On New Year's Eve, Keith Porter Jr. was doing what so many people do: firing his gun into the air to celebrate the coming of the new year. Then an off-duty ICE agent shot and killed Porter outside his home in Northridge, California. Brian Palacios, an ICE agent living in the same apartment complex, put on tactical gear, grabbed his firearm, and shot Porter dead. Witnesses say the agent never identified himself as law enforcement.
Since then, police have intentionally called Porter a "suspect" and "active shooter." There are no mentions that Porter was a father of two and avid fisher. He worked at Home Depot and with special-needs children. He had a stellar work record and his co-workers loved to be around him. Even in death, anti-Blackness continues demanding that we be perfect victims.
Let's not ignore the number of actual active shooters who've taken scores of lives at protests, schools, and movie theaters in recent years and walked away scot-free. There hasn't been as much outrage about Porter's killing as others because too often, state violence is only considered newsworthy when it affects white Americans, whom America doesn't expect to be harmed in the same ways as us.
State violence against Black people is treated as routine, manageable, and unremarkable. As policing continues to function as it was intended, we must continue to defend ourselves by any means necessary.
Take action by signing this petition to demand that Palacios be arrested. You can support his young daughters' future with a donation here. Rest in power, Keith Porter Jr.