BLM LA's Abdullah says shooting would have led to an arrest "were this anyone else"

co-founder, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles

Were this anyone else, there would've been an arrest. You don't get to just murder people because you don't like what they're doing or how they're celebrating.
Open source (opens in a new tab)Northridge community holds candlelight vigil for man fatally shot by DHS agent on New Year's Eve · CBS News Los AngelesCBS News Los Angeles, Jan. 5, 2026

Source and context

Reporting

Northridge community holds candlelight vigil for man fatally shot by DHS agent on New Year's Eve (opens in a new tab) · CBS News Los AngelesCBS News Los Angeles, Jan. 5, 2026

About this source

Covers the Jan. 4, 2026 candlelight vigil for Porter hosted by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, with reaction from family and BLM LA leadership.

Archived copy (opens in a new tab)

Before the quotation

Abdullah spoke at a January 4, 2026 candlelight vigil for Porter in Northridge, hosted by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and attended by Porter's family and community members.

After the quotation

The vigil was intended, organizers said, to honor Porter's life while pressing for accountability from federal authorities over his death.

How this statement is classified

Condemned

Case context: Was ICE Agent Brian Palacios justified in fatally shooting Keith Porter Jr.?

The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.

Why this label?

Abdullah rejects the premise that the agent's account justifies the killing, characterizing it instead as an unjustified killing that has escaped the accountability an ordinary shooter would face, which is a direct condemnation of the shooting rather than a defense of it or of a critic's remedy alone.

Recorded on
Published here
People and groups discussed
Brian Palacios, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Candles and flowers surround a photograph of Keith Porter Jr. at a Northridge memorial.
Credit: Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times

More from this case

Read the full case

Jamal Tooson

If it actually happened the way the officer said it did, it would have been an open and shut case.
Read statement

Karen Bass

This purposeful campaign of fear and intimidation by the administration is unacceptable.
Read statement

Jamal Tooson

He claims he heard gunshots were getting closer to his apartment, but rather than staying at a position of safety, he left his apartment and went downstairs to what would be a position of danger.
Read statement