A San Francisco police officer was charged with voluntary manslaughter for shooting an unarmed man who passed away three years after being wounded at his house in 2017, the San Francisco district attorney’s workplace revealed on Tuesday.The officer,
Kenneth Cha, was charged for shooting Sean Moore after he and his partner, Officer Colin Patino, responded to a call that Mr. Moore was breaking a limiting order early on Jan. 6, 2017, according to the district attorney’s office. Mr. Moore died on Jan. 20, 2020, of what the coroner’s report stated was “intense digestive tract blockage” since of bullet wounds to his abdomen from the shooting.In the statement,
District Attorney Chesa Boudin said Officer Cha “lacked a lawful basis to even apprehend” Mr. Moore and that he was unarmed at his house when he was shot by Officer Cha.”When officers inflict unwarranted violence
in flagrant neglect of their training, it denigrates the effort of other police officers and shatters the trust our community places in law enforcement,”Mr. Boudin said.”Restoring that trust needs us to hold those officers who cause unlawful violence liable.” The charges versus Officer Cha consist of voluntary manslaughter,
attack with a semiautomatic firearm, enhancements for personal usage of a firearm and infliction of terrific physical injury, the San Francisco district lawyer’s workplace said in a statement on Tuesday. It is only the 2nd time an on-duty law enforcement officer has actually been prosecuted for a homicide in San Francisco, the office said. Officer Patino was not charged.The statement stated that Mr. Moore’s mother, Cleo Moore, said she was “extremely pleased”to discover of the charges versus Officer Cha.The San Francisco Police Officers Association did not instantly react to a request for comment on Tuesday.
It was unclear on Tuesday night if Officer Cha had a lawyer.When Officer Cha and Officer Patino got to Mr. Moore’s door early in the morning on Jan. 6, 2017, Mr. Moore asked them to leave and stated he had actually not breached the restraining order, which forbade noise harassment, according to the district attorney’s office. He informed the officers that he had been sweeping his stairs and getting his trash.The officers did not leave, and what followed was a melee in between the 2 officers and Mr. Moore in which Officer Cha pepper-sprayed Mr. Moore and, unintentionally, his own partner, according to the district attorney’s workplace. Officer Patino later on struck Mr. Moore with his metal baton, and Mr. Moore struck back, causing Officer Patino to drop some stairs.Officer Cha then drew his gun as Mr. Moore began his instructions, and Officer Cha shot him twice, according to the district lawyer’s office. “In just 8 minutes, Officer Cha elevated a nonviolent encounter to one that took Sean Moore’s life,”Mr. Boudin said.Three various courts have previously
held that Officer Cha and Officer Patino acted unlawfully in using force versus Mr. Moore.In June, the city of San Francisco settled a claim filed by Mr. Moore’s family for$3.25 million that declared civil liberties infractions and usage of extreme force.In a declaration, Yoel Y. Haile, director of the criminal justice program for the A.C.L.U. of Northern California, commended the district attorney’s workplace for its “continued effort to hold policeman liable for criminal behavior.””But Mr. Moore’s death is likewise a searing indictment of the whole carceral system, one that reacts to mental health disorders with criminalization and incarceration rather of with treatment and compassion,” he said.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/us/san-francisco-police-officer-kenneth-cha.html