Former Sheriff Kari Abbey Gets Murder Charges Dismissed

Ricardo Cordova, seated bottom right.

On Monday, December 19, Judge Ricardo Cordova dismissed murder charges against former Stanislaus County Sheriff, Kari Abbey. Abbey was originally charged with the September 2010 murder of Rita Elias, a resident of West-Side Modesto and the mother of three children. Abbey and Elias became involved in an argument when Abbey attempted to evict Rita from her home, which Abbey's parents owned and managed. During the altercation, Abbey shot Elias several times, killing her. According to the judge, the killing was in self-defense: witnesses testified that Elias stated that she was going to get a firearm to protect herself, and when she returned from her home with a realistic looking BB gun, Abbey shot her to death. After the killing, Abbey's home was raided by the FBI and numerous marijuana plants were found, as well as weapons, steroids, counterfeit cash, and items stolen from the Hayward Police Department. She is also charged with embezzlement of funds from the Sheriff's Department itself.

Kari Abbey

Less than a week after the murder of Rita Elias, protests broke out in West Modesto involving hundreds of people. They included family members of Craig Prescott, killed by Sheriffs in the county jail, and Francisco Moran, shot to death by Modesto police several weeks before Rita. Protests continued for the next several days, as people rallied outside of the Modesto Police station and marched through downtown and outside of the county jail. On October 22nd, over 50 people converged outside of the jail again to rally and march through the streets against police brutality in the Central Valley; a march which included many of Rita's family and friends.

As the facts came out in the case, and it soon became clear that Abbey and her cohorts were using their time in uniform to harass, beat, and threaten her parents' tenants. Witnesses and former tenants came forward to state how Abbey harassed them into leaving, and in some cases, physically attacked them. When those being targeted called the Modesto Police, the cops showed up with gave hugs and more backup for Abbey.

Protest after Rita's murder.

Many local pundits and commentators have used the recent dismissal of charges as a justification of the actions of Abbey. What is interesting is that while these idiots claim that Abbey had the right to defend herself they overlook the fact that Rita Elias was murdered for trying to do the exact same thing. It was Abbey that arrived at Rita's home and began to threaten her. It was Abbey who turned her lights off in an effort to evict her. It was Rita who was brave enough to stand up to a pig who was trying to evict her from her own home and it was Abbey who was the coward; hiding behind a badge and a gun, knowing that by pulling the trigger she ultimately had the power of the state on her side.

While our hearts go out to Rita's family, we are not surprised that the courts have once again let free another murderous cop. The only police officer ever to face murder charges was BART officer Johannes Mehserle, who shot Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART station on January 1st, 2009. Only after riots did the city begin to investigate the shooting and bring charges against Mehserle. Even still, Mehserle only ended up doing a small amount of his sentence in protective custody. Likewise, Abbey will probably end up getting only several months in jail which will be spent in protective custody, before being let off.

The message in all of this is clear: police that kill go free, because after all, it's their job. While Abbey faces charges for drugs, embezzlement, and weapons, they will all be slaps on the wrist compared to what normal everyday people go through when facing these same charges. Soon, Abbey will again walk the streets, while the corrupt systems that allowed her to evict, beat, and kill tenants for her parents will be stronger than ever.

Many that read this will ask, where then, can justice be found? If it can't be found in the courts or through the legal system, how can we get it? We must increase the consequences for the police when they beat, murder, and harass people. Communities and neighborhoods must come out of their homes and drive the police out and stop the brutality from happening. People must become hostile to the police in their areas and stop them from carrying out their business. If and when these incidents do happen, we must collectively direct our rage into open revolt. For example, in LA when a Guatemalan immigrant was killed by police, riots erupted that shut down the area where the killing took place and attacked the police station. Such targeted rioting is common practice in Guatemala, where people direct their outrage towards the authorities responsible for carrying out atrocities in their communities. We must also find ways of solving problems and resolving issues without police, cutting off possible contact with them in the first place. Talking to neighbors, settling problems face to face, having each other's backs, and forming neighborhood assemblies and groups to mediate conflicts and deal with anti-social crime all are needed. But ultimately, we must remember that the power of the police comes from the power of the state itself. Only by defending and expanding the power that we create autonomously among ourselves and holding onto it through open rebellion, will we be able to remove police from our lives.

