Marqus Martinez, a man who came to prominence locally in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, has died at 36 after a struggle with opioid addiction. Martinez was hit in face with a sting-ball grenade, a tennis-ball-sized device fired by a Santa Rosa police officer during a May 31st 2020 BLM protest. He suffered major facial injuries. To settle the subsequent lawsuit filed by Martinez and four other plaintiffs who were struck by projectiles, the Santa Rosa Police Department agreed to pay $1.9 million dollars — and agreed to review and reform its use-of-force policies. Martinez was drawn to George Floyd-fueled protests in 2020 because he’d experienced police brutality firsthand, five years earlier in the Sonoma County Jail in 2015. His family describes him as sincere and selfless.
Prominent Santa Rosa Black Lives Matter Protester Dies
