New Information Emerges About the Chico PD Killing of Tyler Rushing

Aug 25

Sobering (and frankly, infuriating) new information from ChicoSol.org this week.

New videos have been released that were previously not made available. In one, you can see Tyler being held by the officer behind him while the other shoots him.

"Scott Rushing of Ventura, Tyler’s father, said none of the newly released video was turned over to the Rushing family during the discovery phase of their wrongful-death lawsuit against the city. Rushing said the withholding of the videos was unethical if not illegal and served to weaken the family’s case."

We need transparency from our police department and DA's office, and what we have instead is obfuscation and a closing of the ranks. Billy Aldridge, second in command at Chico PD now, was on the scene that day and told officers after the killing to "stop talking," and then told one to turn off his body cam.

It's beyond reasonable to ask for and receive a full accounting when anyone is hurt in police custody, let alone killed. To expect less is what seems unreasonable; police are the only public servants that are legally allowed to summarily execute a citizen and we have a right to a full accounting and review.

Citizens For Justice, a local group that has sought reform and community engagement from Chico PD has made little headway. Their asks have been common sense: training, investment in non-lethal options like beanbag shotguns, and the creation of a Citizens Oversight Committee. They have been largely ignored by the rank and file. Chico PD, under former Police Chief O’Brien (a newly minted Chico City Councilmember) and now under Police Chief Matt Madden, have refused to work with a Citizens Oversight Committee, citing…oh, who even knows? They just don’t “want to.”

Madden did, for a while, have a “citizens advisory board” that he himself appointed, made up of people like Rob Berry, the self-appointed lead Chico PD cheerleader and adulation advisor. (you may recall Rob from his appointment to a Mayor’s police committee, which was ostensibly to review Chico PD. From the Chico ER: “Rob Berry, appointed by [conservative] Councilor Kasey Reynolds, disagreed, saying the committee’s purpose should be showing “how professional and well trained the police are.” Even that meagre and wanting committee appears to have been too much for Madden…after questions about the appointees (…and the point) he disbanded it too.

𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲.

This is a heartbreaking and necessary conversation that the community desperately needs to have. Read the full story at Chico Sol