Johnson’s performance has yeilded a huge vote of no confidence in the chief. Fully 76 percent of respondents voted in favor of removing Johnson. About 60 percent of those same respondents favor replacing the PD with the Sheriff’s Department.