As advertised, family, friends and supporters filled the Yorba Linda City Council chambers Tuesday night to loudly demand answers about June's police slaying of 25-year-old resident Julian “Jules” Stanley Collender.
“Shame on you for hiding behind a veil of silence,” Michele Collender, the victim's sister, reportedly told officials. “Shame on you for not standing up for
your citizens.”
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The evening began with protesters gathering at Yorba Linda Boulevard and Imperial Highway before marching on to Yorba Linda City Hall. The demonstration came 2 1/2 months after skater, former record store owner and 2003 Esperanza High School grad Collender was felled in front of his parents Yorba Linda home by a single assault rifle gunshot to the stomach. He was unarmed at the time, his family claims.
During public comments, Richard Collender, Julian's father, complained about the lack of information released by the Brea Police Department, which claims an eyewitness identified Collender as a suspect in an armed robbery the evening of June 29. He was killed in the early morning hours of June 30. The elder Collender also chided the City Council for failing to respond to citizen concerns about the case. The district attorney investigates all police shootings, and when Councilwoman Jan Horton suggested the council
send a letter to the DA seeking a swift
investigation, Collender asked that the item be placed on the next council agenda. He was ignored.
Richard and Yen Collender say Brea Police unlawfully detained them and prevented them from getting close to their slain son. They filed claims against
the cities of Brea and Yorba Linda in August alleging wrongful death,
violation of civil rights, negligent supervision and violation of due
process. Claims must be lodged against municipalities before lawsuits can be filed. However, because there is a legal claim against the city, Councilman Mark Schwing said the panel can't comment in depth about the case.
Michele Collender, Julian's sister, said she was ashamed of police and the council for their handling of the matter. The UC Hastings School of Law graduate knew her way around the podium, having confronted the council during public comments on Sept. 7. She vowed to keep returning to council meetings until her family gets the answers they are seeking.
Many protesters displayed signs and banners inside the council chambers. The Orange County Register reports 60 demonstrators filled the facility.
Louis
Filliger held up a sign stating, “Brea PD murdered my friend.” While standing in the back of the room, the 24-year-old Yorba Linda resident asked, “Why can't we get any info? Why are they hiding secrets?”
Richard Collender confronts a Brea Police official at the meeting. The department claims a search of the Collender home produced a shotgun and semiautomatic handgun used in the armed robbery they've pinned on Julian and an Anaheim woman in custody.
- “Justice For Julian” Collender Takes Brea PD War to Streets, Facebook, Yorba Linda City Hall
- Julian “Jules” Stanley Collender's Family Demands Police Explain Why They Killed Him
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- Julian “Jules” Stanley Collender, Killed by a Cop, Remembered at Tribute Show Tonight
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.