Published in the SF Chronicle
By Cleo Moore
“In 2017, San Francisco police officer Kenneth Cha shot my son, Sean Moore. Sean was standing on the front steps of his home, unarmed and suffering a mental crisis when Officer Cha shot him. The police were called to Sean’s home because of a noise complaint that accused him of knocking on the wall. Even though I had called the police in the past for support with my son’s mental illness, the police who arrived on the scene denied knowing anything about his condition and proceeded to threaten him, beat him with batons, pepper spray him, and shoot him twice.
Sean was unarmed. He was in his own home. He wasn’t hurting anyone.
Sean’s death on Jan. 20, 2020, was the result of that 2017 gunshot wound, according to the Marin County coroner’s report, which listed it as a homicide.
My son did not deserve to die. He needed care, not violence. I lost him at the hands of the very people who are supposed to protect us.”
