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The Justice 4 Kaizann rally on Feb. 17, 2026 was led by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, Filipino Students in Health at California State University, Long Beach and the Filipino Migrant Center.(Courtesy of NAFCON SoCal Instagram)<\/p>\nAfter Long Beach police arrested her son, a mother and her community have come together to campaign for his release, as well as an overhaul of the City\u2019s response to mental health emergencies.<\/p>\n
Karina Guerrero usually visited her son, Kaizann Adriano Guerrero, in downtown Long Beach every three to four days. The 42-year-old father lived in a permanent supportive housing program run by the Los Angeles County Office of Diversion and Reentry (ODR), where he received resources and treatment for his schizophrenia. But the Guerreros\u2019 lives were upended when Kaizann was arrested by Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) officers outside his living community on Aug. 21, 2025 for allegedly attempting to start a fire.<\/p>\n
Karina witnessed her son\u2019s arrest and says the police were aggressive with Kaizann and did not take his medical condition into account, and insists that medical professionals should have been called to the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police are not trained to respond to mental crises right now,\u201d Karina Guerrero said. \u201cThey\u2019re not trained at all. [\u2026] I was there when he was arrested. It was not right how they approach[ed] a [mentally ill] person. It was not right how they treated me as a senior [\u2026] I was intimidated. So intimidated that I really feel if I was not there, my son would have been seriously hurt or even killed by the police department, because right away, he was being labeled as a threat, not a person with a mental illness. And I keep repeating myself, \u2018He\u2019s mentally ill. He belongs in this building, and it\u2019s an ODR (Office of Diversion and Reentry) program.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Justice 4 Kaizann rally on Feb. 17, 2026 was led by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, Filipino Students in Health at California State University, Long Beach and the Filipino Migrant Center.(Courtesy of NAFCON SoCal Instagram)<\/p>\n
Karina said a staff member came out of the living facility during Kaizann\u2019s arrest and asked the officers if they could give Kaizann his medication, which the officers would not allow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The LBPD said it would not provide the Signal Tribune with the arrest report, and claimed a public records request is required. Karina said she has already submitted a public records request, and after waiting weeks for a response the City said it would not provide her with the arrest record because the case is being investigated by the City\u2019s arson team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Signal Tribune also asked LBPD whether the MET was called; LBPD again said that a public records request was necessary.<\/p>\n
Karina has criticized the City of Long Beach\u2019s lack of investment in emergency mental health resources. She pointed out that the Community Crisis Response (CCR) team has only five workers to respond to mental health crises in a City of nearly half a million people<\/a>.<\/p>\n She also questioned why the Mental Health Evaluation Team was not called during her son\u2019s arrest; the program pairs two police officers with clinicians from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to assist with calls related to mental illness and homelessness.<\/p>\n Since Kaizann\u2019s arrest, he and his family have been forced to navigate a kafkaesque court system.\u00a0<\/p>\n Want more local news? <\/p>\n Sign up for the Signal Tribune\u2019s daily newsletter<\/p>\n Advocates say Kaizann was transferred to LA County Men\u2019s Central Jail on Aug. 24, 2025, and was then sent to Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, where he struggled with the overcrowded conditions. His case was eventually assigned to the Mental Health Court, after which he was supposed to be transferred to a facility run by the California Department of State Hospitals.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, he was sent back to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility instead, without his family being informed. His mother attempted to visit him there, but her visit was cancelled the day-of because Kaizann was finally being sent to a hospital. Yet, no one could tell them which hospital he was being sent to. Kaizann was eventually able to make a collect call to his family to tell them he had been transferred to Metropolitan State Hospital on Dec. 16, 2025.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that Kaizann is not being held until he\u2019s healthy enough to be released; he is being kept at the hospital until he is competent enough to stand trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur demand for the City is to really properly train the police officers to respond to this type of crisis, not arrest them and lock them up, because right now, that\u2019s the answer of the City,\u201d Karina said.<\/p>\n In response to the Guerreros\u2019 legal ordeal, the local Filipino community has mobilized, with organizations like the Filipino Migrant Center<\/a>, Anakbayan Long Beach<\/a>, NAFCON SoCal<\/a> and many more coming together to spearhead a campaign in support of Kaizann.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s try to pull together on this,\u201d Karina said. \u201c[\u2026]\u00a0 Let\u2019s rock the boat on this one, let\u2019s make a change. I don\u2019t want to see another person with a mental crisis go through what my son is going through, we need to put a stop to this. I\u2019m not accepting this. I want to fight, and fight along with me, please. Fight with me, not just for my son, for whoever we could help out there. Let\u2019s do this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Advocates came together to attend Kaizann\u2019s most recent court hearing in Hollywood on Feb. 17 to show their support and bring awareness to his case.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really important, because it really shows the courts and the legal system how much the community cares, and that\u2019s really how we put pressure on them to listen to us and to listen to our demands,\u201d said Askal Venzon of grassroots organization Anakbayan Long Beach.<\/p>\n Despite the community support, activists and family members were disappointed when Kaizann\u2019s hearing lasted around two minutes, during which the judge ordered him to return to the state hospital for another six months.<\/p>\n But his mother and his community are refusing to give up on him.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should fight for Kaizann,\u201d said advocate Arlo Alegre. \u201cLet\u2019s show the community that we\u2019re fighting for Kaizann so we can fight for more people.\u201d<\/p>\n The Justice 4 Kaizann campaign is making the following demands:\u00a0<\/p>\n That Kaizann be immediately released and allowed to return to ODR housing<\/p>\n A review of the implementation and effectiveness of the Mental Evaluation Teams program<\/p>\n The release of public records related to this case including police body cam footage and police reports<\/p>\n Ensuring Kaizaan has access to proper and more frequent medical care as well as the medication regimen he was prescribed prior to arrest<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-19-at-12.29.13-PM.jpeg\")
Roughly 60 community members stood outside the LA Superior Court in Hollywood in support of Kaizann Adriano Guerrero on Feb. 17, 2026. (Courtesy of NAFCON SoCal Instagram)<\/p>\n
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