We, the undersigned community members and organizations of Orange County, demand justice for Hector Hernandez and David Sullivan, who were recently murdered by officers of Orange County police departments. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has a long history of not prosecuting police officers when they’ve used lethal violence in our communities. He has denied justice to communities of color in Orange County for too long, and we are now here to say enough is enough. Therefore, we make the following demands to the office of Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer:

1. Charge K-9 Officer Jonathan Ferrell of the Fullerton Police Department for the murder of Hector Hernandez. The police arrived at Hector’s home after a 911 call due to a domestic disturbance on the night of May 27th, 2020. Hector exited his front door, totally compliant, hands raised, when Officer Ferrell quickly moved to release his dog. When Hector was pulled to the ground, he used his pocket knife to defend himself from the dog, at which point Officer Ferrell ran up to Hector, a Mexican American father of two, who was lying on his back, and fired two rounds into his chest, killing him. Fullerton Police Chief Dunn has already deemed Ferrell’s actions permissible, and Ferrell has long been returned to active duty. He needs to be taken off the streets and charged for murder. It has been almost a year and the OCDA office under Todd Spitzer’s command is still investigating the case. Stop delaying, finish the investigation, and charge Officer Ferrell for Hector’s murder.

2. Re-open the case for David Sullivan and prosecute Buena Park Police Department Officers Jennifer Tran and Bobby Colon for his murder. David, a biracial teenager, was stopped by Officers Tran and Colon in a car that was not his. When officers asked David to step out of the car, he tried to drive away, but hit another car. He proceeded to step out of his car, unarmed the entire time, and began to run away, when the officers fired seven rounds at David, killing him.

None of these officers have been charged.

OC District Attorney Todd Spitzer claims he has “dedicated [his] life to keeping families safe.” Whose families? Because we do not feel safe in our neighborhoods, when armed officers can apparently take the lives of our brothers, friends, and neighbors, without consequence.

Prosecutorial discretion does not mean insulating cops from accountability. It does not mean shielding those in uniform through inaction. OC District Attorney Todd Spitzer is OUR public servant, so he must heed our words:

We demand accountability. We demand justice. We demand that OC District Attorney Todd Spitzer brings charges against Fullerton Police Department officer Jonathan Ferrell for killing Hector Hernandez. We demand that he reopen the case and bring charges against Buena Park Police Officers Jennifer Tran and Bobby Colon for killing David Sullivan.