5C students and community members gathered in front of Claremont City Hall last Saturday to rally for further investigation into the death of Diego Rios, who died in Claremont police custody last November. Rios’ family and friends spoke in front of City Hall to a crowd of around 30.
On Jan. 20, the city released a critical incident video — a compilation of 911 call audio, body camera and security footage from when police pulled over 30-year-old Rios who was experiencing a mental health crisis. The video showed Claremont Police Department Corporal Benjamin Alba tase Rios, leaving him unresponsive.
Rios’ family is now seeking answers from Claremont City Council about a missing two minutes and 25 seconds from the body camera footage and an explanation as to why mental health professionals were not called to the scene.
Miriam Akhmetshin SC ’26 attended the rally on Jan. 31 and had participated in past gatherings and City Council meetings for Rios.
“To hear his family, his mother, his father, suffering and grieving the loss, it’s basically impossible to not feel motivated to act,” Akhmetshin said.
Akhmetshin said Rios’ death is devastating, particularly in the context of recent deaths related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States.
“The fact that similar preventable deaths are occurring right in our own backyard, that there is no justice and accountability right now and that a lot of Claremont students don’t know about it really motivated me to get involved to the fullest extent,” Akhmetshin said.
For many students who attended, living in Claremont comes with the responsibility to participate in community action.
Chloe Gonzalez SC ‘26 also showed up to support Rios.
“I think it’s really easy to just stay on the colleges and not do anything, even though it’s right here. But we have to just be aware of what’s going on,” Gonzalez said.
Similarly, Lisle Coombs SC ‘28 hoped more students would start showing up in support of Rios.
“I just think it’s really important for us as privileged college students to use the privilege that we have to have a voice,” Coombs said.
Rios’ brother, Victor Rios, was the first speaker at the rally. Standing with a megaphone in front of the crowd, he discussed the body camera footage and pushed for further action by City Council.
“This wasn’t a tragic incident or unfortunate outcome. It was murder,” Victor Rios said. “What the police encountered was not a violent criminal. They encountered a man having a mental breakdown. He was hallucinating. He was terrified. You could see it in his eyes.”
Rios’ friends and family took turns speaking and memorializing him with collective chants of “I ain’t the one,” a phrase used by Alba while forcefully handcuffing Rios against his vehicle in the released footage. The phrase has since been reclaimed by loved ones to represent resistance against police brutality in Claremont.
Several students said they became more aware of Rios’ death after winter break and have since become more involved.
“We started hearing about this a little later and realized that there wasn’t a lot of awareness of it, because I think it happened sort of at a time when most students were on break,” Gonzalez said.
Akhmetshin hoped the other 5C students who attend City Council meetings would support Rios’ family and friends.
“Following up their public comments with support from the community is really meaningful, and we hope we can provide additional support when perhaps City Council is not,” Akhmetshin said.
Victor Rios ended his speech with comments about the Claremont community and the Rios family.
“They messed with the wrong family,” Victor Rios said. “They messed with the wrong community. We’re not going anywhere. We won’t forget.”