Tag Archives: American Filipino

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, Filipino, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Rachel Dolezal, Dylann Roof aren’t going to wreck my Father’s Day.

On the race beat, we were all wearying of Rachel Dolezal’s tale knowing there was something more important to talk about.

But Dylann Roof’s old fashioned racism with the fresh-faced millennial look wouldn’t have been my first choice among replacement subjects.

dylannroof

Roof’s massacre was deplorable. And his  tirade against blacks, sounded like the things said about Filipino immigrants like my Dad in one of the most racist periods in California in the 20s and 30s.

It made for an unlikely Father’s Day gift I wasn’t expecting.

Click here to read my column  on the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund blog.

 

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Do Asian American lives really matter?

My cousin Stephen, an immigrant who had naturalized as an American, a proud Asian American of Filipino descent,  was shot and killed a year ago.

stephenfuneralday

So far, the family has seen no medical examiner’s report.

No police report.

Maybe none of it ever happened?

Do Asian American lives matter?

The family has been waiting for justice.

But it seems like all we are doing is waiting for paperwork.

 

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Emil Guillermo: Remembering my cousin Stephen Guillermo, shot and killed in San Francisco in 2014.

stephenbigscoreboard

Stephen Guillermo was shot and  killed by a retired security guard in San Francisco  on May 3, 2014.

It’s been a year now.

The family still hopes we matter in the eyes of the law.  But we are  still waiting for the DA to share with us records on his case.

Meanwhile, I wrote this piece for my amok column on the AALDEF blog earlier this year.

It’s about a  man in Montana who was prosecuted despite the Castle Doctrine defense,  which says you can protect your home if an intruder enters and shoot to kill.  The presumption is the intruder will do harm, so shoot.

But you can make a mistake.

The shooter in Stephen’s case did.

However, the law is so tough most  DAs in the country where the Castle Doctrine applies  don’t want to touch these cases.

Blemishes the record.

In San Francisco, they  still don’t want to touch Stephen’s case.

In the column I ask  SF DA George Gascon about challenging the Castle Doctrine in San Francisco in the same way he campaigned for Prop. 47.

READ THE COLUMN:

Markus Kaarma and Stephen Guillermo
Markus Kaarma’s case is not about police, but about a private individual taking the law into his own hands and relying on Castle Doctrine laws to justify killing an unarmed person.
It was vigilante justice. And Kaarma was wrong.
You may have heard of Kaarma, 29, a Korean American from Montana. His case didn’t get a lot of play nationally last week, perhaps because he was convicted of deliberate homicide last December.
But his recent sentencing hearing was quite a shocker.
Kaarma thought the Castle Doctrine gave him the right to shoot to kill in order to protect his home. Instead, he was sentenced to 70 years in prison for murdering Diren Dede, a 17-year-old German exchange student.
“You didn’t protect your residence, you went hunting. And here you have a 12 gauge shotgun that’s loaded. Not to protect your family, but to go after somebody,” said Missoula District Judge Ed McLean on Feb. 12.
The sentence was a surprise. But so was the prosecutor’s initial decision to go forward and charge Kaarma in the first place. That’s been my experience with DAs when it comes to self-defense cases in which the Castle Doctrine is invoked.
It happened in the case of my cousin, Stephen Guillermo.SGsign2.jpg
I’ve written about Stephen numerous times. And from a victim’s point of view, there are some similarities in the Kaarma case.
Stephen went by mistake to the wrong apartment in his building. The apartment was not his but that of an African immigrant, a retired security guard. Witnesses said they heard no break-in. If so, the door may have been opened so that an unarmed Stephen walked into the apartment and was shot to death by the armed retired security guard.
In Montana, Kaarma left his garage door open, hoping his suspected teenage prankster burglars would come in. When they did, motion detectors alerted Kaarma, who then fired a shotgun four times killing an unarmed teenage intruder in the garage.
Many DAs feel just having a dead body in the house makes the Castle defense unbeatable.
But I’ve always argued that the shooter still must show that he acted reasonably in using deadly force.
Now that Kaarma’s Castle defense failed and his 70 year sentence issued, I’m beginning to feel this could be a breakthrough moment.
Not necessarily for my cousin Stephen’s case.
The San Francisco DA George Gascon had arrested Stephen’s killer, refused to prosecute, and let him go.
No, my hope is that Kaarma’s conviction and sentencing will set the example to rework the homicide laws so that DAs don’t see going up against the Castle defense as a defeat. Prosecutors want to have a winning record. Preferably a win in every case.
Last October, I asked DA Gascon what he needed in order to prosecute anything.
Of course, he said he had to have the facts and the legal analysis. But Gascon also added: “A prosecutor would be violating his ethical obligation if he didn’t believe he could prosecute successfully.”
In other words, it really is “Just win, baby.”
Or “just believe you can win,” a form of political will.
When I mentioned challenging the Castle doctrine, Gascon said individual cases weren’t the place to take ethical, moral, or courageous stands.
As a proper example of when to take a stand, he pointed to his advocacy of California’s Prop. 47, which has re-codified California law in order to lower the high incarceration rates of people with mental health and substance abuse problems. Why? Because, as Gascon said, “It doesn’t work.”
Well, Castle really doesn’t work either. Not if you want to prevent innocent people from being killed.
Gascon may have quivered before the Castle Doctrine in the past. But now maybe he’ll take a stand–not for my cousin’s individual case–but for future victims who could be murdered by vigilantes who want to use their guns whenever feel threatened in their home. Even if they’re wrong.
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Emil Guillermo: Pacquiao-Mayweather–Live blog of Megafight–(Refresh for updates). My round-by-round assessments.

