Residents marched to a Santa Monica City Council meeting tonight to call attention to recurring issues of poverty and crime in the city’s Pico neighborhood.
The march was prompted by the slaying of Richard Manuel Juarez, who was gunned down Nov. 3 next to a police substation at Virginia Avenue Park.
Organizers said about 100 people — including Juarez’s parents — took part in the march from the Pico Youth & Family Center to City Hall.
They carried signs saying "Peace" and "Stop the Violence."
Marchers presented council members with a list of recommendations for violence intervention and prevention programs, said Oscar de la Torre, one of the organizers and a member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
Located near the 10 Freeway, the Pico neighborhood is home to the city’s largest proportion of Latinos and African Americans.
— Robert J. Lopez
Photo: Marchers wave placards in Santa Monica City Hall. Credit: Joe Juarez.