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Thread: John Paulson (45) and Kimberly Susan Fial (55) killed in stabbing rampage at San Jose church

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    John Paulson (45) and Kimberly Susan Fial (55) killed in stabbing rampage at San Jose church

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-jos...ch-california/

    San Jose, California ? At least two people were killed and others seriously wounded Sunday night in a stabbing rampage at a church here. Police said there were no services going on at the time. They said "unhoused" people had been brought inside to get them out of the cold.


    San Jose police tweeted around 8:47 p.m. that officers were responding to the Grace Baptist Church. It's near the San Jose State campus, CBS San Francisco reports. They then tweeted that at least two victims had died.

    Mayor Sam Liccardo said police had a suspect was in custody but police later said that wasn't so. "No confirmation of an arrest. ... This is a very active scene," they said

    Police also tweeted, "Thank you to @SJFD and our first responding Officers who rendered aid to victims in the middle of a chaotic scene and undoubtedly saved lives."

    CBS San Francisco was able to confirm that there were two crime scenes being investigated by police ? one inside the church and the other outside.

    Video from the scene shows a large response by police and emergency vehicles.

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    https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...for-treatment/

    Here is more details

    SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — Two people were killed and others seriously injured Sunday in a multiple stabbing at San Jose’s Grace Baptist Church where homeless were spending the night to escape the cold, authorities said.

    San Jose police tweeted around 8:47 p.m. that officers were responding to the church located at 484 E San Fernando St near the San Jose State campus.

    They followed with a posting at 9:30 p.m. saying — “We can confirm we have multiple stabbing victims; some with life threatening injuries.”


    San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo confirmed that at least two of the victims had died.

    “Our hearts go out to the families of the two community members who have succumbed to stabbing wounds in the attack at Grace Baptist Church downtown tonight,” he tweeted.

    He also initially said police had the suspect in custody. A short time later he deleted the tweet, saying that the San Jose Police Department would provide an update.

    San Jose police also confirmed two had died posting — “Two victims have succumbed to their injuries and have been pronounced deceased.”

    Police also specifically stated on Twitter that there was “no confirmation of an arrest.”


    The victims may be homeless who were allowed into the church to escape the cold.

    “No church services were being conducted at the time of the stabbing,” San Jose police tweeted. “Unhoused individuals were brought into the church to get them out of the cold.”

    Video from the scene shows a large response by police and emergency vehicles.

    CBS SF was able to confirm that there were two crime scenes being investigated by police and that one was inside the church and the other was outside.

    The two fatal stabbing victims are the 40th and 41st homicides in San Jose in 2020, police said. The scene was still active after 11 p.m.

    San Jose Police tweeted that they would issue a press release Monday morning to provide more details “when more facts are known.”

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    Senior Member kevansvault's Avatar
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    You know you're dog shit personified when you stab homeless people just coming in to escape the cold.

    I hope the person(s) who did this....motherfucker needs to sufferrrrrr.
    Don't like what I have to say? I respect that. Go fuck yourself.

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    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
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    Is "unhoused" the new politically correct term for the homeless?


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

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    https://abc7news.com/san-jose-stabbi...crime/8199429/

    SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A suspect has been arrested after two people died in a stabbing at Grace Baptist Church in San Jose on Sunday night, police said.

    A man died at the scene and a woman was transported to a hospital where she died. Three other adult male victims were transported to hospitals and are in serious but stable condition.

    San Jose Police describe the deadly stabbing as "A very chaotic scene," said San Jose public information officer, Christian Camarillo.

    "When officers arrived they found five victims who had been stabbed at least one time. One of the victims was pronounced decease at the scene," said officer Camarillo.

    Police described the suspect as an adult male, but have not released his identity.

    The identity of the deceased victims will be released by the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office after confirming their identity and notifying next of kin.

    Still processing the devastating scene the church's Reverend, David Robinson, agreed to speak to us. He confirmed one of the other three victims was a church staff member who tried to intervene.

    "It's stunning to us. We recognize that there are risks in this kind of program but our faith calls us to take those risks," said Rev. Robinson of Grace Baptist Church.

    Robinson confirmed between 40 to 50 unhoused individuals stay overnight inside the church's facility as part of their nonprofit Grace solutions.

    "Folks were in the church in the sanctuary and someone came in who was known by the group and the incident went down," said Rev. Robinson.