Audio

 

pacmayfightday

I’m  live blogging the fight. So if you don’t have a way to watch it live, say you’re working, or on Muni, or otherwise indisposed, I’ll give you round-by-round updates here.  Pacquiao fight day is a Filipino national holiday even in America, and I am gathered with relatives in Guillermo Central who will replicate the crowd ambience in Vegas.

Pre-fight:

Projected fight revenue according HBO: $400 million. If fight goes the distance both fighters will split $138,000 a second.

Hashtag battle shows #Pacwins, 67percent, #MayWins 33percent. What’s that mean? The public hates Mayweather.

Jamie Foxx will sing the National Anthem. Let’s see if he does it in his Paquiao accent.

He didn’t. But see my earlier posts to see his slur.

Pacquiao is introduced and look who’s behind him. Jimmy Kimmel?

Pacman is relaxed enough to take a selfie with Freddie Roach.

Pacquiao enters ring with his headband and teeshirt, and goes to a corner to pray.

Mayweather enters the arena with Justin Bieber and …is that the Burger King guy?

Mayweather looks like he is wearing a warmup made of  his ex-wives handbags.

Pacman at 152 pounds.  Mayweather has a reach advantage 72″ to 68″.

My cousin is saying, “Manny Pacquiao has to stop smiling.”

Michael Buffer doesn’t sound like he’s ready to rumble. A little hoarse.

He intros Pacquiao. Still in T-shirt, no fancy robe.

Mayweather’s Showtime announcer builds him up much better than Buffer juices up Pacman for the crowd.

First bad omen?

Round 1

Mayweather more aggressive early with his left jab. Pac is not getting close. M trying his right effectively. Pac gets M in last ten seconds, but M grabs him.

10-9 Mayweather.

Round 2

Pac getting M in corner. Then M grabs and body punches. Not fair. M getting in right hand. Pac not getting close. Pac gets him in corner again, but M grabs and gets out. P aggressive with :20 left. But M gets away. P closes with a flurry but M gets away.

10-9 Pacman

Round 3

M gets his right hand in . P gets close but once in corner M grabs and gets out. P gets a left that gets M off balance. M very defensive. A grabber. M. not boxing. He’s grappling. M. misses with right. P can’t get combos in their but lands one in final second.

10-9 Pacman

Round 4

M seems to be hitting low. P gets in combo at 2:34.

P aggressive here. But combo on M at ropes as M goes rope a dope.

M defensive but P combos landing . M playing football to stop P.

P gets M in corner. But M gets away. P wins round

10-9 Pacman

 

Round 5

P rt hook on M. M is aggressive here. M right to P. M gets right in again. P trying to get close but M dives to grab P when that happens.

:49 fighters in center. M  is running now, then grabbing. P not landing as many punches.

10-9 Mayweahter

 

Round 6

P gets left in on M. M in corner P attacks. M grabs .

2:00  P to body. M grabs.  M with 56-32 punch edge . But P at 1:03 has series of combos against M.  :24  M jab is keeping P away.

10-9 Pacman

Round 7

M aggressive early. with right hand. but by 1;21 M is running, then grabbing.  P not doing enough here w/ :51. But left lands with :34.Last :10 P has M on run.

10-9 Pacman

Round 8

P starts as aggressor lands  left on M. P then some combos. M gets r to P. P gets M to ropes but gets away. M with left hook to P.

P trying to get in but countered by M’s defense.

10-9 Mayweather.

Round 9

P with combos at 2:30. M counters.  P gets M in corner, M grabs P.

P gets M to ropes. :10 P gets M in corner. M gets away.

10-9 Pacman

 

Round 10

P to body. But P not landing enough punches. P can’t seem to find the target as M gets away. P has M in corner twice, but can’t put him away. P with right.

10-9 P

 

Round 11

M starts aggressively. M with right hand to P. P needs a KO now.

P gets M into corner, but slips away. M jabs at P. P has M in corner again but can’t put M away. M with left hook on P.  M chased P and lunged and miss.

10-9 Mayweather

 

Round 12

P needs a knock out.

P with left to M.

1:40 P has M in ropes but gets away.

1:06 time running out.

P coming at M in corner. M taunts and ha s his hand up. P has arms raised. But M looks to have won.

10-9 Mayweather.

I scored it 7 rounds P to  5 for M based on P aggression early and M’s holding.

I had it 115-113 for Pacquiao

But the official  judges and  commentators don’t see it the way I see it.

They have it unanimous for Mayweather. 118-110, 116-112, 116-112. .

Mayweather wins and Filipinos everywhere are disappointed.

Pacquiao says he thought that he (Pacquiao) won the fight. “He (Mayweather) didn’t do anything,” P said to Showtime  commentator.

Hard to land a punch when opponent ducks and grabs. Clear that time and age hurt Pac’s offense more than Mayweather’s  defensive “skills.”

Does anyone want a rematch? If it were closer, maybe. But I think the fight of the century was a kind of dud. Mayweather diffused P’s firepower, and actually made the fight a bit dull.

Looks like we only get one fight of the century.

One of my cousins here said, “Mayweather likes to hug.”

Manny? He’s probably at karaoke now.

UPDATE:

But before karaoke, Pacquiao and Mayweather give press conference.

Pacquaio talks about injuring a shoulder during training which affected his ability to punch with power. First time we’ve heard it. Excuse?

He also mentions that he was denied receiving an anti-inflammatory before the match. One outlet is reporting state commissioners dispute the claim, saying no one revealed an injury until 6pm on fight night.

Mayweather  bragged about getting a six-figure check after the fight: $100, 000, 000.