4.24.2009

justice for joseph han

Some follow-up on the case of Joseph Han, the 23-year-old man who was tragically shot and killed in his home by Folsom police two weeks ago. According to his family, what police and media are reporting, and what actually transpired, are two different things entirely. (Full disclosure: though I did not know him very well, Joseph was a family friend.)

Reporting on the incident thus far has heavily favored the police's account of what happened, painting Joseph as a crazed, "knife-wielding man." But his family says that he had been tasered, placed in hancuffs, then shot. Why was it necessary to shoot him?

His family and friends are now calling on the community for help, to seek justice and spread public awareness about what really happened that morning, and question why Joseph Han had to be shot to death. They're holding a public informational meeting tomorrow to discuss the case and their next steps. It looks like a lot of details are still coming together:
1st Conference for Joseph Han - APRIL 25th

We have arranged a conference meeting for:
Saturday, April 25th at 7 PM at the Korean Culture Center.
3641 S Port Dr.
Sacramento, CA
Chris Lim, a criminal justice professor, is going to be presenting a PowerPoint presentation regarding our rights to a peaceful assembly.

We will also have several leaders from the Korean community coming to speak to us, so that we could work cohesively with the larger scope of the community. The president of the Korean American Association has informed several people about this conference, so hopefully we get some important people that can help us voice our opinion.

If you know anyone in the Folsom community that is knowledgeable about citizen rights and Joe's case, (it could be yourself) please let me know. The more speakers that are well-informed, the better.

Please tell everyone you know. Anyone who feels strongly about Joe's injustice, or about the unfairness of this case at all, are more than welcomed to come. We want people to come and voice their opinions!

The media should not be contacted. This is our time to come together and think of what we should do next. We should decide on several things:

1) Silent protest/Verbal protest
2) Signs/slogans
3) How we want to be portrayed to the public
4) If we want to have a benefit (as mentioned by Dung)

Tell everyone and spread the word.

Remember, it was the police that created the confrontation. It was the police that were the aggressors in this case. It shouldn't have been that way at all.
This is about justice for Joseph Han and his family. The only way they're going to get to the bottom of what really happened is if the community stands behind them. And that starts with spreading the word. If you're near Sacramento, and inclined to help with this cause, oome out to the meeting on Saturday. More details on this Facebook event page here.

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