top
East Bay
East Bay
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Oakland police officer Hector Jimenez finally fired; he murdered both Moppin and Woodfox

by dave id
OPD officer Hector Jimenez shot and killed an unarmed Andrew Moppin exactly one year before BART police officer Johannes Mehserle murdered an unarmed Oscar Grant. Andrew Moppin was murdered by Hector Jimenez on New Year's Eve 2007. Hector Jimenez was then placed on temporary adminstrative leave (i.e. paid vacation) and was allowed to return to patrolling the streets of Oakland a short time later. Just seven months passed before Hector Jimenez killed again, this time shooting an unarmed Jody Woodfox III in July 2008. Once again, Hector Jimenez was placed on paid leave, where he remained for a full year until he was finally fired this month for having murdered Jody Woodfox.
interimoaklandpolicechiefhoward.jpg
While Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff refuses to press charges against OPD for any killings -- six citizens murdered in 2008, five in 2007, and 45 shot in all between 2004 and 2008 -- this firing in and of itself is extremely rare. Usually the excuse Jimenez gave after both killings is sufficient to avoid any "discipline" worse than paid leave -- Jimenez claimed both times that the unarmed young men he killed were reaching for their waistbands. This time, though, OPD said Jimenez violated use-of-force policies because Woodfox did not pose a threat to the officer at the time of the shooting.

Another known repeat offender is OPD Sergeant Patrick Gonzalez who murdered 20 year-old Gary King Jr. by shooting him in the back on September 20, 2007. Sergeant Pat Gonzalez also shot and paralyzed 17-year-old Ameir Rollins in 2006 and murdered his first Oakland citizen, 19-year-old Joshua Russell, in 2002. Sergeant Pat Gonzalez was the fifth officer shot and wounded in the events of March 21st, 2009 which left Lovelle Mixon and four Oakland police officers dead. Sergeant Patrick Gonzalez remains in good standing on the force to this date. No real discipline from OPD internal affairs and no charges from Alameda DA Orloff. He remains free to shoot and kill again.

"Jody" Mack Woodfox's family has a pending $10 million dollar lawsuit against the City of Oakland and Jiminez. Robin Glenn, Jody Woodfox's aunt, spoke at a tribunal on police brutality in Oakland on 3/22/09: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/23/18580918.php#18580929

Andrew Moppin's family spoke at the Citizens' Police Review Board in Oakland to demand justice on 2/5/09: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/06/18568540.php
Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
ntuit
Sat, Jun 27, 2009 1:23PM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network