GARDENA, Calif. (KNX) — From the beating of Rodney King to the December 2021 death of a 14-year-old girl in a clothing store, “how long will it take for you to get it right?” Rev. Al Sharpton asked of the Los Angeles Police Department Monday.
Sharpton's words echoed in through the City of Refuge Church, as he spoke at the funeral of 14-year-old Valentina Orrellana-Peralta, who was killed on Dec. 23 in North Hollywood Burlington Coat Factory, as LAPD officers shot at an assault suspect.
"There is no rationale for you to go in a department store two days before Christmas and be in pursuit of a man...[and] have disregard for the innocent lives that you put at danger with the tactics that you used to try and go after this man," Sharpton said, questioning whether the situation would have unfolded differently if the 911 call came from a wealthier neighborhood.
“I wonder if this was a department store in an upscale area, would you have been shooting like that?"
Since the teen's death, family members, Angelenos, activists and the family's lawyers have demanded answer about why LAPD officers responding to the 911 calls inside the store with guns raised — ultimately shooting at the suspect and hitting the wall behind him, where the teen and her mother were in a dressing room.
She died in her mother Soledad's arms. The suspect also died by police gunfire that day.
Speaking through translators after her daughter's funeral, Orrellana-Peralta's mother Soledad said she and the 14-year-old came to L.A. from Chile just six months before the shooting and Orrellana-Peralta was already working toward her dreams of becoming a U.S. citizen and a eventually, a robotics engineer.
The funeral ceremony began at 11 a.m. at the City of Refuge Church in Gardena, with the family's lawyers, Crump and Rahul Ravipudi, repeating their call for justice ahead of Sharpton speaking.
It's not just "black and white"
As Sharpton began speaking he smiled as he remembered a reporter calling him to tell him that before he got on a plane to speak at her funeral, he should know that the young woman who lost her life was from Chile and the officer who shot her was black.
"I said that the circumstance of nationality and race is important - it’s important because we need to make it clear that we don’t just fight for our own, because we all are our own," Sharpton said, garnering applause from the attendees.
"Whether you are from South Central, Harlem or Chile, right is right...the fact that the officer was black does not mean that we don't want a thorough investigation."
Sharpton went on to say that whether the officer was black or white, he would have spoken out against policies by LAPD that he's been fighting for more than three decades.
In an update shared last week, LAPD said Officer William Jones shot the teen while confronting a suspect and he has been placed on administrative leave while authorities investigate," according to City News Service.
"The officer's union said that Jones had recently completed a course on how to handle an active shooter situation and was following his training," the news source added.
Following a public viewing for the teen on Saturday, a group of demonstrators marched from the Burlington store where she was killed to LAPD's North Hollywood station, demanding justice for her death.
After her funeral Monday, many of the same demonstrators are expected to participate in a 2 p.m. vehicle caravan at Attorney General Rob Bonta's downtown L.A. office, according to CNS.
Speaking at the funeral, her parents said their fight will not be over until justice is served and thanked the public, Sharpton, their lawyers and all who have joined in the fight for their support.
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