Inside the sanctuary of a Catholic church,
friends and family remembered.
Twenty years ago today, Santos Rodriguez was
shot to death by a Dallas police officer while
handcuffed in a patrol car.
He was 12 years old.
Can we celebrate and remember the death of our
brother Santos?
We too wish to dedicate ourselves to that
virtue of hope.
At a memorial service, Rodriguez's mother
fought back tears, as Father Pitchard called
Santos' death a tragedy and an injustice.
He told a small gathering not to use Santos'
death to hate, but to work for peace.
After the service, Bessie Rodriguez laid a
wreath at the site where her son was killed.
She hopes to soon have a permanent memorial to
serve as a reminder of what happened to
her son 20 years ago.
So they see the mistake that they've done and
it wouldn't happen again to another child.
And I don't want to see some other parents go
through what I have gone through, through
a million tears, sadness.
The city of Dallas, the powers that be, have
never allowed us to heal and to properly mourn.
They've tried to cover it up and make us forget
it like they try and make us forget
everything else.
We're not going to forget ever, ever, ever.
How many more Hispanic kids or Hispanic people
must die before the city as well as the whole
United States government becomes sensitive to
the Hispanics?
Santos' murder brought Hispanics together.
It also sparked some of the worst racial
violence ever in Dallas.
Police hope a permanent memorial will help heal
some of those racial wounds.
Kathleen McDonald, Texas News 5.