Amplify the voices of activists as we fight for justice for Sean Monterrosa and all of the victims of the Vallejo Police Department. Donate to place this billboard directly adjacent to VPD headquarters in Vallejo.
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THANK YOU TO ALL WHO DONATED! WE HAVE MET OUR GOAL! STAY TUNED FOR MORE WAYS TO DEMAND FOR JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF VPD!
***After meeting our original fundraising goals, we are grateful for those who donated already. Thank you. We can now expand our goals and reach****:
1) more billboards in Vallejo for Sean Monterrosa
2)represent and demand justice for more victims of VPD
3) seek billboards near the Solano county district attorney's office.
Bay Area artists and organizers seek to place a “Justice for Sean Monterrosa” billboard next to the Vallejo Police Department. It is crucial we continue to demand justice in Vallejo where the VPD has killed 37 civilians since 1997, and 14 officers locally known as the “Fatal 14” have been involved in three or more shootings each since 2010.
Funding this billboard amplifies the voices of activists and community members as they continue to protest and fight for justice for Sean Monterrosa and all of the victims of the VPD. All funds raised will go to renting billboard space and printing and maintaining the artwork, along with providing a modest honorarium for the artist. This project is a collaboration between artist Oree Originol and Vessels of Vallejo with support from Premiere Jr., a San Francisco exhibition space.
On June 2, 2020, Sean Monterrosa, a 22-year-old resident of San Francisco, was fatally shot by Vallejo police officer Jarrett Tonn. Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams reported that Monterrosa was on his knees with his hands above his waist when he was shot. Bodycam footage has revealed that Tonn fired from the backseat of an unmarked police truck, through his own windshield and before the vehicle had fully stopped. After the shooting, footage also captured a captain comforting Tonn, “You’ll be alright. Take some deep breaths. You’ve been through this before.” (Tonn is one of the Fatal 14.) Vallejo officials have now discovered that the VPD destroyed a crucial piece of evidence—the windshield from the shooting--- and the vehicle has been placed back into service without prior consultation with the Police Chief or City Attorney's Office. The FBI has been called to investigate.
Vessels of Vallejo is a community organization working to bring an end to the oppressive system that relies on the policing and the criminalization of disadvantaged people, specifically those of the black and brown community.
In 2014 Bay Area artist Oree Originol launched Justice for our Lives, an open-source digital portrait series of people who have been killed by U.S. law enforcement in 2014. Inspired by Black Lives Matter activism, the black-and-white portraits have served as pivotal instruments in the fight for justice against state-sponsored terrorism. With permission from Sean Monterrosa’s family, we honor his memory.
Billboard photo credit: Artist Oree Originol’s artwork on the billboard above 624 Irving Street in San Francisco. Presented by Premiere Jr. (Photo by Graham Holoch)
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