Francisco Moran: Friends and Family Protest Outside MPD HQ

Also check out: Justice for Francisco Moran!

On Saturday, September 11th, a small protest was held outside of the Modesto Police Station for about two hours. About ten people held a banner reading, "Disarm MPD" as well as waving spatchulas as motorists passed.

Several of Francisco Moran's family came by, after seeing the protest from the street and came to talk to the group and offer support. After calling several more carloads of different family members, a new story about the murder of Francisco Moran that is completely different from the one that is coming from the lips of the Modesto Bee and the Modesto Police emerged.

According to family members, Moran was shot a total of six times by Modesto Police. When they arrived, Moran had another man on the floor, and after police used (or attempted to use) a taser, they opened fire on him.

Moran was shot once in the head, and once in the throat. He was shot twice in the chest and then twice in the left arm. The "knife" turned out to be a spatula that was in Moran's waistband. According to family members, Moran did not make any sudden movements towards the police, and did not take out the spatula from his waist band.

The thought process of the police seems clear. They came to the house, they did not know how to deal with the situation. They tasered, or attempted to taser Moran. It did not get him to do what they wanted, and then they shot him. When it was clear that they had made an error in shooting a father in front of his family, they tried to cover their asses by stating that Moran had "come at them with a knife." The Modesto police's media machine worked quick, and the Modesto Bee was quick to put this story out to a public on a mass level. When it became clear that it would come out that Moran did not have a knife, police then stated that they thought that he in fact had a metal spatchula, which they "thought" was a knife. But, after speaking with Moran's family, we learn that even this was not the case.

Many people simply open the daily paper and take the police on their word. When people are shot by the police many think, they must have done something wrong and they deserved to be killed and murdered. Even poor and working people that might have had less than pleasant experiences with the police are quick to take the police at their word when they have the backing of the media. Remember who sends us to jail. Who sexually assaults us because they are in power. Who deports us. Who evicts us. Remember.

However, it's a lot harder to take the police at their word when you speak to people who have had their loved ones shot dead in front of them. Who are left with a home that is empty and blood left on the carpeting. The police are an organization that can get away with murder. In the streets and in the jails. It's important that we understand this and stand behind hard working families like the Morans as they proceed forward, struggling against this atrocity.