By DAVID LOPEZ
Special to the NEWS
While citizens inside San Benito City Hall celebrated the city’s Christmas social on Tuesday, Dec. 18, another group of citizens outside amassed outside City Hall on behalf of Ricardo Treviño III and his family.
The 21-year old San Benito resident was gunned down by law enforcement officers two weeks ago after a chase which ended in the El Ranchito area, outside San Benito. A group of residents led by the parents of Treviño waited outside for the regular city meeting to begin at 5:30 p.m. in order to speak during the public comment section but the meeting was cancelled last minute at 3:47 p.m., leaving residents, and even some commissioners, confused.
According to San Benito City Commissioner Antonio Gonzales, Mayor Ben Gomez had contracted the flu the weekend before, and Commissioner Rene Villafranco was also out sick. Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez had conflicting plans and was also not in attendance. For this reason, Gonzales said, the meeting was cancelled.
The mother and step-father of Treviño, April Treviño and Arturo Flores, were present outside City Hall but were still not speaking to the media. Instead they had community activist Alfonso Benavides, present, speaking on their behalf.
“I’m not calling this a murder, I’m calling this an assassination,” said Benavides. “This means it goes further, that there was an intent, a reason for the assassination. The police knew who that boy was,” he said.
Ricardo Treviño III was fatally shot by San Benito Police following a high speed chase in the afternoon hours of Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. The chase began at approximately 3:07 p.m. Friday, after a San Benito Police Officer approached Treviño’s vehicle near the 400 blk. East Expressway 83 following a call to EMS to care for Treviño who had allegedly suffered some type of reaction upon taking what may have been medication. Treviño then panicked and drove off.
According to a press release from Department of Public Safety spokesperson Lt. Johnny Hernandez, Treviño refused to stop and evaded law enforcement in his vehicle. Treviño eventually stopped near a cul-de-sac north of Ranch Park Road in El Ranchito and once there, “the suspect drove towards a law enforcement vehicle and struck it head-on. Officers discharged their firearms, and the suspect was fatally wounded,” read the press release.
The News reached out to the Treviño family attorney John T. Blaylock but did not receive a response as of press time.
The San Benito Police Department has continued to avoid commenting after releasing a short initial statement the night of the shooting, commenting that the incident is being investigated by the Texas Rangers and that the officers involved have been placed on administrative desk duty.
In an email inquiry to the City asking for updates on the case, the City responded, “The City Manager is awaiting the findings of the investigation by the Texas Rangers and no comment will be made while the investigation is pending.” At the Christmas social, the News asked the City Manager Manuel De La Rosa and PR Director Martha McClain for the names of the officers involved, but declined comment.
Still unknown is which and how many officers were involved, which and how many of those officers were placed on administrative desk duty, and it is unknown which or how many officers fatally shot their weapons at Treviño.
It remains unexplained if Treviño had a weapon or a reason for officers to believe he had a weapon, though he is noted as saying that he had a “weapon” during his Facebook live stream.
During the last five minutes of his live stream, Treviño is seen at the wheel, seemingly parking his car when he gets shot multiple times by police.
At the city’s next meeting, the crowd is expected to show up again with larger numbers, according to residents present.
“I warned the commission last year, ‘You have been undermining this community by keeping Michael Galvan as Chief of Police.’ Now look at what has happened,” continued Alfonso Benavides. “They, our residents, have a right to know who these officers are. They have failed to provide identification of them, so where’s the transparency that they talk about?”
The News reached out to the Chief of Police Michael Galvan, but the police department declined comment.
Still unknown is which and how many officers were involved, which and how many of those officers were placed on administrative desk duty, and it is unknown which or how many officers fatally shot their weapons at Treviño.
It remains unexplained if Treviño had a weapon or a reason for officers to believe he had a weapon, though he is noted as saying that he had a “weapon” during his Facebook live stream.
During the last five minutes of his live stream, Treviño is seen at the wheel, seemingly parking his car when he gets shot multiple times by police.
At the city’s next meeting, the crowd is expected to show up again with larger numbers, according to residents present.
“I warned the commission last year, ‘You have been undermining this community by keeping Michael Galvan as Chief of Police.’ Now look at what has happened,” continued Alfonso Benavides. “They, our residents, have a right to know who these officers are. They have failed to provide identification of them, so where’s the transparency that they talk about?”
The News reached out to the Chief of Police Michael Galvan, but the police department declined comment.
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