New Videos from Local Struggles

Our friends at the Revolutionary Hip-Hop Report (RHHR) have created some new videos for your viewing pleasure. The firsts documents the recent 'Caravan of Resistance,' which brought together over a hundred people across the Central Valley including the friends and families of James Rivera in Stockton, Ernest Duenez Jr. in Manteca, and Rita Elias in Modesto. More info on the event can be read here.



Second, we have a video from the Chicano Unity Day, which took place in South-Side Modesto this year in late summer. It highlights many of the artists, speakers, and shows off some of the fine art. Enjoy and share with friends!



Lastly, we have a video from a recent march and occupation of a vacant lot in Oakland as part of the ongoing struggle of Occupy/Decolonize Oakland.

Rage Boils at Police in Central Valley

Demonstration outside of courthouse.

On Tuesday, December 6th, people demonstrated outside of the Stanislaus County courthouse in Downtown Modesto to rally against former Stanislaus County Sheriff Kari Abbey, who shot and killed Rita Elias in September of 2010. In Merced, also on December 6th, over 100 people expressed outrage outside of the police station at the most recent police murder of an unarmed man. According to the Modesto Bee:

Former Detective Kari Abbey, 34, is accused of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of Rita Elias, 31, who was living in one of the rental homes Abbey managed for her father.

Abbey's parents were landlords in the Modesto area and used the former Sheriff to evict and harass tenants that were renting from them. Abbey was known to show at tenants homes in uniform and demand late rent and physically assault them if they were not able. As the Modesto Bee wrote: 

The investigator testified Abbey and her husband, Bennie Taylor, harassed the tenants at a home in the 700 block of South Santa Cruz Avenue in Modesto’s airport neighborhood. Victor Quintana, who lived at the home from January to August 2010, told Hermosa he was behind on rent payments.

Abbey and her husband went to Quintana’s home to ask for the late rent. Hermosa testified that Quintana tried to avoid arguing with Abbey, but he was punched and knocked unconscious by Abbey’s husband.

A Modesto police officer, who knew Abbey from when they both worked at the Sheriff’s Department, responded to a 911 call from Quintana’s wife. Hermosa said the officer later admitted he knew Abbey and hugged her when he arrived at Quintana’s home. 

Quintana, with a swollen jaw and some of his teeth knocked out, asked the officer to arrest Taylor. Hermosa testified that the officer told Quintana that he could not arrest Taylor for assault, because the officer perceived it as “mutual combat.” 

Abbey also has been charged with criminal conspiracy, embezzlement, cultivating marijuana, receiving stolen property and child endangerment.

According to the Bee, Abbey's parents own 19 rental homes in the Central Valley as well as several in the bay area. Eye witnesses at the scene of Rita Elias' murder in 2010 as well as Elias' family claim that Abbey came to harass Elias and the argument ended in a physical altercation. At this point, Abbey took out her firearm and killed Rita. Abbey's defense claims that Rita brandished a 'realistic' looking BB gun and Abbey shot her in fear of her life, however eyewitnesses dispute this assertion. Shortly after the killing, FBI agents raided Abbey's home, finding guns, stolen police SWAT gear, marijuana plants, and steroids. Soon after, Abbey was fired from the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department, which only days before had stood completely behind Abbey's actions. 

Rita Elias.

