Rocco Robinson

On September 9th, 2025, 19-year-old Rocco Robinson was sitting in the passenger seat of a car eating a bag of chips in the cul-de-sac of a cousin’s house. He was there to spend the day at a family bbq. There were young kids running around and playing in the streets when a Stockton PD car pulled up on him unannounced and officers started harassing him. Within 30 seconds of arriving on the scene, officers pulled him out of the car, pressed their guns to his back, and started screaming “I’m going to fucking shoot you!”

They held him by his hoodie, dragged him around to the back of the car, and then chased him up into the family friend’s driveway where they shot him more than 10 times in the back. In the pursuit, a clip and a gun fell out of his pocket and onto the ground. Rocco was disarmed and his back was turned to the police when they executed him.

When Rocco’s family tried to provide aid to him, they pushed them away. Not only did they shoot and kill him and cold blood, they denied him care that could have saved his life. SPD delayed calling for medical attention and it took more than 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. SPD has given no reason for why they were engaged in this “proactive vehicle check” in the first place. The reality is these “checks” are just an excuse drenched in racism used to harass and intimidate kids on the streets.

These pigs were ready to kill Rocco whether he had a gun on him or not. Cops kill Black and Brown men for as much as having lint in their pockets. They put their guns to his back as soon as they pulled up, long before they saw him drop a clip. Rocco was scared and ran for his life because he knew racist trigger-happy cops could find whatever pretext they wanted to murder him and get away with it. The cops had no idea the status of his weapon at the time, and SPD’s emphasis on it being unregistered is a cheap and disgusting attempt to justify his murder after the fact.

Almost every news article about Rocco’s death has tried to paint him as a criminal and a danger to his community. Every single one is part of Stockton PD’s playbook to spoon feed lies to the media and turn the people against his loved ones as they fight for justice.

Rocco should still be here. He was a kind and caring soul, known to everyone around him as someone always willing to give and share his warmth. He was a loving son and brother, and shared an especially close bond with his nieces and nephews. He was worried about other people’s personal problems with their life and family and always told his mom how he wanted to help them. Sometimes he would be so focused on this that she would have to remind him to take care of himself too. He had dreams and a life ahead of him, just like the thousands of other young men whose lives have been stolen by killers with a badge.

When police kill, the whole damn system jumps into action to protect them and to justify their murder. We need to stand together and do the same for our people. We know that the cops oppress, terrorize, and kill at will, and that no amount of empty reforms or toothless police accountability boards will ever put an end to these killings. Only people rising up and making demands outside the bounds of official channels will.