Pubdate: Wed, 25 Feb 2004
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2004 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: John Woolfolk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL HELD IN SAN JOSE FOR SLAIN MAN

More than 80 people gathered in downtown San Jose on Tuesday night for a 
candlelight vigil demanding an open inquiry into the Feb. 17 shooting death 
of Rodolfo "Rudy" Cardenas by a state drug agent who mistook him for a 
fugitive parolee.

Cardenas, a 43-year-old father of five, was shot while running from a 
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agent who chased him from the home of a 
fugitive parolee who was considered dangerous. Cardenas was unarmed, but 
police said the drug agent feared he was about to be shot.

"This is my blood on the ground," Jesse Villarreal, 27, told the crowd as 
he stood with a candle in the spot in an alley at St. James and Fourth 
streets where his uncle collapsed in the shooting. "We can't be letting 
innocent people die. It hurts me inside because I can't see my uncle any 
more. They say, 'We understand.' But they don't understand."

The crowd held a moment of silence, prayed and sang the Latin-American folk 
song "De Colores," "Amazing Grace" and "We Shall Overcome."

Many wore white T-shirts printed with Cardenas' picture. Dozens of candles 
and flowers marked the spot along a chain link fence where Cardenas fell. A 
paper sign read, "We Want Justice."

It was the second such vigil since the shooting. San Jose police are 
investigating the incident, and the district attorney's office will take 
the case before a criminal grand jury for review, a standard procedure in 
officer-involved shootings.

Cardenas' family and supporters are calling on the district attorney to 
request an open grand jury hearing like the one held for last summer's 
fatal shooting of a Vietnamese mother by a San Jose policeman who was later 
cleared of wrongdoing.

"I just want them to give us an honest, open investigation into what 
happened," said Cardenas' brother, Raul Cardenas, 59, who wore a yellow 
jacket with a bull's-eye and "police target" written on the back. "I just 
want justice for my brother."

Cardenas' funeral is Thursday at Oak Hill Funeral Home's Chapel of the Oaks 
in San Jose. A "march for justice" is planned Tuesday from the site of the 
shooting to City Hall on West Hedding Street.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom