Close to 100, mostly young, protestors marched about two miles from the old courthouse in downtown Santa Rosa to the Hall of Justice. They want the district attorney to convene a grand jury to look into the shooting.
"Only community peers can judge whether this was a wanton murder, whether this was an illegal murder, whether this was a racially motivated murder," said activist Jonathon Melrod.
Melrod is convinced a grand jury probe will end with an indictment of Deputy Erick Gelhaus.
"It will show that this murder was senseless, useless, unnecessary and contravenes basic police practices," said Melrod.
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors went into special session to discuss the fatal shooting.
Supervisor Efren Carrillo represents the district where the boy was killed.
"This is not just an issue that's affected one community. It's affected our entire county," he said.
The supervisors wanted the session to be a healing process. They invited the public to speak their minds.
"You guys, there's going to be an outcome for that individual. But, there's also going to be an outcome for the political future of you guys too, if this is not taken care of the right way," said Alfredo Sanchez of Santa Rosa.
"The citizens of Sonoma County, and now the world, are watching to see if our local public officials take a stand for accountability," said Curtis Byrd of Santa Rosa.
The board is considering creating a civilian review board to look into local law enforcement training and policies.