    In the highly residential area across from San Jose State University, people have voiced concern over the homeless population.

    "I don't think anyone is out to get us but we do keep our distance because there is unpredictability," said resident Sally Schroeder.

    Now, they are asking for the city to intervene.

    "Maybe this is going to shed some light on the fact that they need help. They need assistance," said Schroeder.

    San Jose's Mayor San Liccardo put out a statement saying in part,

    "We pray for the recovery of the three others seriously injured in that attack. SJPD has arrested a suspect, who remains in custody"

    These are San Jose's 40th and 41st homicides of 2020.

    Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Lewis #3161 or Detective Meeker #3272 of the San Jose Police Department's Homicide unit at 408-277-5283.

    Persons wishing to remain anonymous may call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 408-947-7867.

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    https://ktla.com/news/california/san...r-pastor-says/

    One of the people wounded in a stabbing attack at a San Francisco Bay Area church that was being used as a homeless shelter was a church employee who tried to intervene, the church’s pastor said.

    Rev. David Robinson of San Jose’s Grace Baptist Church told KGO-TV Monday that the attacker was part of a group of between 40 to 50 homeless people who were staying at the church overnight.

    The stabbings happened Sunday night at the church and police said a man died there and a woman died at a hospital. Three others were wounded.

    “Folks were in the church in the sanctuary and someone came in who was known by the group and the incident went down,” Robinson said.

    Robinson didn’t identify the employee, the attacker or the other victims. Grace Baptist Church officials did not immediately respond to a telephone message Tuesday seeking comment.

    Police arrested a suspect in the stabbings but his name has not been released. The names of those who died will be released by the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office after their families are notified, officials said.

    Three men who were wounded remained hospitalized Tuesday in stable condition and are expected to survive, said San Jose Police Sgt. Christian Camarillo.

    The motive in the attack remains under investigation, Camarillo said.

    San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a tweet that one of the wounded was city employee Nguyen Pham, who volunteered to help the homeless. Liccardo shared a GoFundMe page and asked for help for his family.

    The church, through its nonprofit Grace Solutions, offers an overnight winter shelter to up to 50 men and women during cold, rainy weather and it makes showers available daily for drop-in visits to those who may need them, according to the nonprofit’s website.

    The temperature in San Jose was in the low 50s when the attack happened Sunday shortly before 8 p.m., but dropped into the high 30s overnight.

    The city of 1 million, like the rest of the Bay Area, has experienced a recent rise in homeless people. In San Jose’s latest homeless census conducted in 2019, officials counted 6,097 homeless people — up from 4,350 in 2017.

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    https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8uBX1...XcPn-V2NW_imN8

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency...vUqDBqhkd-1iIk

    Nguyen Pham and James Chaney Are identified as the stabbing survivors but the deceased have not been released as of this posting.

    Those who know Nguyen Pham and James Chaney say they live to serve others.

    That’s what brought the pair to San Jose’s Grace Baptist Church on Sunday, where they spent the evening planning an upcoming memorial for the unhoused.

    In the church gym, the group fashioned tombstone replicas made out of foam to represent lives lost on the street this past year. Later that night, two more lives were lost in a stabbing spree that injured three others—including Pham and Chaney.

    SJPD has yet to identify the attacker, but the Mercury News reported him as Fernando Jesus Lopez, a 32-year-old Grace Baptist regular with a history of domestic violence.

    Meanwhile, Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Michelle Jorden has yet to release information about the deceased—a man who died at the scene and a woman who succumbed to her injuries at a nearby hospital.

    And though the names of the wounded haven’t been formally announced either, friends of Pham and Chaney have confirmed they’re among the survivors.

    On a GoFundMe crowdfunding page set up for Pham, Jenny Do calls him “a community hero” who has “worked tirelessly to support vulnerable communities in San Jose and beyond.” By late in the day Tuesday, the campaign had raised nearly $24,000 of its $30,000 goal from more than 300 donors.

    Huy Tran, an employment rights lawyer and local activist, said it’s no surprise that the community is rallying around his friend.

    By day, Pham oversees the Work2Future job training program for San Jose’s Office of Economic Development, but he spends much of own time running a charity for children in his native Vietnam and helping unhoused people in Silicon Valley.

    “He’s one of those guys with a huge heart,” said Tran, who connected with Pham about a year ago by trying to get the word out about the 2020 Census.

