NORWALK, Calif. — The family of an unarmed Black man killed by deputies in a barrage of bullets after a pursuit last year is demanding a meeting with Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Frederick Holder’s family is holding a 33-day protest outside of the Norwalk Sheriff’s station to call attention to the shooting.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said 28-year-old Frederick Holder was driving a stolen truck when deputies tried to pull him over in Norwalk on June 23. Holder allegedly took off but was blocked by traffic at the entrance to the 605 freeway.
When deputies approached the driver’s side window, they thought Holder pointed a gun at them and they opened fire — shooting 33 bullets and striking Holder 17 times.
After he was dead, deputies recovered a lighter with a handle and a short barrel.
Nine months after the incident, the family’s outrage has grown.
“I’m in another world right now because not only did I lose my brother, I lost him in such an unjust way. I have to process that,” said Naketia Phillips, Holder’s sister, during a recent protest.
The deputies who shot and killed Holder were not equipped with body worn cameras. The only known footage of the shooting is from the personal dashcam of another deputy that does not have a direct view of the shooting.
The Sheriff’s department said homicide detectives, representatives from the District Attorney’s office and the Office of the Inspector General responded to the scene and are investigating.
However, Inspector General Max Huntsman said his office has been blocked from oversight.
“It’s unfortunate the sheriff refuses to comply with state and county laws so that we could have monitored (the Holder) investigation,” Huntsman said. “It might have improved public confidence in the outcome. New laws requiring that the attorney general investigate shootings of unarmed men will help, but ultimately it will take court action to achieve legal compliance from this agency.”
Holder’s family said Villanueva did not show up to a meeting they had scheduled with him in August. They’ve confronted him at two recent town halls in an effort to get answers on the shooting.
“The overwhelming majority of officer involved shootings are legal and justified,” Villanueva responded after multiple families disrupted his event in the Pacific Palisades. “Are they tragedies? Yes. Each and every one is a tragedy because someone lost a loved one. There’s no way around that.”
Holder’s sister said the sheriff showed no remorse.
“If I’m living in a world where people who don’t care about me are in control, I’m in trouble. My kids are in trouble. My environment is in trouble. What are we doing?” Phillips said.
The Holder family will continue to protest Monday and Tuesday at 3 p.m. outside the Norwalk Sheriff’s station.