‘The family is broken’: Crowd marches on Fremont Street in honor of Brandon Durham
Roughly 100 people marched on Fremont Street on Saturday in honor of Brandon Durham, who was shot and killed in his home earlier this month by a Las Vegas police officer.
The crowd chanted, “Say his name, Brandon Durham.”
Durham, 43, had called 911 to report a break-in to his home in the 6900 block of Wine River Drive, police said.
Metropolitan Police Department officer Alexander Bookman, 26, found Durham and Alejandra Boudreaux, 31, struggling over a knife, police said.
Bookman gave two commands to drop the knife, police said.
Less than two seconds after the orders, Bookman fired Durham six times, according to released body-cam footage.
‘Once a life is gone, it’s gone’
Minister Vance “Stretch” Sanders, who organized the march, said that Bookman should be “fired, arrested, charged and convicted.”
Sanders also told reporters that he believed the killing was based on racial prejudice.
“We also believe that this killing is unjustifiable,” he said before the march. “We also believe that regardless of the knife involved, having a knife does not mean a person should be killed.”
Sanders added: “Once a life is gone, it’s gone.”
Latasha McCalop, 40, joined the rally.
“Some type of training needs to be had with the officers before they’re engaging with our sons and our husbands and our loved ones,” she said. “It’s not fair.”
‘The family is broken’
Trevon Frederick, a friend, spoke of Durham’s teen daughter, Isabella.
“My friend is gone,” Frederick said, “I’m broken. The family is broken. This 15 year-old girl is broken because of (Bookman’s) actions… The only thing that he could think of at that time, being a man and a father, was to protect his daughter.”
Shaneta Williams, 37, said that she had seen body camera footage of the shooting on social media.
“I was perturbed, just really not understanding what happened,” Williams said.
Carlos Garcia, 56, who attended the march with his wife, Marcela, said he was shocked and saddened when he saw the footage.
Carlos Garcia held a sign reading, “Justice for Brandon Durham.” Marcela Garcia held a sign that read, “A Voice for Brandon.”
Demand for justice
Quentin Savwoir, president of the Las Vegas chapter of the NAACP, told reporters that Durham should be alive today.
“This man did everything we say to do in this country to be successful,” Savwoir said. “If you want the American dream, you do the things that Brandon Durham did. And even in doing that, it is not enough from being murdered in your own home.”
Savwoir asked for the public to call Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson to demand that Bookman be charged.
“Y’all pay his salary. Call that man, call his office, blow the line up and demand justice, because it won’t change,” Savwoir said.
In a statement last week, Wolfson said a Metro investigation into the shooting was “in its infancy” and could take weeks or months to complete. He said it would be “inappropriate for me to express an opinion regarding whether criminal charges are going to be filed.”
Boudreaux was arrested on Nov. 12 and faces home invasion, child abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon charges. In Boudreaux’s arrest report, police said that Durham and Boudreaux were engaged in a causal sexual relationship.
Sanders was asked by reporters whether he believed that police were painting Durham in a bad light.
“We are not running away from those facts,” Sanders said, “At the end of the day, it does not justify the shooting of an unarmed person.”
Sanders is also organizing a candlelight vigil in honor of Durham on Nov. 30 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. statue at Martin Luther King boulevard and Carey Avenue in North Las Vegas.
Staff writers Estelle Atkinson and Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.
Contact Annie Vong at avong@reviewjournal.com. Follow @annievwrites on X.