Press Release: Long Beach Community Demands Police Accountability and Institutional Change alongside Pleas from Family of Beloved Brother, Uncle, Son, Slain Father of Six, Brandon Boyd
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Long Beach Community Demands Police Accountability and Institutional Change alongside Pleas from Family of Beloved Brother, Uncle, Son, Slain Father of Six, Brandon Boyd
Family of Man Who Called 911 for Mental Health Emergency Help, Finally Receives Information from Coroner’s Office of Where Their Loved One’s Missing Body is, and LBPD Release of Edited Video, Nearly Three Weeks After He was Killed by LBPD
Long Beach, CA – December 8, 2024
The family of Brandon Boyd, supported by community members and BLM Grassroots Long Beach, is demanding police accountability and institutional change from the City of Long Beach and its Police Department. Brandon Boyd, a father of six, reached out to 911 for help and was consequently killed on the steps of his childhood church at 5200 Atlantic Ave. where he sought respite, by Long Beach Police officers after they startled him with a flash bomb hand grenade while his hands were lifted in the air. At the scene, three members of his family (two sisters and a niece) were denied any opportunity to talk with Brandon, and were brutalized, arrested, and forced to sit, handcuffed, facing Brandon’s slain body for hours. Both sisters are bruised and one sustained a fracture as a result of the police brutality and use of force.
Yesterday, the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) released a seventeen and a half minute edited video compilation of the more than two and half hours of recorded interactions between LBPD and Brandon Boyd. Earlier, the Coroner’s office finally reached out to the Boyd family to tell the whereabouts of Brandon’s body since he was killed on November 19th, about two and a half weeks ago.
“The video shows much of what we know. Brandon was in distress, he needed help, and the police department escalated the situation,” said Brandon’s sister Tiffany Boyd.
In the brief video clip produced by the LBPD, it is clear that in the moments before his life was stolen, Brandon was following police orders and had his hands clearly out in front of himself. LBPD and SWAT escalated with a flash bang and series of gunshots, killing Brandon.
BLM Grassroots Long Beach Co-founder Audrena Redmond said, “The released edited video shows a heartbreaking situation of a man in distress. He reached out for help from the steps of a building where he attended church as a child. That he was murdered by law enforcement is a testimony that LBPD are working outside of their scope when it comes to dealing with persons who need mental health support.”
Without receiving any direct conversation nor updates from the LBPD since Brandon was gunned down, the family worked with BLM Grassroots Long Beach to submit a Public Records Access (PRA) Request to the City of Long Beach last week to gain answers to the following questions:
What happened during the other 2+ hours of interaction between LBPD and Brandon? Where is that video footage and what is missing from what the police have released?
What are policies, processes and procedures when a member of the community, not “a suspect” as Chief Hebish has referred to him, calls/texts for help and indicates that he wants to hurt himself. At what point should mental health professionals be engaged?
Why were the LBPD mental health professionals not allowed to engage with Brandon?
Why wasn’t his family there on the scene given an opportunity to talk with him?
Why was the mental health professional who identified himself as with the Tarzana Treatment Center not given an opportunity to speak?
Why was there contact with a hostage negotiator? Who was he holding hostage?
Were the police inside the church where they could clearly see Brandon with his hands in the air before they deployed the flash bang grenade?
Why was his immobile body searched before half hearted aid was delivered?
Why were his family members assaulted and arrested after Brandon was gunned down by LBPD?
Why were his sisters and niece, once detained, left to sit and see his lifeless body for several hours?
Brandon’s family wants answers and has issued the following unmet demands to the City of Long Beach Police Department:
Release the 911 calls (and/or text messages) that led to the incident
Release the names of all 4 or more officers involved in shooting Brandon
Drop all charges against the family members who were arrested and brutalized
Charge the officers who killed Brandon
The family, community members, and BLM Grassroots Long Beach Chapter also want a review of LBPD's policies and protocols regarding responses to calls for mental health crisis support.
The community can support Brandon’s children and his funeral expenses at the Family’s GoFundMe page at bit.ly/brandonboydgofundme. More information can be found at www.blmlongbeach.org/news.
About Black Lives Matter (BLM) Grassroots, Long Beach Chapter
On the ground since 2013 in Long Beach, the Black Lives Matter Grassroots, Long Beach Chapter works to fight state-sanctioned violence in all of its systemic forms including police violence and the limited access to housing, medical/wellness, employment, and educational resources. Made up of community organizers and volunteers, we work in partnership in coalition spaces with Long Beach community members, grassroots leaders and groups, nonprofits, and other organizations to build awareness, provide political and social justice education, leadership development, outreach, civic engagement, community organizing, support for victims of police violence and more. We work in solidarity with the global, U.S. - based, Black Lives Matter Grassroots organization and movement. We are a Black-led organization that is queer, women, and working-class affirming and seeks Black liberation, and accordingly liberation for all people.
Social Media: Instagram/X: @blmlbc | Facebook: groups/blacklivesmatterlbc
Images: Graphics and Photos can be found in this shared folder
Contact(s):
La Mikia Castillo, BLM Los Angeles and Boyd Family Friend, 310-776-1361, lamikia.castillo@gmail.com
Audrena Redmond, BLM Long Beach, 323-963-4727, lbcblacklivesmatter@gmail.com
Melissa Morgan, BLM Long Beach, 515-999-6356, lbcblacklivesmattervolunteer@gmail.com
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