Gunned down in a Walmart parking lot: MOBB United for Social Change demands justice for Diante Yarber
On April 5th, 2018, 26 year old Diante Yarber was profiled and murdered by Barstow PD officers in a barrage of bullets. While waiting in the parking lot of a Walmart for one of his passengers to return from shopping, Yarber's vehicle was called into the police as "suspicious." Responding to the call, officers attempted to box in Yarber who tried to maneuvered his car around the police vehicles. In a crowded Walmart parking lot, police officers decided to halt Yarber’s vehicle by unleashing over 30 rifle rounds into the car's windshield and driver side door.
Video footage of Yarber's car shows him reversing slowly away from law enforcement, just before officers began to shoot into the vehicle. Officers on the scene shot 30 rifle rounds in the windshield and driver side door. Training and policy dictates that police should never fire at moving vehicles because it only increases the danger to others if they successfully disable the driver. Preliminary accounts and investigations reveal that Yarber was unarmed and that officers were not in the path of his vehicle when they opened fire. Yarber was struck an estimated ten times in the barrage of bullets. In spite of the number of injuries from the bullets, Yarber might have survived the incident with medical treatment. Instead, police on the scene did not offer any aid or make any attempt to resuscitate Yarber.
M.O.B.B. United for Social Change demands justice for Diante Yarber - 26-year-old father of three - and accountability by the officers who wrongfully fired dozens of rounds into the car with Yarber and his passengers.
Call To Action
#ProtectThem by demanding immediate action and reforms of the San Bernardino, Police Department.
Please contact the official below and state the following:
- Request the immediate identification of the officers involved in the shooting of Diante Yarber
- Demand that San Bernardino District Attorney [you] conduct an independent investigation and indict the officers responsible immediately. Charges must be brought against Barstow Law Enforcement Officers
- Demand an installation of a permanent, independent auditor for the San Bernadino police department
- Call for review and reforms of the Sacramento police department’s policies on use of force, use of investigatory stops,use of racial profiling and request the initiation of implicit bias and de-escalation training for all officers
Julie Peterson, Assistant District Attorney
1-760-243-8600
[email protected] (Email is pre-filled. Just click link, sign, and send)
Mike Ramos, District Attorney
1-909-382-3800
[email protected](Email is pre-filled. Just click link, sign, and send)
Tweet @michaelramos
Tweet @sbcountyda
M.O.B.B. United for Social Change, Inc. is a nationwide coalition of moms who are dedicated to making the world a safer place for Black boys and men by eradicating harassment, brutality and unwarranted use of deadly force by law enforcement against our sons. The group was born out of frustration over the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile in Minnesota and numerous other innocent Black boys and men killed by police before and after them. It has grown into a mobilized force of moms determined to make a difference. We aim to influence both policy and perception that impact how Black boys and men are treated by law enforcement.