On Tuesday morning, families whose members have had violent interactions with Phoenix Police Department officers came together to speak about the Department of Justice investigation into the department and demand officials hear them. 

Among those gathered in Eastlake Park were Dion Humphrey, who who was assaulted by Phoenix police in a case of mistaken identity; Edgar Castro, who police forced to eat marijuana at a traffic stop; and Dravon Ames and Iesha Harper, who won a settlement after being accosted by Phoenix police in 2019 because their daughter mistakenly took a doll from a store. 

William Humphrey, the father of Dion Humphrey, took the chance to speak about his son’s case. 

“I grew up in south Phoenix,” he said. “I’d heard the stories. We had never been personally impacted until the police came directly into our lives and mistook my son and completely brutalized my son because of their culture.”