A Modesto WikiLeaks? 'Police Insider' Sheds Light on Latest Shooting

According to the muckraker blog 'The Voice of Modesto,' an 'insider from inside the Modesto Police Department' has disclosed information regarding the most recent police killing last weekend, mirroring an anonoymous letter that was sent into the media detailing ongoing police brutality. Jesse Eugene Watson, 36, of San Jose, was shot by police on Saturday night. According to the Modesto Bee, what happened at the shooting:

Authorities said the truck drove erratically and lost control near McHenry Avenue and Patterson Road. It struck a car, injuring the car’s driver, according to officials. Police tried to stop the pickup, the Sheriff’s Department said, by having a patrol car bump the pickup’s rear in an attempt to disable it. The truck drove on until it hit a power pole near Ladd Road and McHenry Avenue, officials said. As the truck came to a stop, officers pulled their patrol cars behind it and got out of their cars. The pickup truck driver then drove in reverse toward the officers and rammed a patrol car, sheriff’s officials said. Four Modesto police officers fired into the pickup’s cab, sheriff’s officials said. The driver of the truck, a man, was struck several times and was pronounced dead. The female passenger also was hit several times and was in serious condition at a Modesto hospital. She was not arrested.

Of course, we have to ask, where is the Modesto Bee getting this information from? Not the injured woman that was hit when police opened fire - no, from the very people investigating the shooting - the Stanislaus County Sheriff Department. That's right folks! From the cops!

Joey P. 

The shooting brings to mind the brutal murder by CHP police of Joey Pinasco in 2008. Joey was shot by a CHP officer who claimed that Joey raced toward him and he was then forced to fire on Joey's truck to stop him. However, after many months of Joey's family demanding that the truck be returned to them, they found that in fact many of the bullets were located on Joey's driver's door. Joey wasn't shot head on, he was murdered as his car was parked. Witnesses backed up the story, and Joey's family still continues to fight for justice. Check out their website here. The latest Modesto murder also brings back memories of the killings of James Rivera in Stockton in July, as well as a Bakersfield teen, Traveon John Avila. In James case, which we covered in this blog months ago, he was shot and killed after police forced his car to crash into a house. According to witnesses that were interviewed by Modesto Copwatch, James was shot by police before he even was able to get out of the car. Sickeningly, James family was warned by police (who were looking for him after he understandably escaped by juvenile hall) that they would be "going to a funeral." In Traveon's case, he was shot and killed when police claim, like in this latest Modesto shooting, that the car he was driving was "trying to hit them." Witnesses who were at the scene however, claim otherwise. One of the cops involved in the Bakersfield shooting, was in fact involved in multiple other shootings and killings in the Bakersfield area. 

Dan, another of Laxton's victims. 

Like the Traveon case in Bakersfeild, Modesto Police officers responsible for the shooting were involved in past murders as well. One officer involved, Robert Laxton, has been involved in two incidents that readers of Modesto Anarcho should know about quite well, the murder of Franscico Moran and the attack on Harry "Dan" Tessien. Franscico Moran was shot and killed in his home by Laxton and other officer when they responded to a fight between Moran and a family member. According to witnesses and family members, Moran had a wooden spoon at the time of his death in his waste line (this is information that we have gotten talking to family members directly who were there) and when told to lie down, was shot repeatedly and died. Police then later claimed that Moran had a knife, and 'lunged' at them. Dan's case goes back to 2007, when he was stopped by MPD because they mistook his car for matching a description. Dan, who is deaf, was ordered to get out of his car. When Dan did not reply, his windows were shot out with bean bags and he was hit with other projectiles. All the while he was reported to be screaming, "I'm deaf! I'm deaf!" So, already we have an sketchy situation brewing with a known killer Modesto cops. But according to 
the insider known as "BlueBaton," the problems go much deeper, as they discuss the chase and killing that night: 

Mainly because at best the crime committed by the bad guy was a no jail misdemeanor vandalism. This was known about 2 minutes into the chase when an officer went to the scene and reported to all that there was no entry…therefore no burglary or attempted burglary.

A good supervisor would have ended it there. It happens all the time. And when the bad guy started ramming PD vehicles (which does justify a response of deadly force), shots were fired by cops who didn’t have a clear field of fire resulting in friendly fire hits to 2 police cars (with one round going into the head rest of a cop who had just exited his vehicle) and a bystanders vehicle which was occupied by a woman and her daughter.

Bottom line this should never have happened. All that...for a misdemeanor?

This is a predictable scary result for the now infamous 5B shift that that has been out of control for over 2 years and will soon be investigated by the out of town lawyer hired by the city. 

We can also see the limits of the 'BlueBaton' insider. In their eyes, it was 'okay to get the bad guy,' even though as they stated, this was all over a misdemeanor. Sorry, but we aren't going to lose any sleep over some broken windows of a business owned by someone on the City Council. We aren't writing this off as a revolutionary deed; we simply have no tears for the rich our their property - they certainly have none for us.

Furthermore, this 'case' illustrates our point. Police, in the act of chasing down and murdering someone who attempted to steal something also almost killed the woman in the car with him. They almost killed or seriously injured another police officer. And, they almost killed a women and her daughter who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Are the police going after NUMMI or Hershey fatcats who sell us out and lay us off? Are they there to stop banks from taking people's homes? Are they there to stop the government from shutting down schools or stopping social programs that we all need and use? No! The police are there to make sure you get evicted. They are there to make sure that the family is broken apart when a father is arrested on a raid at a slaughterhouse and found to be 'without papers.' The police are there to make sure that the picket line outside of the factory doesn't turn into an occupation or full on revolt. The police are there to make sure that if you dare to steal the property of the rich you might just end up dead.

Because of this reality, 'BlueBaton's' calls for a restructuring of the MPD with a 'new chief' sadly are just asking for a new face on the same old system. No amount of protection can stop us from getting screwed by the long dick of the law. It's time to stand up and fight back.