Operation Day of the Dead was the name given to a series of "gang clearance" operations undertaken by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the slums of eastern Los Angeles in 2017. The LAPD and its SWAT teams were sent to clear "no-go zones" in the city's more dangerous neighborhoods of Vagos gang presence, using military-grade firearms to clear the barrios of armed gangsters. The operation succeeded in killing dozens of Vagos, but the operation was marked by human rights violations, with several innocent bystanders, suspected gangsters, and even law enforcement personnel being killed. Operation Day of the Dead was one of the operations undertaken by the United States against Mexican-American gangs in the USA with the excuse that they were criminal illegal immigrants.
Operation[]
Background[]
During the 2010s, Los Angeles saw a large increase in gang violence, peaking in the years from 2013 to 2017. 2013 alone saw the FBI headquarters bombed, the Union Depository and several smaller venues robbed in elaborate heists, and the Ballas and Vagos engage in all-out gang warfare with The Families. In 2017, the Los Angeles Police Department devised a plan to decrease gang violence through the use of tactics utilized by the governments of both Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines during their own drug wars. The LAPD's officers were granted more freedom to extrajudicially kill gangsters and suspected accomplices of theirs, including civilians who drove into restricted "gang clearance" zones, civilians who attempted to fight the officers, and even policemen who were suspected of being corrupt. The operation was one of the most controversial operations undertaken by law enforcement in the United States, as it involved various human rights violations and the deployment of the police in poor areas with the goal of hunting down those suspected of being affiliated with criminals. In addition, policemen were granted more freedom to commandeer civilian vehicles and to use force. The LAPD reasoned that hesitating to use force would render the operation useless, as its ultimate goal was the eradication of organized crime on the streets.
Florence operations[]
The Florence clearance zone
The first clearance zone to be targeted was the neighborhood of Florence in east Los Angeles. LAPD officer Kevin Feijoo drove into the neighborhood in a stolen sports car and patrolled on foot and by car, shooting Vagos members on sight. He also shot civilians who attempted to attack him or, in the case of Timone Barber, who got in the way of his targets. The LAPD officer gunned down several Vagos members before he was himself gunned down by a Vagos member on the sidewalk. Afterwards, Officer James Lara was sent to clear the rest of the neighborhood before being sent to Vernon.
Vernon operations[]
The Vernon clearance zone
Vernon was a main focus of the operation, as it was one of the main concentrations of Vagos gangsters. In fact, an entire avenue was blocked off as a clearance zone, as dozens of armed Vagos members lined the sidewalks. For the clearance of Vernon, the LAPD called in its SWAT units, which were equipped with body armor and military-grade weapons. The SWAT troopers engaged in large shootouts with the Vagos gangsters, and a few vehicles driving through the clearance zones were also shot at, as were some paramedics. The killing of the paramedics was extremely controversial, as it displayed the brutality shown by the police against fellow city employees as they attempted to enter the restricted areas. Vernon was one of the most infamous no-go zones of the city, and its clearance operation left dozens of Vagos and a small number of policemen dead.