URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/06/BAG0S2RA211.DTL
An ethnically diverse coalition rallied outside San Jose City Hall Wednesday, calling for a federal investigation of the shooting by a police officer of Cau Bich Tran, a mentally disturbed Vietnamese woman.
The demonstrators also called for police to adopt nonlethal methods to quell confrontations.
A Santa Clara County grand jury last week refused to indict San Jose police Officer Chad Marshall in the July killing, when he shot the young mother of two through the heart after he said she brandished a large Asian vegetable peeler.
But the outcome of the seven-day hearings did little to appease police critics. Some South Bay Asian residents now fear calling police; and community leaders say they won't be satisfied until city officials reform the Police Department's use of deadly force policy.
"Today you are telling the city of San Jose and the Police Department that we are not going anywhere until justice is served,'' Arthur Bao, a self- described "concerned parent and citizen'' told the crowd of 70 people. "Our message to the city of San Jose is: . . . We need a real clean police force that will not shoot at a moment's notice."
Asian Law Alliance Executive Director Richard Konda warned of "a deep chasm that has developed between the community and the San Jose Police Department since the Tran shooting."
"People are afraid to call the police. This is a very dangerous situation, '' Konda said, urging city officials to develop "alternative methods to de- escalate a situation other than deadly force."
In a sign of the city's efforts to rebuild trust with the state's second- largest Vietnamese community, San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales issued a statement after the grand jury decision urging "our police department and our diverse community to focus on what we can do positively to ensure the mutual trust and support that has long served to keep our city and its residents safe.''
In the killing's aftermath, the Police Department aired radio announcements in the Vietnamese language expressing regret and sympathy for the shooting. And the department recently graduated its first Citizen's Police Academy for Vietnamese-speaking residents in the program's 10-year history. The academy is a six-week course to familiarize civilians with police work.
Yet the killing of Tran, 25, an immigrant who spoke little English, gunned down in front of her two young sons and their father, has galvanized a wide-ranging alliance of Asian, Latino, white, black and Arab American citizens. Critics contend the shooting of the 4-foot-9 woman, who had a history of angry, yet nonviolent, outbursts that often drew police and led to involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations, underscores fears that police are too quick to view ethnic minorities as threatening.
"I believe strongly that the alleged weapon, if it was held by a white person, then she wouldn't have been killed,'' Theresa Nguyen, an 18-year- old San Jose State University freshman, told the rally. "I thought the police were trained to serve and protect the innocent.''
"This is a not a new problem,'' said Samina Faheem, head of American Muslim Voice, a Palo Alto civil rights group. She spoke of young black men who instinctively run from police "because they're afraid the police are going to shoot them first, before they ask questions.'' The war on Islamic terrorism, she said, now has American Muslims fearful for "our kids, our sons. They were cute when they were little. Now, they're fitting the profile of a terrorist.''
Community distrust over the Tran slaying and whether police and prosecutors could impartially investigate the shooting spurred what was only the second public grand jury hearing in Santa Clara County history. But the exhaustive hearings seemed to only reinforce skepticism that the outcome was predetermined.
Marshall and his partner testified that they had rushed into Tran's cramped apartment after getting reports of a possible domestic assault and hearing the distraught woman screaming inside. Marshall said he had been forced to fire within five seconds as Tran stood about seven feet away, because she ignored his commands to "Drop the knife!" and, instead, raised the 10-inch peeler as if to throw it.
However, Tran's boyfriend, Dang Bui, testified that the distraught woman was simply gesturing with the peeler, and the officer only shouted: "Hey! Hey! Hey!''
While Bui said the couple only used the inside of the U-shaped blade to peel vegetables and fruit, a knife expert testified that the utensil's outer edge had been sharpened, and computer-analysis showed it was keen enough to cut meat. Ultimately, the grand jury appeared to accept the testimony of Marshall, an officer for the past five years, who said he was justified in firing in defense of himself and others.
Critics, however, stress that Tran's prior confrontations with police were peacefully resolved by more experienced officers, including a Fremont police negotiator who testified that he talked the woman into dropping a pair of scissors during a 2001 incident in which she barricaded herself in her home and began cutting up blankets and setting the strips on fire.
"I think the San Jose officer (Marshall) acted with reckless disregard for her life as opposed to the Fremont police who calmly and peacefully resolved the situation,'' Konda said.
E-mail Alan Gathright at agathright at sfchronicle.com
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle