Family and supporters of Joshua Feast are rallying to demonstrate for justice by holding a march in his honor on Jan. 9, according to a press release emailed to NewsOne.
Attendees will include Feast’s family attorney Benjamin Crump and family members of George Floyd and Pamela Turner, other Black people senselessly killed by the cops.
Feast, a 22-year-old Black man and father was shot and killed by La Marque, Texas, police officer Jose Santos on Dec. 9. Feast was struck while he ran away in another police involved killing that riled up sentiment over the treatment of Black community members at the hands of police.
Feast’s death occurred in a string of police shootings over the last month following Casey Goodson Jr. and Rodney Applewhite. After Feast’s death, three Black me were killed including Andre’ Hill, Dolal Idd and Carl Dorsey III.
Feasts’ uncle was a witness to the shooting and claimed Santos called out to his nephew as he spotted him sitting in a car parked on the street near his uncle’s home.
Disturbing of the footage confirmed Feasts’ family’s worst fears, showing that he was fleeing the scene when he was shot in the back.
“This footage portrays one thing: A defenseless man was shot in the back when he had not disobeyed a single lawful command and posed no threat to the officer,” Crump said in a statement emailed to NewsOne in response to the video’s release.
The footage also showed Santos failed to administer CPR to Feast directly after he was struck. A neighbor who also witnessed the aftermath of the shooting told KTRK they heard Santos order Feast to put his hands up while he was on the ground.
Advocates for Feast also point to a disturbing revelation that points to Santos’ violent past. Crump shared bodycam footage of a 2013 incident where Santos can be seen beating and punching a Black man while holding his head underwater despite pleading, “I can’t breathe.”
“Joshua Feast would still be alive today if the La Marque Police Department had done the right thing by demanding that their officers be individuals of sound moral character – not individuals like Jose Santos who had a documented history of tormenting and harming his fellow man. It was all but promised that Santos would use excessive force again as it had been previously condoned,” Crump said in a statement.
Saturday’s march will follow efforts by community members who have marched for justice in the weeks following the tragic shooting.
SEE ALSO:
Joshua Feast’s Independent Autopsy Shows He Was Shot In The Back, Confirming Witnesses’ Accounts
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