Regardless of if Rita was unarmed, carrying a BB gun in order to scare Abbey away, or strapped with an AK-47 is besides the point - we fully support any and everyone who arms themselves and fights back against police terror. If someone comes into the homes and poor and working people representing and backed by the absolute power of the state and also to carry out the will of parasitic landlords, we can only applaud those that are willing to defend themselves against the pigs. In reality, it may be the only thing that allows people to stay alive in encounters with the police. 


What is clear in Rita Elias' case, is that the murder highlights a pattern of harassment and eviction of tenants. It shows that the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department as well as the Modesto Police turned a blind eye to the brutality and terror that is rained down on renters while Abbey and her cronies kept the money coming in for her slumlord parents. 


At a time when so many activists claim proudly that the police 'are part of the 99%,' (even while the police beat them), we can see very easily the role and function of the police in this world. It is not to preserve 'justice' or 'keep the peace,' but to enforce the very real inequalities and institutions of power that exist that immiserate and impoverish people across the world. 


At a time of massive evictions, deportations, and foreclosures, the police are the front lines that enable the elites to displace and make homeless millions of people. Without the power and violence of the police that is enforced and made reality by the government, the capitalists, landlords, and property holders would not be able to harass and remove people from their homes and shelter. The police are never a neutral force in society; they do not serve us, they serve to oppress us. 

Protest in Merced.

Just as people were rallying in Modesto, in Merced, 100 residents gathered outside the police station, furious after a young man, Vang Thao, 21, was shot and killed by Merced PD. According to the Merced Sun-Star: 

His friends and family say officers shot Thao without any provocation. Police maintain that another man, an 18-year-old gang member named Kong Xiong, was pointing a weapon at the responding officers -- and Thao was caught in the officers' line of fire. Thao was struck by one bullet and pronounced dead at the scene.

Police claim that they came to the residential area to find another man, Kong Xiong, who was brandishing a gun. According to the pigs, when they approached, they saw the man point the gun at police officers and fired upon him, hitting Vang in the process. According to residents in the apartment complex, police did not give warning before the attack nor did they announce to residents that they were approaching with guns drawn. As the Star wrote: 

Tuesday, eyewitnesses said Xiong didn't have a gun and police officers didn't announce themselves before shooting through a fence into a private residence where five or six people were drinking beer and socializing. 

Rally outside of Merced PD.

Fred Camacho, 21, lives at the house. He said he was less than 10 feet from Xiong when bullets ripped through the fence, behind which he, Xiong and other friends were standing."We didn't hear no cops say nothing about getting down, drop a gun, nothing like that," he said. "All we heard was gunshots fired. And after that, everybody just started running in the house because we didn't know what was going on. The guy that died, his cousin, she was telling everybody, 'Call 911.' " 

Camacho and his sister, Nancy, who was also present during the incident, said they had no idea the police were the ones shooting. They also said Xiong didn't have a gun.

Next-door neighbor Jacob Khaoone, 18, said he was cleaning his kitchen when the shots were fired. He said he didn't hear the police officers announce themselves. But after the shots were fired, he said he heard one of the officers say, "I can't believe I just shot someone right now."
"There wasn't no arguing or nothing," Khaoone said. "The cops, they're lying about the argument. They didn't even say Merced PD or nothing. My window right here, it was open. If they would have said 'Merced PD,' everyone there, they would have just stopped what they were doing. But the cops didn't do that. And plus they didn't have their spotlight on."

This recent atrocity shows the brutality of the police and their inability to do anything except to violently attack and suppress everyday people. Again, through the reports of the police that are given life by the media who reprints them, we are fed the same story of police officers afraid for their lives who bravely defended themselves against a non-white attacker. In reality, as multiple residents claim, there was no danger and no weapon was even at the scene. Police entered the apartment complex knowing that they were putting lives in danger and openly fired on a crowd of party goers. This is the logic of a armed force that sees an entire civilian population all as possible insurgents and thus all entirely worthy of execution. It is the same logic of an occupying military and we should treat it as such.  

When will enough be enough? Just when will this powder keg blow?