Alex Darocy Photography

A candlelight vigil was held in San Jose on May 21 to mark the three month anniversary of the death of Antonio Guzman Lopez, who was killed by San Jose State Police near the university on February 21. Antonio was shot in the back by police twice in broad daylight, and Laurie Valdez, the widow of Antonio and mother of Josiah Antonio Lopez, still has not received the police report or coroner's report on his killing from any agency. "I want answers and it's three months already and I don't have nothing at all," she said at the vigil. The San Jose Police Department and the University Police Department are not returning her calls or revealing what the officers' uniform-mounted cameras recorded that day. The intimate vigil was organized at the last minute when Antonio's parents arrived from Nayarit, where they live and where Antonio is now buried. Antonio's mother, who spoke briefly at the vigil, wanted to see where her son died. In April Laurie descri...

Donald Williams Jr., a black student at San Jose State University, filed a $5 million claim on March 19 against the institution, which alleges breach of contract, breach of duty, negligence, and violation of the Unruh Act. The claim stems from alleged hate crimes committed against Williams in his SJSU dorm room by three of his housemates in the Fall of 2013. After the incidents became public, large protest rallies were held at the university organized by the SJSU Black Student Union, which demanded change at the university, including protecting its African American studies courses. In February an independent fact finding report was released that outlined the incidents. The report states that the series of events occurred over the course of the semester, between late August and early October of 2013, and the University became aware of the Victim’s situation on October 13. Williams' parents were visiting their son's accommodations on that date when they observed a Confede...