As if it were a bad joke, Cindy Chávez, mother of a man killed in 2017 by a San José Police Department officer, received a restraining order from Santa Clara authorities, to protect the officer who killed her son. .
The temporary restraining order, filed by the San Jose city attorney in September, requires Chavez, 58, to stay at least 300 yards from San Jose Police Department Sgt. Mike Pina, who shot him. fatally killed his son, Jacob Dominguez, in 2017, San José Spotlight reporter Brian Howey reported.
Chávez, he clarified, has no relationship with supervisor Cindy Chávez, who is a candidate for mayor of San José.
"I looked at him and said, 'Are you serious??'" Chavez told San Jose Spotlight. "My stomach turned. This cop killed my son, and now he wants to do this to me? I don't even know who it is."
According to investigations, Pina fatally shot Domínguez in a traffic stop in 2017, believing that the deceased today was looking for a weapon, however, he was unarmed.
According to the local outlet, the Santa Clara County district attorney declined to charge Pina with the shooting, although in August a civil jury found that the officer used excessive force when he shot the 33-year-old man and awarded the Dominguez family a million dollars. Pina was promoted to sergeant.
The restraining order, obtained by San Jose Spotlight, details that Chavez is prohibited from contacting Pina's family and visiting department property unless he needs police help.
The order states that Chavez "made a credible threat of violence" against Pina and includes five examples of social media posts and other written messages about the now-sergeant that the city attorney's office says threaten him.
However, Chavez noted that his comments on Facebook were not intended to make the officer fear for his life or safety, and that these were those of a grieving and enraged mother who had lost her son.
The post, she told the outlet, was intended to convey her wish that the officer would one day understand her distress, not a threat of violence against the officer.
"I can post things because that's how I feel, but I've never threatened him like I'm going to go after him," he noted. "I wouldn't put myself in a situation where I'm going to be sitting in jail and my grandkids are outside."
For her part, municipal attorney Nora Frimann, whose office requested the restraining order, said that Chávez's intention was irrelevant.
"A restraining order is neither a criminal action nor a lawsuit, it is a way for the city to protect its employees," he said.
San José Spotlight reached out to the San Jose Police Department, but it declined to comment.
The outlet noted that Chávez intends to fight the restraining order, and his family has begun crowdfunding to pay legal fees. A court hearing for the restraining order is scheduled for December 13.
With information from San José Spotlight. To consult the complete note of click here.
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