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Regional Journalism

Pasco Shooting: City, Activists, Lawyers Amp-Up Their Public Relations Game

Anna King
/
Northwest News Network
News reporters crowded in for the first press conference of a group called Tri-City Community Solutions at a small family bakery in Pasco. It happened very near where Antonio Zambrano-Montes was shot two months ago.

It’s been more than two months since the police shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes in Pasco, Washington.

Officials say the full police report will be complete in several weeks, and will be made public a month later. It’s sure to make big national news, again. And battle plans for how that report’s findings will be interpreted are growing more sophisticated.

A group called Tri-City Community Solutions held its first press conference at a small family bakery. It’s just feet from where the shooting happened.

“We attend the City of Pasco city council meetings every Monday,” said group member Jeremy Peterson. “And despite our numerous requests, we still have been denied any ability to be placed on the agenda.”

The group criticized this past weekend’s arrests of their members. Some say they were hurt. One wears a sling.

One of the lawyers representing Zambrano-Montes’ family is planning international media interviews in Seattle this week.

Meanwhile, the City of Pasco is planning a public mediation event and will have a booth next month at Pasco’s annual Cinco de Mayo street fair.

Another major Pasco shooting protest event is happening Tuesday. It includes a 14-mile walk from Richland to Kennewick and ending up in Pasco.

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.