    Shaunn Cartwright, a veteran advocate for the homeless, met Pham in a similar way.

    When the city put Pham to work on census outreach, he linked up with Cartwright and other enumerators working on getting an accurate count of the South Bay’s unsheltered populations. “His job assigned him to the census, which involved working with unhoused people,” Cartwright said, “and he became very passionate about that.”

    Pham developed a knack for knowing exactly what someone needed—a pair of size 10 shoes, notebooks for school or toiletries, which he packs in tissue paper and a gift bag. Even when he recently went out of town on vacation, he made sure gifts wound up in the hands of the people who needed them on the day he’d normally see them.

    “That’s the kind of love and dedication he shows,” Cartwright said.

    When he speaks about the unhoused, she said he calls them “my homeless friends.”

    Chaney and Pham—both immigrants from Liberia and Vietnam, respectively—bonded over their shared devotion to helping the homeless. While Pham volunteers in his spare time, Chaney works as a full-time church staffer.

    As a regular at Grace Baptist, Lopez crossed paths with his victims many times.

    Lopez was among a group of unhoused people who came to the church Sunday night for its cold-weather shelter. Cartwright and a few other volunteers left the grounds at 10th and San Fernando streets around 7:15pm as Lopez helped staff set out mats in the gym.

    Police responded to the stabbing less than an hour later to find the five victims. Lopez was taken into custody soon after, booked on suspicion of committing the 40th and 41st homicides in San Jose so far this year.

    Grace Baptist will close for the time being as it undergoes deep cleaning and repairs, which leaves San Jose with one less shelter amid freezing nights and a deadly pandemic.

    HERO Tent and BLACK Outreach—two grassroots community service groups that emerged from the George Floyd protests in San Jose this past summer—have dipped into fundraising proceeds to place dozens of people who usually rely on the Grace Baptist shelter in hotels. The activists have also stepped up to feed the unhoused church regulars.

    “We’ve been scrambling to get people fed and make sure they have a place to stay,” said Brodie Storey, an organizer for both groups.

    Over the past few months, Storey said he’s spent a lot of time at Grace Baptist, where he launched the CHANGE (Community Horticulture and Nutritional Growth Exchange) Garden Project. He knows many of the people who relied on the church for shelter and food, and he’s close friends with Chaney.

    “It’s been really hard,” Storey said, “not only because of what happened to the victims, but also because of all the misinformation going around and demonizing of homeless people because of this incident and how that runs the risk of closing this shelter.”

    From the hospital Tuesday evening, Chaney relayed a message through Cartwright about the need to fight exactly that kind of stigma.

    “We cannot take the action of one person and judge the enter unhoused community on the actions of that one person,” he said, “because being unhoused isn’t just a physical issue, it’s a mental one as well, and we need to address that.”

    In a statement on the church website, Pastor David Robinson expressed heartbreak over the tragedy. “We at Grace Baptist are deeply saddened by the terrible incident that happened at our church and to our community,” he wrote. “Our hearts hurt as we pray for the dead, injured and their families.”

    The pastor thanked church shelter staff and commended the San Jose Police Department for their rapid response Sunday. Robinson also stressed the importance of staying true to “our call, our purpose, our mission.”

    “This is what faith is all about,” he said. “Faith is risking it all. We risk knowing both the rewards and the reality that there will be problems, pain, and conflict. We are called to this radical hospitality for those who need it the most.”

    He urged people to pray for the wounded, guests and staff traumatized by the violence, anyone else who’s been “deeply affected”—and the perpetrator.

    “As a church community, we will continue to be with those that suffer,” he went on to write. “We will continue to advocate for better mental health and substance use services. We will continue to provide love, food, clothing, and shelter to those in need. We will continue to visit those in prison.”

    A PayPal account has been set up for people to donate to cover medical bills for survivors and burial costs for the deceased. Click here to contribute.
    https://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/f...elping-others/


    Fernando Lopez, (32) has been identified as the killer in the case.

    https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...ttack/2408217/

    San Jose police on Wednesday identified the suspect in Sunday's deadly stabbing attack at Grace Baptist Church near San Jose State University.

    Fernando Lopez, 32, was identified by Chief Eddie Garcia as the person believed to have stabbed five people — killing two and injuring three — at the church, which provides meals and shelter for the homeless.

    Lopez is homeless and a frequent guest at the church, Garcia said. He has worked there and was helping with homeless services on the night of the attack.

