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.”
Source and context
Reporting
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
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

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