About two dozen family members, friends and advocates of police reform gathered early Saturday afternoon at one of Modesto’s busiest intersections to repeat their call for justice in the July 14 fatal shooting of Paul Chavez by a police officer.

The demonstrators gathered at the northwest corner of Briggsmore and McHenry avenues by the Briggsmore Square Shopping Center.

The demonstration was about more than Chavez’s death. It was part of the National Day of Protest, which has been held every Oct. 22 in communities across the United States since 1996, demanding an end to police brutality, according to the group’s website, www.october22.org.

The protesters — including Kimberly Ricci, the wife of Councilman Chris Ricci — were seeking justice for everyone who had died at the hands of law enforcement throughout the region.

“It keeps happening,” said Antioch resident Bella Collins, who was at Saturday’s event with her mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins. “When it happens to you, you hope it won’t happen to another family, and it continues to. We are here to support the strive for a more accountable, impartial and transparent system.”

Collins’ brother and Quinto-Collins’ son, 30-year-old Angelo Quinto, died at the hands of Antioch police Dec. 23, 2020. Collins said her brother was experiencing a mental health crisis when the family called 911 seeking help. She said the officers asphyxiated him while restraining him.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office announced in September it would not charge the four officers in Quinto’s death. The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that month it would review the decision, according to media reports.

Modesto resident Darlene Ruiz also was at the protest. Then-Modesto police officer Joseph Lamantia fatally shot Ruiz’s son, Trevor Seever, on Dec. 29, 2020, as the unarmed 29-year-old was running away. Seever’s family had called 911 because he was undergoing a mental health crisis.

Lamantia was fired from his job and charged with voluntary manslaughter in March 2021. His attorney at the time said, “We strongly believe this was a perfectly justifiable officer involved shooting.” The criminal case is ongoing. Lamantia was involved in five officer-involved shootings in his dozen years as a Modesto officer. Four were fatal.

“We are here to get the word out on what happened to my husband,” said Paul Chavez’s widow, Brittoni Estrella-Chavez. “... We are also here with Trevor Seever’s mom. She is supporting us, and we are here supporting her. We are trying to get to know other people’s stories (of police brutality) and let them know they are not the only ones out there.”

On July 14, Chavez’s father-in-law called 911 to report Chavez was drunk, trying to break into the house and threatening his life, according to a video report released by police. He called again to say Chavez had picked up a trailer hitch. The video report included footage from the officers’ body cameras.

Officer Sergio Valencia shot Chavez with a Taser as he held the trailer hitch at his side and slowly walked toward officers. Chavez did not comply to repeated commands that he drop the hitch, and he pulled the prongs of the stun gun from his body. Officer Sam Muncy shot Chavez two times with his firearm. The shooting took place in the front yard of a neighbor next to the home of Chavez’s in-laws on Entrada Way.

Hitch a deadly weapon

Police Chief Brandon Gillespie said in the video report that the California Department of Justice is required to investigate the fatal shootings of unarmed civilians by officers. He said the DOJ reviewed this shooting and determined the trailer hitch was a deadly weapon and would not investigate.

Chavez family members and their supporters have said it took just 23 seconds for Muncy to shoot Chavez after the officers confronted him. They said Chavez was drunk and not a threat. They have called Muncy’s actions “comply or die” policing.

Both officers were placed on leave after the shooting. Valencia, a four-year veteran of the department, returned to duty after a week, and Muncy, a nine-year veteran of the department, returned to duty after three weeks, a Police Department spokeswoman said in a previous story.

Chavez’s family and friends have protested at the Modesto Police Department and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office. They have spoken at City Council meetings, demanding Muncy be fired and criminally charged.

Family and friends described Chavez as a devoted husband and father of three young boys. He had worked for nearly seven years as a truck driver for Smart Alternative Fuels, collecting used cooking oil from restaurants and other businesses. Estrella-Chavez has said he had struggled with alcohol and had recently relapsed before the shooting.

“I’m here to support the families of Paul Chavez and Trevor Seever and hope that our state makes the right decision to address the ongoing issue of police brutality,” Kimberly Ricci said.

In June 2021, the City Council launched a police reform effort called Forward Together. In august of this year, the Forward Together committee presented to the council its recommendations to form a community oversight board and hire an independent police auditor.

Ricci said she supports those reforms but said it has taken too long to implement them. “We are dealing with life and death situations,” she said. “Moving at the speed of government is not good enough.”

Altar to those who died

The City Council is expected to vote Dec. 13 on the next steps toward implementing the Forward Together recommendations. A city official has said that with the council’s approval, some pieces of the recommendations could be in place as early as spring 2023.

Saturday’s demonstrators had planned to caravan through Modesto later in the day. They would write tributes to Chavez and Seever and demands for reform on the windows of their cars and trucks. The caravan was expected to end in downtown, where Dia de Los Muertos was being celebrated.

The demonstrators had set up an altar at 10th and J streets to honor about two dozen people who had died at the hands of police from here to the Bay Area and to Sacramento.

Muncy has been involved in two fatal officer shootings.

Prosecutors determined Muncy and Officer Lewis Sargent were justified when they fired upon Spencer Herckt, 42, at a Modesto apartment complex on Jan. 30, 2017. Prosecutors said Herckt had continued to resist after being struck by a Taser, fought with officers and hit one on the head with a 16-inch glass bong.

Police have said officers were responding to a family disturbance call. The caller said her estranged husband was violating a restraining order, appeared to be under the influence and was vandalizing her vehicle, according to police.

An update on the Police Department investigation of the Chavez shooting was not available Thursday. Prosecutors also are conducting a review. Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office spokesman John Goold said in an email that “the case is still under review and anticipated to be completed by year’s end.”