    Lopez may have been under the influence of drugs prior to the attack, according to Garcia.

    "The seemingly random nature of this act likely may be related to drug use, but we can't confirm that at this point," Garcia said.

    Garcia and Mayor Sam Liccardo said Lopez, who has a long criminal history and has been deported three times, should not have been out on the streets. They said he had been released in June for a misdemeanor domestic violence arrest, his third such violation, while on probation for a similar offense in another county. They added Santa Clara County should have informed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the time of his release.

    "How many more incidents need to occur before there is a policy change?" Garcia said. "We need to work together, and I know we can with our community and with our county. We need to continue the conversation. We can't stop."

    County executive Jeff Smith said he's disappointed Garcia and Liccardo are, as he put it, using the attack to push a political agenda. He also said the county will not discuss the issue until the investigation is complete.

    Lopez remains in custody. He was supposed to be officially charged Friday, but the district attorney's office said his appearance had to be put off until Dec. 3 due to coronavirus-related issues.

    Nguyen Pham, a San Jose city employee and church volunteer, was among the wounded. The other victims, all shelter residents, have not been officially identified.

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    https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/...e-15755610.php

    By Jana Kadah

    Bay City News Foundation

    The Sunday night stabbing at San Jose's Grace Baptist Church left two people dead, three seriously injured and the community wondering who's to blame for the tragic killings and whether or not it could've been prevented.

    Two of the three survivors -- volunteer and city employee Nguyen Pham and church staffer James Chaney -- said the stabbings could've been averted, but they are not blaming the man who stabbed them.

    Instead, Pham, Chaney and other advocates for the unhoused community believe the stabbing is a result of decades-worth of negligence and failing policies that forced unhoused residents to be left with little-to-no resources.

    They are the same policies that stabbing suspect, 32-year-old homeless resident Fernando Lopez, was also the victim of, Shaunn Cartwright, veteran homelessness advocate and founder of Unhoused Response Group, said.

    "Advocates have been warning local officials for years about the inadequacy of housing, shelter, addiction and mental health treatment for our lowest income residents," Cartwright said in a news release sponsored by the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, Affordable Housing Network of Santa Clara County and other housing advocacy groups. "It is a miracle that more violence has not erupted from the neglect and intolerable conditions that so many of our houseless neighbors are forced to live in."

    Cartwright met Lopez through her years-long work with Grace Baptist Church and as a result also developed friendships with Pham and Chaney -- men she described as "lights," and "twin souls who had a deep-rooted desire to serve their community."

    "When I spoke to Nguyen and James (after the stabbing), they both said they were not blaming (Lopez), and that is significant," Cartwright said. "If the victims aren't going to cast blame on (Lopez) then maybe others who have, should look at it from a different perspective."

    In fact, Cartwright was at the church working alongside Lopez, Pham and Chaney on Sunday and left 30 minutes before the stabbing occurred.

    "It's so weird because after working with the unhoused community for years, usually you can tell if there are undercurrents, if someone may reach a breaking point," Cartwright said. "But I couldn't sense that with (Lopez) at all. He was kind and helpful and I even cracked a joke with him before I left."

    The group was working on the annual upcoming memorial for the unhoused community and making tombstones out of foam to commemorate the lives lost on the street this last year.

    Cartwright has chronicled the mortality of homeless people in Santa Clara County since 2016 and said the increased deaths have been "anything but steady or gradual."

    In 2019, the number of homeless residents who died was 161 - a record high until it was broken in September 2020, according to data collected by Cartwright. She estimated that the total tally for this year will surpass 200 deaths.

    She also noted that in 2020, an unhoused person dies every other day on the streets of Santa Clara County and most are people of color.

    "There are 10,000 unhoused people in Santa Clara County competing for access to two emergency shelters for singles, one for families, 10 detox beds, and reduced services due to COVID. Most restroom access has been closed, as have places to rest, charge cell phones and use electronics," Cartwright's news release said.

    To her and the coalition that signed on to the news release, Lopez is an apparent example of what happens when people fall through the cracks in a county that does not have safety nets to catch them.

    "Fernando is a victim as well," Cartwright said. "Whatever caused this was a result of him not having nearly enough treatment and access to resources.

    "The county is so fixated on building long-term housing, but people are dying in the meantime and succumbing to their addictions waiting for the permanent housing," she added. "What we need is more mental health facilities and rehab beds, more temporary shelters."

