Family demanding answers
LA County says hanging was suicide, then defers
PALMDALE — Hundreds of community members demanded answers Friday after Robert L. Fuller, a 24-year-old black man, was found hanging by a rope on a tree Wednesday in Ponciltán Square.
Although the investigation is ongoing, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said Friday it appears Fuller “tragically, committed suicide,” based on initial reports.
The coroner’s office performed an autopsy on Fuller on Friday and deferred the cause of death.
The protesters carried signs with phrases such as “Robert’s Life Mattered,” “Justice 4 Robert” and Protect Black Lives” and “Black Lives Matter.” They shouted Fuller’s name and called for justice.
Hundreds of people gathered at City Hall a few hundred feet from where Fuller died to call for justice.
““If there was foul play involved of course we hope to get justice,” said Debra Lemle, Fuller’s cousin. “We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t have any information. We want answers.”
Asked to describe her cousin, Lemle said Robert had a good smile.
“He was a good kid,” Lemle said.
Kenny Johnson did not know Fuller. He held up a red, white, and blue sign that said “Robert’s life mattered.”
“He was me; that’s how I feel. This is my home and that could have been me,” Johnson said. “Black man was found hanging on a tree. When I see that, I see myself.”
Noah Yozgadlian, who also did not know Fuller, held up a sign that said “Justice 4 Robert.”
“I came to show some love,” Yozgadlian said. “I’m representing my family right now. … I just want everyone to come together. It’s diverse out here, there’s whites, there’s blacks. Everyone just comes together and it’s beautiful. We’re coming peacefully. We’re
not rioting.”
Johnson added they want answers.
“We want to find out what happened. We want justice,” Johnson said.
Red, white and blue candles and bouquets of red and yellow flowers sat at the base of the tree believed to be where Fuller died.
Mocha Cole called for unity.
“We have to remember where we originated from,” Cole said, with tears in her eyes. “We are united, you know, nobody’s better than (another). This kind of thing can bring colored people down and that’s one thing I don’t like because I am mixed.”
Fuller’s friend Majestyk Fowler said Robert was a joyful person.
“He didn’t let people’s words define him,” Fowler said in a telephone interview.
Fowler, who attended Hillview Middle School with Fuller, said Fuller was bullied a lot because of his skin color.
“He laughed it off. He didn’t care,” Fowler said. “He was very lighthearted. He was a comedian. He made jokes about everything. I think that’s why all of us are having such a hard time believing that this was a suicide because he wasn’t one to publicly show his pain or hurt or weakness, or anything. He wouldn’t have made such a public statement, if he was in pain. I think that’s why all of us are in disbelief that they’re classifying this as a suicide.”
Fowler added Fuller was a loving person.
“He gave me advice when I needed it,” Fowler said.
Palmdale Mayor Steve Hofbauer, City Manager J.J. Murphy, and Palmdale Sheriff ’s Station Commander Capt. Ron Shaffer held a press conference at City Hall to address protesters’ concerns.
Protesters asked about the possibility of surveillance camera footage that could help authorities determine what happened.
“The investigation is continuing and a full autopsy is being completed,” Shaffer said.
Shaffer added detectives have been in contact with Fuller’s family to make sure the investigation is continuing to get a full understanding of how Fuller died.
Shaffer encouraged anyone with information about Fuller’s recent travels or the incident to contact the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.
Protesters asked about the possibility of surveillance camera footage that could help authorities determine what happened.
Shaffer said there are no video cameras in the area, which the crowd vociferously rejected.
Members of the crowd shouted at city officials, sometimes with vulgarities, and demanded their attention.
“It’s not OK because that’s why we here,” one woman said.
“You’re 100% right. It is not right. It’s damn wrong that this happened,” Hofbauer said. “And that’s why … we’re working hard to try to figure out what happened.”
“Our heart goes out to the family and goes out to Rober,” Murphy said. “We are not going to let a stone go unturned in this investigation. We’re going to keep at it. I know you want answers; we want answers . ... All I can tell you is we care for the right answer. And if it takes three days or three months, we owe it to Robert and his family to come up with the right answer.”
The death comes on the heels of a national conversation about racism in the U.S., and the circumstances of Fuller’s death evokes the country’s sordid history of lynchings.
Nearly 5,000 lynchings occurred in the U.S. between 1882 and 1968, according to the NAACP. More than 70% of those lynched were black.
Palmdale sheriff ’s station Capt. Ron Shaffer told the crowd investigators have been in touch with Fuller’s family. He said the department is asking for the public’s help to learn about his whereabouts prior to his death.