Months after 26-year-old Jeremy Flores was shot and killed by Los Angeles police in Boyle Heights, his family is turning grief into action.
Since the July killing of her son, Isabella Rivera, along with her older son Sergio Flores, have canvassed the neighborhood, attended weekly police commission meetings, and joined a national conference, connecting with families across the country who have also lost loved ones to police violence. With support from grassroots groups like Centro CSO, the family is pushing for greater police accountability locally and nationally, and building networks of solidarity while seeking justice.
Last month, Rivera and her family took to the streets around Estrada Courts with members of Centro CSO to garner support for a petition demanding justice for her son. Around 250 people have signed the petition, according to a member of the group.
“I feel stronger than before,” Rivera said. “Sergio and my daughters and I are going to help other people and continue knocking on doors and collecting signatures for our petition.”
According to bodycam footage and a report from the LAPD, Jeremy was shot during a standoff as he sat in a van holding what turned out to be an Airsoft rifle. The case remains under investigation, which may take police up to a year to complete.
Outcry poured from the community following Jeremy’s death, prompting protests, including one at what had been scheduled as the Hollenbeck division’s National Night Out event.
Family and activists have questioned why police left Jeremy without medical help for nearly two hours after the shooting. They’ve also called the LAPD’s account “misleading,” saying claims that he was resisting and refused to exit the vehicle ignore the fact that he was unresponsive and gravely wounded.
At home, Rivera maintains an altar for Jeremy, balancing grief with what she describes as a newfound sense of purpose: to fight for justice with a community of supporters and organizers behind her.
Finding solidarity in a national setting
In November, Rivera and her son traveled to Chicago to attend the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) conference, an annual gathering of organizations from around the country to demand police reform and denounce political repression. Centro CSO, an affiliate of NAARPR, raised funds to support their attendance.
“It felt powerful, just to know that you’re in the same environment as people who fight for the same rights,” Sergio said.“It makes you feel like you’re home and that you have the support of a whole nation.”
Centro CSO member and longtime organizer Carlos Montes said the family had never been to an activist-led conference before.
“It was total support. The families — there’s a special connection [they] have when they meet someone else who lost their son to the police. Something that only a mom can understand and connect with,” Montes said.
During a panel at the conference, Sergio spoke to the audience and shared his frustration with the officers involved in his brother’s death.
“To this day, we haven’t gotten any justice. The police involved are still on duty… We want justice. We want those involved prosecuted. I don’t understand how they get to go home every single day to their families,” Sergio said, receiving a standing ovation. “I have to visit my brother at the cemetery.”
Although Rivera said she didn’t have the emotional strength to speak at the conference, Sergio said he saw her connecting with other mothers who, too, have lost their children to police violence.
Showing up for other mothers across the region
Rivera said one of the most healing parts of the conference was hearing from families across the country, including a mother from Oakland whose son was killed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, and another whose brother was killed by police in Colorado.
She also connected with Pomona resident Vanessa Perez, whose son, Joseph Perez, was severely beaten by LA County sheriffs deputies in 2020. Rivera said she hopes to include Perez in upcoming meetings and conversations about justice for families everywhere, especially because Perez does not have an organization like Centro CSO in her area.
Through these relationships, Rivera said her desire to push for more police accountability has only strengthened.
“We’re gonna show the petition to the chief, Jim McDonnell, so they can investigate the cops because they are still working like nothing happened. I don’t think it’s fair, it’s not safe with that kind of people. It’s not safe. It happened to Jeremy, and it can happen to anybody,” Rivera said.
Back in Los Angeles, Rivera and her children started attending LAPD’s weekly police commissioner meetings, where she’s been outspoken about her son’s killing. She says showing up feels necessary, even if change isn’t guaranteed.
Sergio shared that the solidarity shown by organizers and families has been the “backbone” of their healing over the last few months.
Sergio and his mother admit that activism hadn’t been a huge part of their lives before losing Jeremy. But now, things have changed.
“We unfortunately went through the same things, but it brought us together. And we’re always gonna fight for our loved ones,” he said. “I feel like I found a purpose … I can help families and talk to families about all this. And I feel like that’s what I want to do in life.”
“It was something that we needed,” Sergio said.