A federal judge has ordered the release of graphic video footage capturing the death of Ricardo Diaz Zeferino, an unarmed man who was shot to death in 2013 in Gardena, California, by police who mistakenly believed he had stolen a bicycle. Diaz Zeferino was helping his brother look for the bike police were also attempting to find when he was detained and shot eight times by officers who believed he perpetrated the theft.
While the victim's family won a $4.7 million settlement from the city in the wake of the shooting, Gardena police attempted to keep the video away from public eyes. But U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled that "the fact that [Gardena police] spent the city's money, presumably derived from taxes, [on a settlement] only strengthens the public's interest in seeing the videos."
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