LOS ANGELES — They may not know each other's names. They may not know each other's stories. But everyone in the parking lot outside of Chuco's Justice Center on Saturday afternoon had a shared connection: a loved one they say was lost at the hands of law enforcement.

For Khadijah Shabazz, it was her former son-in-law Dana Mitchell Young, Jr., who sheriff's deputies shot in 2020. Although he was no longer married to her daughter, Shabazz said she still viewed Young as her adopted son and father of her grandchildren.

"He was also a brother, a friend, a cousin, a nephew," she told the crowd.

Although she's not sure justice is even possible, Shabazz was one of the organizers and speakers at Saturday's Rally for Justice.

"Oh, there is no justice," she said. "How you gonna do that? There is no justice. But there is a call."

It's a call for information, Shabazz explained — for transparency and answers about the specifics behind these deaths.

"They hold the information, so you don't know what happened," she said. "You don't know what the narrative is. You just have to go by what the sheriff said. So there was never any clarity for any of these 900 people."

Shabazz was referring to data that the Los Angeles Times has compiled in their ongoing homicide report. Over the past 20 years, they say, law enforcement has killed at least 942 people in LA County. Their names and details are listed on the website. The stories don't always give the circumstances as to why the individual was in contact with law enforcement in the first place.

But, as Shabazz explained, whatever they may or may not have been involved in at the time isn't the point.

"Your job is to arrest them, not to be their judge and jury and executioner," she said. "So if they were involved, we will never know."

One name not listed is John Thomas Horton III, who died in the Men's Central Jail in 2009 while awaiting trial. His death has not yet been ruled a homicide, although his mother Helen Jones says the evidence indicates that he was beaten to death. She was told her 22-year-old son died by suicide and since then has been demanding answers and trying to conduct her investigation.

"You never get the answers you need," Jones said. "I mean, never, you will never truly get the whole truth. Sometimes, there's not even words for it, 12 years worth of trauma, 12 years worth of lies."

In September, Supervisor Holly Mitchell co-authored a motion calling for more transparency in investigating fatal use of force cases by sheriff's deputies. The approved motion also calls for a coroner inquest into three such cases, including Young's death, Shabazz's son-in-law.

In response, the sheriff's office accused the board of "exploiting tragedies for their political agenda." They say the results of their criminal investigations, including coroner's reports, are listed on the transparency promise page of their website.

But Shabazz noted that there are still unanswered questions and withheld information in many cases, which is why she and other affected families plan to continue raising their collective voices.

"Almost 1,000 families strong make a mighty fist," she said. "We can hit this system of things in the gut. We can make changes. We already have."