LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County sheriff ’s deputies didn’t target a Los Angeles Times journalist who was shot in the head with a tear-gas missile 41 years ago, but made mistakes that led to his death, according to a draft report by a civilian agency.
Ruben Salazar, a former Times columnist and KMEXTV news director, became a key figure in the Mexican-American civil-rights movement after his death during an anti-Vietnam War rally, with parks, schools and a U.S. Postal Service stamp honoring him.
The 20-page report from the Office of Independent Review was the first outside examination of sheriff’s records of the killing. It was ordered by Sheriff Lee Baca in August after the newspaper pressed him to unseal the Salazar files. The report, obtained by the Times, is to be released Tuesday.
It found deputies used poor tactics at the rally where Salazar died in 1970, and that the department’s stonewalling afterward fueled skepticism. Salazar was in a bar when a deputy fired the missile, hitting and killing him at age 42.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 02/21/2011