[ad_1]<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES (RNS) \u2014 The Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking at the funeral of the 14-year-old fatally shot by a Los Angeles Police Department officer, recalled coming to Los Angeles 30 years ago to protest the beating of Rodney King by police.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe keep seeing LAPD get it wrong. And here we are again. How long will it take for you to get it right?\u201d Sharpton asked.<\/p>\n
Valentina Orellana Peralta was with her mother, Soledad Peralta, on Dec. 23 in the dressing room of a Burlington clothing store\u00a0in the San Fernando Valley\u2019s North Hollywood neighborhood when, according to news reports<\/a>, LAPD officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. fired at a 24-year-old man identified as Daniel Elena Lopez, who had been assaulting a woman in the store. The officer\u2019s shots killed Lopez, and Valentina was also killed when one of the bullets went through a wall.<\/p>\n Both the girl and her mother had come to the United States from Chile.<\/p>\n Sharpton, on Monday (Jan. 10), eulogized Orellana Peralta, who was displayed in a pink dress inside a flower-draped casket during her funeral at City of Refuge, United Church of Christ in Gardena, near Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Today I\u2019m eulogizing 14-year-old #ValentinaOrellanaPeralta<\/a> who was killed by a LAPD stray bullet as she shopped for a Christmas dress. I\u2019m praying for her parents and loved ones and we will seek justice in her name<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcf9 @rachelnoerd<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NPyYj3lDhu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) January 10, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThere is nothing normal about shooting so recklessly that a young teenage girl looking to live the American dream, that was shopping with her dear mother Soledad, possibly getting a Christmas dress, ends up being dressed for her funeral,\u201d Sharpton said. \u201cThis could have been my daughter. This could have been your daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n The shooting made international news when President Joe Biden called Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric to congratulate him on winning his country\u2019s election and during that conversation, \u201coffered his deep condolences<\/a> to the people of Chile for the tragic death\u201d of Orellana Peralta.<\/p>\n Orellana Peralta was remembered as a happy teen who excelled in school, who was an advocate for animals and who yearned to become a U.S. citizen.\u00a0Her father said she had dreams of becoming an engineer to build robots.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sharpton, during the eulogy, said it was important to make it clear that \u201cwe don\u2019t just fight for our own because we all are our own,\u201d Sharpton said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether you are from South Central, Harlem, or Chile, right is right \u2026 If we call for justice for some, we must call (for) it for all, and I wanted to come 3,000 miles to say, \u2018Justice for (Valentina)!\u2019\u201d Sharpton proclaimed.<\/p>\n Added Sharpton: \u201cThere are those \u2026 around America that talk about refugees coming to America, some from Chile, some from Central and South America, some from Mexico, and they ask me why I stand and fight for them to have rights. I fight for them to have rights because I worship a refugee from Bethlehem.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJesus was a refugee, and you cannot despise refugees and then stand up and say you are a believer in Christ,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n