The Hernández Llach family left Barranquilla 13 years ago and emigrated to the United States, but not because of the ‘American dream’, but to keep alive, as asylum seekers.
Seeking the security they perceived to be found in Miami they were protected by the US government. So it was six years before the tragedy knocked on the door of his place of residence, dressed as a police officer.
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It was approximately 3:30 pm on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 and Offir Hernández was left alone at home, when police arrived, knocked on the door and showed him some photos of his 18-year-old brother Israel.
Faced with the situation, he called his parents and the uniformed men waited for them to arrive. During this wait, the young woman attended to them, served them water. They joked and laughed.
And the police arrived … They hadn’t finished talking when my mother told them, ‘And they killed him.’
“It was a daily routine. Something like ‘No … Ha ha (ironic laughter) nothing happened. And when my mother came they started explaining that my brother was doing graffiti and the Police arrived … They had not finished speaking when my mother said to them, ‘And they killed him.’ And I said, ‘Oh mother, please!’ “, He remembers.
While Offir still did not calculate the gravity of what was happening and the tragedy that was to be known, his mother’s natural instinct did identify what had happened.
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When police confirmed she was dead, she went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. “I watched as part of me melted and my legs turned jelly. I fell to the floor, practically crawling as far as I could, came back and said to them, ‘I know what you guys do,’ ”he recalls.
The Hernández Llach family left Barranquilla for safety.
Courtesy Family album
This last sentence, Offir was repeated over and over again to the police, who have claimed that he was shot with the taser pistol and “possibly his head may have been hit”, while helping the sister to sit, after the nervous shock caused by the news.
“I told them, ‘I’m going to find out everything. I’m not going to rest until I get justice.’ It was a very difficult time, we acted very quickly. My father started reading the Bible and I started shouting. to his friends, “says Hernandez.
More than a decade later, the pain at his departure remains intact as if time had stopped between parents and sister Offir Hernández, who explains that “it’s like they cut off your leg” to describe the emptiness caused by the fact that she is no longer alive.
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He was a fine artist, he presented in the National Museum, he presented in different places where he sold his art
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He was a renowned graffiti artist
Offir says Israel had already been recognized for working from home with graffiti and art, while in Miami graffiti is used to make propaganda, stimulate shopping in the local trade and the opportunity urban artists have. to move forward.
“My brother was one of those graffiti artists who was recognized by many people for his style and artistic ability. He was a fine artist, he presented in the National Museum, he presented in different places where he sold his art and this silver made it serve for organizations and to help other people, ”he notes.
Hernández Llach recalls that, thanks to his activity, he won the Golden Key of the city and was certified, among other occasions, by the then president, Barack Obama.
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‘Reefa’ was passionate about graphite.
Courtesy Family album
She says her brother had no criminal record, had never been arrested and was a healthy young man, although police authorities did not want to show him as such, according to her.
“They even meant he was on drugs and toxicology proved he wasn’t. He had a broken head and many other blows to the body. They meant he had broken his head while walking around the floor. when they put the taser on it … Rather: a lot of inconsistencies and shortcomings “, he assures.
10 policemen arrived, they had already subdued and beaten him, they put the taser on him and he did not resist
What happened?
It was not easy for her to remember this story now. And not because his memory would not allow it, but because of the drama it contains, the helplessness and the pain it continues to cause him.
“My brother was making graffiti and the policeman decided to call reinforcements, 10 policemen arrived, they already had him subdued and beaten, they put the taser on him and he didn’t resist,” the 29-year-old woman recalls.
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He says it was as far as one of the two friends Israel was with at the time and they saw it all and were also affected and intimidated.
The barranquillera recorded the full story of the events that one of the friends testified of his brother just after what happened.
“They were taken for 12 hours to the station and kept in the cold. They were taken away by mobiles that were never returned to them, and they were psychologically abusing them. When I got home, I was terrified and looking at every corner , because they had told him that if he wanted to end up like his friend, ”Offir says.
In the story he recorded, the close person explained that they grabbed him, threw him against a marble wall, beat him, then arrested him and then shot him with the taser.
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What the sister does not explain is how the security cameras located in this place, for being a banking area, at any moment, “got lost.”
Police have a record of abuse; a veteran said he was going to kill someone one day because he attacked him
The drama of a family seeking justice
“To this day we don’t know exactly what happened to him, because his friends saw things that were never heard in the section where they were judging the police. They said his statements were not “It was an abuse of power, a brutality and a negligence, an attack on civil rights,” he said.
The woman stops her version and takes a glass of water to take a sip and calm the rage with which she narrated this last fragment, but which, apparently, was not enough because now recalls that the policeman was declared innocent and promoted “in rank” despite his background “.
“The police have a record of abuse; a veteran said he was going to kill someone one day because he attacked him; abuse of power, because he was in a bar drinking and got into a fight with civilians; drug abuse. , because they had previously found him cocaine, and family abuse … And he was protecting us. Can you believe that? “
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The book was released in order to maintain the young man’s legacy.
Courtesy Family album
Since then, Offir tries to be more united with her parents and, in case of an argument, spends no more than an hour off with them. In addition, every August 6, they hold protests at the scene, in front of the police station and at the Convention Center, where the Art Festival takes place.
It also gives continuity to the project that Israel had undertaken with the assembly of scooters. He cut them, painted them, left the logo, the brand, the style and now, with the project already in place, the family gave a package of these in 2019, when they traveled to Santa Marta.
In addition, they launched the book ‘Art is not a crime’ at the Colombian consulate in November 2019, in which they reflected in 250 pages the story of ‘Reefa’, its fine art, the his photographs, his poetry and the ‘Justice for Reefa’ movement.
A painting is erased, a life is not recovered. Painting is temporary, death is permanent
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“This book is a cry for justice. It is an invitation for future leaders to make a good decision. A painting is erased, a life is not recovered. The painting is temporary, death is permanent,” he explains.
Offir acknowledges the need to continue. That’s why he celebrates hits like cameras in police vests, though he acknowledges it’s not enough and recalls other facts like one of the recent cases, in which George Floyd died. And he laments the cases of “police abuse” in Colombia.
“I had to learn to live without that part of me and keeping my legacy I do justice. We live in asylum, we moved to the United States for safety, it is the most ironic …”.
Deivis López Ortega
Correspondent of EL TEMPS Barranquilla
On Twitter: @DeJhoLopez
Write to me at [email protected]
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