    Mayor Sam Liccardo echoed similar sentiment at a Wednesday news conference - noting that it was systemic failures that apparently led Lopez to this point.

    "We cannot avoid the conclusion that this was preventable. Multiple system failures led to this moment and I will begin with one failure that I will own. That is the fact that the suspect and (3) out of the five victims were unhoused," Liccardo said. "We have to do more to get our residents off the street and into dignified housing."

    However, Liccardo argued that Lopez should've never been on the streets because of his previous convictions.

    The defendant's criminal history has indications of drug addiction, multiple domestic-violence arrests and a 2011 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon -- his most serious charge for which he was given a two-year prison sentence, according to court records.

    Lopez then stayed out of the county court system for nine years until June, when he was arrested for his third misdemeanor domestic-violence offense. Santa Clara County Judge Drew Takaichi granted Lopez supervised release on June 29 -- a move both District Attorney Jeff Rosen and San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia disagreed with.

    However, Lopez's release was revoked nearly a month later when he failed to show up for a mandatory court hearing. The court also issued a bench warrant for his failure to appear on Tuesday, nearly three months after his release was revoked and two days after the stabbing.

    But local homeless advocates who frequent Grace Baptist Church said Lopez' alleged actions were out of character and feared that it was a result of him succumbing to drug abuse.

    "When you are homeless you are beaten and bruised up by so many things that it feels like drugs are the only thing that could make you feel normal or happy," homeless advocate Scott Largent said. "And drugs coupled with other personal struggles and a lack of mental health resources makes people go off the deep end or have an episode - and that's what I suspect this was."

    Garcia noted that several eye-witness reports also suggested that Lopez was under the influence of drugs but he is still waiting on the toxicology results to confirm that.

    However, it is Lopez's citizenship status, or lack thereof, that adds another player to the 'blame game.'

    David Jennings, director of the San Francisco field office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the state's sanctuary policies prohibited the federal agency from doing its work, detaining Lopez and thus preventing the Sunday stabbings.

    "Here we have catastrophic proof of the abject failure of California's sanctuary policies. The only person this policy protected was a criminal; permitting him to reoffend over and over again," Jennings said. "Had those immigration detainers been honored, or had ICE been notified on any of the other multiple occasions he was arrested and released from local jails, we would have taken him into custody."

    Sanctuary laws revoke ICE's access to local databases and pushes ICE agents out of jails, which means that ICE agents could only know about Lopez or other undocumented defendants if local law enforcement informed the federal immigration officials.

    Liccardo and Garcia maintained that Santa Clara County should remain a sanctuary county but insisted that the county change its sanctuary laws so that law enforcement could contact ICE -- a move that would align with the 2017 California Values Act in which local agencies can contact federal officials regarding undocumented immigrants charged with violent felonies.

    "(The Values Act) provides a very balanced approach for protecting our law-abiding immigrants from the risk of deportation while enabling notification of federal authorities in the rare circumstances of an undocumented immigrant with a violent predatory criminal record," Liccardo said.

    The San Jose duo argued the same point in 2019 following the high-profile killing of Bambi Larson and were met with notable backlash from the community and immigration advocates.

    That same year, the county voted against changing the policy and county officials said the policy is likely to remain the same.

    The survivors, Liccardo, Garcia and homeless advocates agree that the stabbing could've been avoided.

    And while they may not agree on who/what is to blame and the next steps, they all emphasized that the undocumented, Latino and unhoused communities are certainly not responsible and shouldn't be blamed for the actions of one individual.

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    https://patch.com/california/campbel...ollowing-fatal

    San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Police Chief Eddie Garcia are demanding Santa Clara County change its sanctuary city policy — for the second time in a little more than a year — after discovering the suspect arrested for a fatal stabbing spree at Grace Baptist Church is undocumented.

    The suspect, Fernando Lopez, allegedly stabbed five people at the church and homeless shelter on Nov. 22, injuring three and killing two. Four of the victims were homeless and one was a city employee and volunteer, Garcia said.

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    "Currently, the Santa Clara County policy prohibits responding to immigration detainers, which allowed the suspect to be released," Garcia said in a news conference. "I received the question, 'What could have prevented this tragedy?' I won't point to a single thing, but rather a multitude of tools and opportunities that were not utilized or failed."

