On July 21, 2012, 25-year-old Manuel Diaz was shot and killed by Anaheim Police Officer Nick Bennallack in Anaheim, California. The incident occurred when officers responded to a call about men congregating in an alley. Upon arrival, they observed Diaz leaning into a car, speaking to the driver. When approached by the officers, Diaz fled, prompting a foot chase. During the pursuit, Officer Bennallack shot Diaz in front of a nearby apartment complex.
The police claimed that Diaz, known to be a gang member, threw an object onto a roof during the chase, although no such item was ever recovered. Diaz was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead approximately three hours after the shooting.
The shooting of Manuel Diaz sparked significant public outrage and protests in Anaheim. The day after Diaz's death, another man, Joel Acevedo, was shot and killed by Anaheim police during a separate foot chase, further escalating tensions. The community's response included protests at the police station and in the neighborhood where the shootings occurred. The protests were marked by clashes between residents and police, with reports of non-lethal munitions being used by officers and a police dog attacking several individuals.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the Orange County District Attorney's Office ruled that the shooting of Diaz was justified, finding no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Officer Bennallack. However, Diaz's family, particularly his mother, Genevieve Huizar, pursued a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Anaheim and Officer Bennallack, alleging excessive force. Initially, a jury found in favor of the city and the officer, but in 2016, a federal appeals court overturned this verdict, granting the family another opportunity to seek justice. The appeals court ruled that Diaz's gang affiliation and drug use were not relevant to the reasonableness of the shooting, thus should not be introduced as evidence in the retrial.
The case of Manuel Diaz remains a poignant example of the broader issues of police use of force and community-police relations. The legal battles and public protests that followed his death highlight the ongoing struggle for accountability and justice in cases of police-involved shootings.
