Eureka Police engage in death-squad behavior, again!

2010-03-18 "DAVID SEQUOIA shot in the head by Eureka cop"
[http://www.redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net/node/404]:
Shot him in the head?
The guy who tackled David because David was on his property, Kris Coon, said that David was on the ground when the cop shot him.
Which cop we don't know.
Wrestle someone because they walk onto your property?
David's body needs to be preserved. After every other killing by local cops, the families were contacted and rushed into cremating their loved ones body (by the crooked coroner). Then there is no body for an independent forensics investigation or for the civil rights cases that are brought by the families. David Sequioa's body must not be destroyed!!
What is he was facing down? What if he was shot in the back of the head?
"Stop reaching for the gun"? (see Times-Standard article below) As if someone could reach for a gun more than once in front of a cop.
And then the Times-Standard criminalizes David by commenting on some other shooting that happened in Eureka and pondering whether David was involved!
---
Breaking News - Officer Involved in Fatal Shooting in Eureka
Submitted by Roy Frostenson on Thu, 03/18/2010
A man is dead after being shot by a Eureka Police Officer this morning. News Channel 3's Ranjini Srinivasan reports that homeowner Kris Coon says around 11am today he confronted a young white male in his carport at his house in the 1900 block of Summer Street. Coon says the man had a backpack and a gun and police responded to the scene where according to Coon the officer repeatedly instructed the man to drop the gun and backpack and lie down on the ground but the man refused and reached for his gun and at that point Coon says the officer shot him. At a news conference later this afternoon Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielson confirmed an officer involved shooting but would not release any other details of the incident or the dead man's identity. Nielson did say that the State Department of Justice would investigate today's shooting.
---
REDWOOD CURTAIN COPWATCH
(707) 633-4493
copwatchrwc@gmail.com
March 23, 2010
Open Letter To Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen,
Eureka City Council members,
Eureka Mayor,
Eureka City Attorney, Sheryl Schaffner:
Re: EPD Sergeant Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez threatens to kill!
It is unfortunate that we must write to you again about yet another series of violent incidences, one of many, wherein Eureka Police Officer Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez is targeting, physically abusing, and threatening the life of a vulnerable Eureka resident. The City's lack of response to any of our prior letters and its failure, to date, to expel dangerous officers such as Sanchez from the police force exhibits your unwillingness to protect the people of Eureka. However, with this explicit notice of severe threats and abuse by Sanchez against a specific person, you have a moral and legal obligation to take whatever actions to prevent further abuse or even murder by Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez.
We learned about a year ago that Sanchez had blatantly threatened to kill Shawn “Rutherford” Hill . “I'll shoot you in the back of the head” were the words Sanchez used. Sanchez has since made such explicit threats on at least two more occasions. Sanchez has told Shawn that “you are a piece of shit because you do heroin”, that “no one will know or care if I kill you, “if you have a seizure tonight- and I know where you sleep- I'll shoot you.”
Many times during the day, Sanchez will see Shawn and tell him to “move on”, whether he be standing on a corner or sitting on a public bench. Sanchez will also often demand identification from Shawn and put him in handcuffs, although on those frequent occasions, Sanchez is neither in the process of ticketing Shawn nor is he investigating a crime. Shawn, who is a lifetime resident of this area, is houseless; so he is very vulnerable, having no walls to cover with, to this harassment and danger from Sanchez.
On or about March 11, 2010 , Officer Sanchez threw Shawn off the back ledge behind the library. He also threatened Shawn, referencing the Derringer packed in his [Sanchez'] ankle. With other officers behind him (names unknown to us), Sanchez pointed his gun at Shawn and told him “You even move, speak, fart, or anything, I'll shoot you in the back of the head, stupid.” That makes twice that Sanchez has pointed a gun at Shawn. In every instance wherein Sanchez approaches Shawn, Shawn is doing nothing violent, saying nothing violent, and doing nothing to harm another.
Some months ago, Shawn watched Sanchez and another officer, at about 5 or 6 am , cut up his survival gear - sleeping bag, clothes, and blankets- behind the library.
Sanchez has ordered Shawn to get in his patrol car and driven him both ways over the Samoa bridge, speaking so to intimidate Shawn, then dropping him off back in Eureka .
Sanchez recently kicked Shawn in the head while he was sleeping (on public property).
Neither Shawn's act of sleeping in hidden public areas, which he is forced to do due to his status as houseless, nor his substance addiction issues pose a threat to Sanchez. Shawn is not hurting another person, and has never threatened Sanchez verbally or otherwise. Indeed, Sanchez has Shawn extremely scared. So much so, Shawn now checks in with Redwood Curtain CopWatch every day so that we know that he is alive. Over the past two weeks, there have been two instances at night- one in which Sanchez physically abused Shawn, and the other, wherein Sanchez, again, verbally threatened Shawn with further violence or death.
