Memorial Service & Demand for Justice for Chinedu Valentine Okobi

Photos by Dan Ryan, ProBonoPhoto. Please credit the photographer.

San Mateo County has one of the highest disproportionate arrest rates of Black and people of color in the United States.

Relatives and friends of Chinedu Okobi demanded justice at a memorial service on what would have been the victim's 40th birthday this week. They commemorated his life and recalled how he was was profiled, attacked, and tased repeatedly until dead. The San Mateo Sheriff's department has to this day offered no credible explanation for the use of deadly force against a citizen for allegedly jaywalking.

Despite using batons, pepper spray and multiple Taser deployments, the five deputies involved were cleared of criminal charges by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. An internal investigation supported the DA's decision.

The group Fixin’ San Mateo was founded as a direct result of a lack of accountability after egregious actions by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, including the murder by police of Chinedu Okobi. Spokespersons for Fixin' say the county's Board of Supervisors needs to create an oversight board in light of the deaths of Okobi and others.