In January, 1999, Irvin Landrum Jr. was killed by two Claremont police officers during a routine traffic stop.  Although the police officers claimed that Irvin pulled a gun and fired at them (they saw a muzzle flash and heard the shot), subsequent investigation proved that the gun found at Irvin’s feet had never been fired and bore no finger prints.  Irvin was an 18-year old working father, and had everything to live for.

We have since learned that numerous African American and Latino men and women are routinely harassed by Claremont police officers.  Now is the time to confront these shameful practices.

The Gun Wasn’t Fired.  Clear, indisputable scientific evidence show that the gun found at Irvin’s feet had never been fired.  Yet both police officers claimed that they shot Irvin only after seeing a “muzzle flash” and hearing the sound of a gun shot.  Is it easier to believe that both officers had the same hallucination or that they both came up with the same alibi?

A Gun Wasn’t “Brandished.”  Both officers testified that they never saw a gun, even after Irvin lay mortally wounded on the ground.  One of the officers stated, “I saw him with a straight arm with something in his hand.  I really couldn’t tell that it was a gun…”  (emphases added).  According to the district attorney, the officer assumed that he had a gun because he saw a “muzzle flash.”  The other officer, who refuses to testify voluntarily, had his testimony described by the District Attorney in this fashion:  “…[He] said that he did not actually see the weapon, but feared that Landrum was drawing a gun” (emphasis added).  Even after Irvin lay on the ground, paralyzed because his spinal cord was severed by the downward trajectory of the bullet that hit him in the neck, the second officer “…could not see where Landrum’s gun was.”  The officers never saw a gun, so a gun was not brandished.  (How they could not see a gun, standing a few feet from Irvin with their headlights, flashlights and searchlights pointed at him, is difficult to understand.)  According to their own testimony, they shot Irvin because they saw a muzzle flash and heard a gun shot.  But the gun wasn’t fired!  There was no muzzle flash or gunshot!  They never saw a gun, so a gun was not “brandished!”

Eyewitness Testimony.  A resident who lived a stone’s throw from where Irvin was shot has given startling testimony that sharply contradicts what happened that night, including the date and time of the shooting.

An Independent Investigation.  We want someone other than the police to investigate this case.  The police cannot police themselves!  The District Attorney’s Office said on page 1 of its report:  “No independent investigation has been conducted by members of this office.”
Where did the gun come from?  We want to know where the gun came from.  It was last registered to the now-deceased Police Chief of the City of Ontario.  The Chief’s widow has given contradictory testimony about the disposition of the gun.  Is it possible that the gun circulated within a law enforcement community and was planted at Irvin’s feet?  If it can be proven that Irvin, in fact, waved and fired a gun at the police officers, we will pack our bags and go home.

Stop the Harassment and Intimidation.  The City of Claremont has hired private investigators to research the backgrounds of those of us who are seeking justice for Irvin Landrum, Jr.  They are releasing highly defamatory information, with outrageous errors, in an effort to discredit our movement.  They are writing our employers trying to intimidate us into silence.  We want this harassment stopped.

[Rev. 5-27-2000]