We have not seen Shawn since Saturday. Hopefully, he has found a safe haven, out of danger from your viscous and murderous police. It is horrible and unacceptable for our community to have to worry, due to police violence and threats to kill, when we have not seen some one, and it is despicable that your officers, Sanchez being one of the worst, target the most vulnerable people.
As we have reminded you before, several of the young men who were killed by Eureka Police Department had prior awareness and had expressed to others that the police were going to kill them. You are now on notice about Shawn.
We do not want Shawn “Rutherford” Hill harmed AT ALL by Sanchez or any other officer. If Shawn is not in contact with us for a long period of time or is found dead or seriously injured, we will have every reason to suspect Sgt. Sanchez (or someone acting on behalf of him, EPD, or other local "law enforcement."). That being said, we much prefer that you (and each entity to which this letter is going) protect Shawn and prevent the anticipated violence against him.
Sanchez' abuse and threats against Shawn are ILLEGAL. As is any retaliation for this or other complaints.
Once again, and in light of the recent shooting (in the head!), we implore you to EXPEL RODRIGO REYNA-SANCHEZ from the Eureka Police Department.
---
Updated: Armed suspect shot by Eureka police dies
The Times-Standard Posted: 03/18/2010 11:48:14 AM PDT
A Eureka Police officer shot a reportedly armed man in an alley off Summer Street just before 11 a.m. after a resident wrestled the man to the ground.
Humboldt County Coroner Dave Parris said at about 1:45 p.m. that David Sequoia, 25, of Eureka, is deceased. Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen confirmed that the shooting involved an officer with his department, though few other details have been released.
Resident Kris Coon said he heard rustling in the carport of his home, and found a white man in his early 20s carrying a backpack. Coon said the man - later identified as Sequoia - pushed him, and Coon wrestled him to the ground, then realized the man had a handgun in his belt. Coon's wife called 911, and police arrived quickly, Coon said.
Sequoia refused to comply with an officer's order to stop reaching for the gun, Coon said, and an officer shot the man in the head.
"They gave him every chance in the world to comply," Coon said.
The man was taken to St. Joseph Hospital for treatment, and the coroner was dispatched to the hospital shortly afterward.
Nielsen said that the state Department of Justice is on its way to aid in the investigation. Nielsen said he couldn't confirm whether a report of two shots fired on California Street about a block away was related to the incident in the alley off Pine Street. Initial scanner traffic indicated that two others may have been shot in the area and left the scene in a black sport utility vehicle.
---
Video of witness, immediate defense from EPD Chief
Submitted by Verbena (not verified) on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 10:58am.
Here is a video from Channel 3: [http://kiem-tv.com/?q=node/490]
It is called "ARMED MAN SHOT DEAD IN EUREKA FOR JEOPARDIZING RESIDENTS' LIVES." Already, the media justifies the killing.
It's sickening to see EPD officer Terry Liles (in white shirt and tie), who killed two teenage boys in cold blood within a 2 1/2 month period, acting as a detective!
"I saw the barrel of the gun go up to his head, and I heard the the gun go off, and I saw the blood." Kris Coons
"We were responding to a call of somebody being chased with a gun in the area..." Chief Neilsen contradicting what Coons said. Channel 3 reporter says that Coons suspected David, who was carrying a backpack (see backpack in video), of stealing, and "wanted to search him." Then the two men got wrestling... Not sure how that amounts to someone being chased with a gun. Chief Nielsen, after EIGHT Eureka cops and then Humboldt Sheriff's Jail Officers beat 26 year old Martin Cotton (who was houseless) to death, Chief Neilsen also made confident statements about what "his" officers did and did not do, and that he had seen video, etc. However, the next day admitted that he had not even read one report nor seen a video...
---
Lies
Submitted by copwatch on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 5:15pm.
I, Verbena, was personally told by an elder person (long time Eurekan) that the coroner's special vehicle was on the scene on Summer Street- contrary to the Times-Standard's parroting of the crooked cops and coroner lies. This is what the T-S reported: "Sequoia was taken to St. Joseph Hospital for treatment, and the coroner was dispatched to the hospital shortly afterward." LIES
Then I read this from a blog:
[begin excerpt]
I was told several interesting things by a close friend who was working at St. Joe’s when Sequoia was brought in:
1. Radio communication with the hospital said the guy was in code (meaning, still alive), but someone slipped up and referred to him as “the body.” My friend was there when he arrived at the hospital. Pronouncing him dead at the hospital was a formality, in my friend’s opinion.
2. There were 2 bullet wounds: 1 in the head, 1 in the chest.
3. Someone who was on the scene told my friend that when transport arrived to pick the guy up, he was face down in a pool of blood, with his hands cuffed behind him.
4. Sequoia had $2,000 in cash on him.
Not making any speculation as to what these things mean, but they are pieces of the puzzle not necessarily out in the papers.
 [end excerpt]