Hundreds gather in Anchorage to support family, seek justice after police fatally shoot teen girl

Hundreds of people marched Saturday in downtown Anchorage calling for justice, peace and changes in the Anchorage Police Department after an officer fatally shot a 16-year-old girl this week in her family’s apartment.

Easter Leafa’s death has prompted community anguish and alarm and added scrutiny of the police department, leading Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and Police Chief Sean Case to announce a series of reforms aimed at reducing the number of officer shootings in Anchorage. The president of the police union has pushed back on the proposal, and said he is “dismayed by what city leaders have said and implied over the past few days.”

Six people have been shot by Anchorage police during the last three months. Four have died and two were wounded.

Case this week said Leafa was holding a knife when Officer Alexander Roman shot her while responding to a report of a domestic disturbance Tuesday night. Another officer in the apartment fired less-lethal projectiles rather than a gun, Case said.

Family members have said that Leafa, who would’ve started her junior year of high school this week, moved to Anchorage earlier this year from American Samoa with hopes of pursuing a better education.

Saturday’s march was aimed at finding peace and creating a unified path forward as a city, said the Rev. Samuel Fiu Unutoa, CEO of the Samoan Tribal Council of Alaska.

“Samoans don’t have protests in their culture,” he said. “Samoans are a warrior tribe, we don’t protest, we fight ... but we also know how not to fight by sitting down and talking together ... and that’s what we are doing. We are going to talk today. We are going to talk tomorrow. We are going to talk every day with our city and let them know who we are and how we are as a tribe so they can help us and that they can understand us.”

Case and LaFrance addressed the crowd outside the police department headquarters on Saturday.

“Over the last week, I’ve got to know a lot more about the Samoan culture, and I just want to say how much I appreciate that everybody’s gathering here today to honor Easter Leafa and to start that healing process together as a community,” Case said. “This community is a close-knit community. I know how the church plays a role, and it just means a lot as the chief of police to come together to take this time and support the family and support each other and try to move forward together.”

LaFrance repeated her sentiments from Thursday’s announcement about reforms and said she was “heartbroken that we have lost such a young life in our community.”

As the group moved toward the old city hall building, Christine Unutoa-Luafulu, founder of the Ladies of the Pacific Dance Academy, told the crowd that things could have been done differently — and that Leafa should not have died.

“It could have been any of our children,” she said.

The young girls who Unutoa-Luafulu works with are now scared to call the police, she said.

“They’re supposed to keep us safe, but they killed our own. They killed our children. ... They could have used less-lethal weapons to stop her, why didn’t you tase her? Why didn’t you pepper spray her?”

Unutoa-Luafulu called for the department to release the body-camera footage of the shooting without edits and said “people deserve to know the truth, what happened to Easter.”

Dozens of people in the crowd carried signs reading “Justice for Easter,” “Don’t shoot,” “Say her name” or “Forever 16.”

Among those in the crowd was Elizabeth Fitka, whose daughter died under mysterious circumstances last fall in a Western Alaska village. Fitka said she believes her daughter was murdered and showed up Saturday to support Leafa’s family in their pursuit of justice.

“We all stand united on this to have justice for humanity and for our people,” she said.

Leafa’s mother addressed the crowd in Samoan outside the Nesbett Courthouse as her family stood nearby. Two large photos of Leafa were placed among the group — one from her 16th birthday celebration in June.

Before the crowd broke, loud chants of “Easter Leafa!” rang through the air.

Saturday’s march was one of several events planned to honor Leafa’s life and press for change. On Friday, roughly 100 people gathered at the Delaney Park Strip and joined in prayer, song and a moment of silence for Leafa’s life. A protest was held downtown Friday night by the Party for Socialism and Liberation to push for an independent police review board.

The family said a candlelight vigil will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Greenbriar Apartments, on the 4800 block of East 43rd Avenue off Tudor Road.