March in Remembrance of Anthony Harden & Larry Ruiz-Barreto

186 South Main Street,Fall River MA 02720

18 June, 2022

Description

Rally and March Saturday, June 18, beginning at 10:30 AM Fall River Justice Center 186 S. Main Street, Fall River, MA 02720 Who was Anthony Harden? Anthony Harden was a younger man, 30 years of age, who was a father, brother, son, and friend to many folks. He was shot and killed by Fall River Police Officer Chelsea Campellone on November 22, 2021, in his bedroom during an investigation of an incident that allegedly occurred 2 days earlier. Police entered his home and, in less than 2 minutes, Anthony was shot dead. This senseless tragedy was made even worse by the fact that Anthony's reputation was unnecessarily smeared by District Attorney Thomas Quinn. The family and community are outraged, and the criminal justice system protects the police. When under pressure, the police investigate themselves, and the killing is declared a justifiable homicide. Families of the victims are then forced to go through years of litigation where they usually don’t get justice. On November 22, 2021, police entered Anthony's home and, upon entering his apartment, they found Anthony sitting in his bedroom at the foot of the bed holding his cell phone. At the time, his brother was across the hallway from the apartment. Anthony explained that he wanted to show the police something on the cell phone. Within seconds he was told: “stop resisting” and was shot twice, then handcuffed. He cried out: “I can’t breathe.” before the paramedics asked for him to be released from the cuffs in order to treat Anthony. The family immediately began seeking answers, but answers were very slow coming from the Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn. One month after the incident, the DA’s office issued a report justifying Officer Chelsea Campellone's killing of Anthony, claiming Anthony had repeatedly tried to stab officer Michael Sullivan with a knife. However, none of the responding officers or first responders at the scene of the incident saw a knife near Anthony where he was shot! Officer Sullivan suffered no injuries. An officer, hours after the incident, claimed he picked up the knife for safety reasons and placed it behind the TV in the bedroom. The DA’s office has yet to release the name of the officer who did this! And to top it off, officer Sullivan is best friends with the DA’s son. Anthony’s family has yet to receive his cell phone. It has been over 6 months! In another case, Larry Ruiz-Barreto, a 19 year-old, was shot 5 times by Fall River Police Officer Nicholas Hoar while sitting in a car with his father. No justice has been done in this murder case as well. A federal lawsuit has been filed by Larry’s family. Please join with us in a march of remembrance of Anthony Harden and Larry Ruiz-Barreto, at 10:30 AM at the Fall River Justice Center (186 S. Main Street, Fall River, MA 02720). We will be marching to the Juneteenth Celebration.