Anonymous threatens California Police Department over shooting

Manteca - In June last year, a California police officer fired 11 shots at an unarmed suspect, killing him. The cop was cleared but Anonymous says he should pay.

After a video surfaced (above) of the cop in question firing 11 times at point-blank range, hacktivists from the collective Anonymous are now demanding that the California police department remove the officer from the force. 

 

According to the Manteca Police Department, Officer John Moody was in the right when shooting 11 bullets at Ernesto Duenez Jr. onJune 8, 2011, including several in his back when lying on the ground, and killing him.

 

Wanted for questioning in a domestic violence incident earlier in the day, Duenez, a 34-year-old parolee, apparently led the police on a car chase. When Duenez finally pulled up at a residence and left the vehicle, Moody fired the 11 shots. 

 

The officer claimed that the suspect was wielding a knife, but evidence now reveals that the weapon was left in the bed of the truck that he had been driving, throughout the shooting. Hence the officer had shot 11 rounds at an unarmed man, eventually killing him. 

 

In December, the San Joaquin Country District Attorney's office concluded that Officer Moody had been legally justified in the shooting of Duenez. 

 

 But since then, this decision has been called into question due to the video published on YouTube. Rosemary Duenez, mother of the victim, agreed to release the video after the court cleared Moody of the shooting of her son, saying, “As heartbreaking as it is, people need to see what happened,” she told the Chronicle. “They need to know what we see, and what we’re fighting for.” 

 

Now Anonymous has joined the fight, and is saying that they will retaliate for the death of the unarmed man,unless Moody's job with the police department is terminated. In a video uploaded to YouTube, a member of Anonymous says, “Having a badge does not give you legal permission to murder freely,” "Manteca police department, we demand as a final resort that you disband your corrupted Officer John Moody and serve justice for his despicable act of violence.” Otherwise, the actor warns, Anonymous will wage a cyberattack against the Mantec Police Department, including “a complete shutdown of the official website.” 

 

Sister of the victim, Reyna Duenez, says she did not know about Anonymous until their video was released. She told KXTV News, "We don't even know who they are. They're voicing their opinion and that's their right, but we don't condone anything that's illegal." 

 

Duenez continued, "We appreciate everyone's voices being heard and all the support and love that we've gotten, but we don't condone anything illegal done to the police department," 

 

"We want legal action against Officer John Moody; we're not trying to do anything illegal. We want to take the right steps all the way," she added. 

 

While the Manteca Police department has told Manteca Bulletin that they view the video by Anonymous as a valid threat, they have not, as yet, identified any persons involved in this video.  

 

The website for the Manteca Police Department doesn't show very much, and apparently lists former Captain Rex Osborn, who retired two years ago. News10 apparently phoned Osborn and he said it hasn't been updated for some time and contact information listed on the website is no longer in use. The site reportedly mostly offers phone lists along with links to other police websites.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/340058