    However, County Executive Jeff Smith told San Jos? Spotlight that Garcia's and Liccardo's judgement of the situation is premature and chastised them for using the tragedy to advance their political agenda of making drastic changes to county's immigration policies.

    He called the mayor and police chief "unprofessional." "This sort of popped up out of the blue with them — basically trying to take advantage of a horrific double-murder, trying to promote their political agenda, which has been talked about, numerous, numerous, numerous times," Smith said. "I think it's extremely unprofessional. Obviously, with a murder like this, there are many factors that contributed to it. It's not just the immigrant status. It's not just methamphetamine use. It's not just homelessness."

    Lopez was staying in Grace Baptist Church for shelter and Garcia speculated he may have been under the influence of drugs based on witness reports.

    Liccardo insisted Santa Clara County should alter its sanctuary city policy to allow county jailers to call ICE agents before releasing undocumented immigrants with a history of convictions for violent crimes.

    "As I publicly advocated in 2015, and again in 2019, in those very rare circumstances, where an undocumented offender has a record of violent or serious prior convictions, the county should be acting in accordance with the state's Values Act and notifying ICE that a person will be released out into the community," Liccardo said.

    No changes to the county's sanctuary city policy are being made, Smith said, and it is illegal for local law enforcement to detain someone based on their immigration status.

    The county ultimately voted against changing the policy in 2019 after the high-profile killing of Bambi Larson prompted outcry and a proposed amendment. As of now, the county bars law enforcement from alerting immigration authorities to the release of an undocumented immigrant.

    The mayor said these changes would align with the California Values Act or Senate Bill 54, which permits local agencies to contact federal authorities about undocumented immigrants charged with violent felonies.

    "The state has set out a balanced approach to both protects our immigrant community and public safety," Liccardo said. "The county should do the same. The county has had several opportunities to do so, including recent last year after a horrible murder."

    Lopez was released from jail by a judge after facing a misdemeanor charge in Santa Clara County prior to the stabbings, Garcia said. The chief said the suspect was also on probation for a domestic violence felony charge in San Joaquin County.

    Garcia said Lopez was previously deported three times, but had re-entered the country.

    The police chief added Lopez had a "violent history" and missed a required court appearance under the release program he entered under the Santa Clara County judge's decision.

    Garcia and Liccardo last year faced a barrage of criticism from immigration advocates for their support of altering the sanctuary city policy.

    Advocates for the unhoused said they feared the violence would increased stigma toward people seeking shelter.

    Housing advocate Shaunn Cartwright told San Jos? Spotlight that people against building affordable housing and shelters would use this as "Bambi Larson part two" and stigmatize unhoused people.

    However, Liccardo and Garcia said the crime was not representative of all immigrants and unhoused people of San Jose.

    Despite efforts to not tie the violence to stereotypes of either community, Cartwright said investing in more mental health and shelter resources for the unhoused would be the best prevention measure authorities can make.

    "Police are doing all these warrant checks all the time and things like that keep people on the run, even when they're not wanted by police," Cartwright said. "You just constantly feel like you're being harassed, which exacerbates mental health issues. If you're somebody who's prone to paranoia, schizophrenia, constantly having police show up just exacerbates your issue."

    Providing more housing could have been a preventative measure, Cartwright added.

    "Fernando is a victim as well. He is a victim of this system that does not provide enough low-income housing, enough mental health treatment, enough detox beds, enough rehab facilities," she said. "He is a victim of this entire system."

    Organizers for predominantly immigrant communities said linking crime with the county's sanctuary city policy would stir fear and paint a "broad-brush" stigma toward immigrants.

    Maritza Maldonado, the founding executive director of Amigos de Guadalupe center of justice and empowerment, likened the proposal by the mayor and police chief to something President Donald Trump would say.

    "That's what the president said. He just wanted to get rid of the bad hombres," Maldonado said. "It gets into people's due process. Who categorizes them? Who's going to say they're fit to live in this country or not?"

    She added that such an abrupt announcement may derail immigrants' trust in the government and turn them away from seeking COVID-19 testing and vaccines.

    Other advocates pushed the mayor and police chief to instead emphasize the need for more shelters and greater services for addiction.

    "Those are the tools we need in greater supply for public safety, acutely during this COVID pandemic, and permanently," said Serena Alvarez, the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens in San Jose.

    Fundraisers have been set up to help the victims of the Grace Baptist Church stabbing, including Nguyen Pham, a city employee who is hospitalized but is reportedly in stable condition.

    Find more information on all fundraising efforts here.

    Contact Mauricio La Plante at mslaplante19@gmail.com or follow @mslaplantenews on Twitter.


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    https://patch.com/california/campbel...ollowing-fatal

    San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Police Chief Eddie Garcia are demanding Santa Clara County change its sanctuary city policy ? for the second time in a little more than a year ? after discovering the suspect arrested for a fatal stabbing spree at Grace Baptist Church is undocumented.

    The suspect, Fernando Lopez, allegedly stabbed five people at the church and homeless shelter on Nov. 22, injuring three and killing two. Four of the victims were homeless and one was a city employee and volunteer, Garcia said.

    Subscribe
    "Currently, the Santa Clara County policy prohibits responding to immigration detainers, which allowed the suspect to be released," Garcia said in a news conference. "I received the question, 'What could have prevented this tragedy?' I won't point to a single thing, but rather a multitude of tools and opportunities that were not utilized or failed."

    However, County Executive Jeff Smith told San Jos? Spotlight that Garcia's and Liccardo's judgement of the situation is premature and chastised them for using the tragedy to advance their political agenda of making drastic changes to county's immigration policies.

    He called the mayor and police chief "unprofessional." "This sort of popped up out of the blue with them ? basically trying to take advantage of a horrific double-murder, trying to promote their political agenda, which has been talked about, numerous, numerous, numerous times," Smith said. "I think it's extremely unprofessional. Obviously, with a murder like this, there are many factors that contributed to it. It's not just the immigrant status. It's not just methamphetamine use. It's not just homelessness."

    Lopez was staying in Grace Baptist Church for shelter and Garcia speculated he may have been under the influence of drugs based on witness reports.

    Liccardo insisted Santa Clara County should alter its sanctuary city policy to allow county jailers to call ICE agents before releasing undocumented immigrants with a history of convictions for violent crimes.

    "As I publicly advocated in 2015, and again in 2019, in those very rare circumstances, where an undocumented offender has a record of violent or serious prior convictions, the county should be acting in accordance with the state's Values Act and notifying ICE that a person will be released out into the community," Liccardo said.

    No changes to the county's sanctuary city policy are being made, Smith said, and it is illegal for local law enforcement to detain someone based on their immigration status.

    The county ultimately voted against changing the policy in 2019 after the high-profile killing of Bambi Larson prompted outcry and a proposed amendment. As of now, the county bars law enforcement from alerting immigration authorities to the release of an undocumented immigrant.

    The mayor said these changes would align with the California Values Act or Senate Bill 54, which permits local agencies to contact federal authorities about undocumented immigrants charged with violent felonies.

    "The state has set out a balanced approach to both protects our immigrant community and public safety," Liccardo said. "The county should do the same. The county has had several opportunities to do so, including recent last year after a horrible murder."

    Lopez was released from jail by a judge after facing a misdemeanor charge in Santa Clara County prior to the stabbings, Garcia said. The chief said the suspect was also on probation for a domestic violence felony charge in San Joaquin County.

    Garcia said Lopez was previously deported three times, but had re-entered the country.

    The police chief added Lopez had a "violent history" and missed a required court appearance under the release program he entered under the Santa Clara County judge's decision.

    Garcia and Liccardo last year faced a barrage of criticism from immigration advocates for their support of altering the sanctuary city policy.

    Advocates for the unhoused said they feared the violence would increased stigma toward people seeking shelter.

    Housing advocate Shaunn Cartwright told San Jos? Spotlight that people against building affordable housing and shelters would use this as "Bambi Larson part two" and stigmatize unhoused people.

    However, Liccardo and Garcia said the crime was not representative of all immigrants and unhoused people of San Jose.

    Despite efforts to not tie the violence to stereotypes of either community, Cartwright said investing in more mental health and shelter resources for the unhoused would be the best prevention measure authorities can make.

    "Police are doing all these warrant checks all the time and things like that keep people on the run, even when they're not wanted by police," Cartwright said. "You just constantly feel like you're being harassed, which exacerbates mental health issues. If you're somebody who's prone to paranoia, schizophrenia, constantly having police show up just exacerbates your issue."

    Providing more housing could have been a preventative measure, Cartwright added.

    "Fernando is a victim as well. He is a victim of this system that does not provide enough low-income housing, enough mental health treatment, enough detox beds, enough rehab facilities," she said. "He is a victim of this entire system."

    Organizers for predominantly immigrant communities said linking crime with the county's sanctuary city policy would stir fear and paint a "broad-brush" stigma toward immigrants.

    Maritza Maldonado, the founding executive director of Amigos de Guadalupe center of justice and empowerment, likened the proposal by the mayor and police chief to something President Donald Trump would say.

    "That's what the president said. He just wanted to get rid of the bad hombres," Maldonado said. "It gets into people's due process. Who categorizes them? Who's going to say they're fit to live in this country or not?"

    She added that such an abrupt announcement may derail immigrants' trust in the government and turn them away from seeking COVID-19 testing and vaccines.

    Other advocates pushed the mayor and police chief to instead emphasize the need for more shelters and greater services for addiction.

    "Those are the tools we need in greater supply for public safety, acutely during this COVID pandemic, and permanently," said Serena Alvarez, the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens in San Jose.

    Fundraisers have been set up to help the victims of the Grace Baptist Church stabbing, including Nguyen Pham, a city employee who is hospitalized but is reportedly in stable condition.

    Find more information on all fundraising efforts here.

    Contact Mauricio La Plante at mslaplante19@gmail.com or follow @mslaplantenews on Twitter.


  11. #11
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    https://www.sanjoseinside.com/opinio...-been-averted/

    “We cannot take the action of one person and judge the entire unhoused community on the actions of that one person, because being unhoused isn’t just a physical issue, it's a mental one as well and we need to address that,” said James Chaney, one of the surviving victims of the horrific event on Sunday, Nov. 22.

    As advocates for the unhoused, we completely agree with James.

    We mourn all the victims, pray for the wounded and incarcerated, express our solidarity with the unhoused, and assert our determination to continue serving those in need in the San Jose and Santa Clara County communities.

    Advocates have been warning local officials for years about the inadequacy of housing, shelter, addiction and mental health treatment for our lowest income residents.

    It is a miracle that more violence has not erupted from the neglect and intolerable conditions that so many of our houseless neighbors are forced to live in. It is particularly unnecessary and unacceptable for such unspeakable squalor to exist here in Silicon Valley, the richest area in the entire world.

    There are 10,000 unhoused people in Santa Clara County competing for access to two emergency shelters for singles, one for families, 10 detox beds, and reduced services due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most restroom access has been closed, as have places to rest, charge cellphones and use electronics.

    For every homeless person housed here, two or three new people become homeless, and the pandemic evictions are expected to make the situation much, much worse.

    We’re already seeing the beginnings of this with camps growing larger from week to week. In 2020, an unhoused person dies every other day on the streets of Santa Clara County—and most are people of color.

    Our housing system is broken and not sustainable.

    Our elected officials have spent decades treating the unhoused community with benign neglect unless there’s a crisis or it’s campaign season.

    Well, campaign season just ended and here we are in an entirely avoidable crisis and an unhoused man will finally be housed—in jail. Meanwhile, three other people are still in the hospital and two are awaiting burial.

    The incident at Grace Baptist is exactly that, an incident.

    It is not an indicator that all unhoused people are violent, on drugs or mentally ill. It is not an indicator that something like this will happen again where unhoused people congregate. It is a tragedy that likely could have been averted had there been better services for our unhoused neighbors.

    This week temperatures will drop into the 30s and the only large emergency shelter is at the South Hall. We are dumbfounded by the lack of humanity and simple life saving steps taken by the city of San Jose and County of Santa Clara.

    We call on our city, our county, and our nation to change their priorities, and begin adopting policies that value human life above special interests. We call for the creation of more rehab beds and mental health facilities, temporary shelters and navigation centers, sanctioned encampments, and much more.

    The lives of unhoused people matter. Providing them the basic resources to reinforce that doesn’t seem like much to ask. Does it?

    This column was co-authored by leaders of the Affordable Housing Network of Silicon Valley, Unhoused Response Group, San Jose-Silicon Valley NAACP, CHAM Deliverance Ministry, Second Street Voices and In Their Shoes. Opinions are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of San Jose Inside. Send op-ed pitches to comments@metronews.com.

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    https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/12/...elter-program/

    Update the victim has been identified as John Paulson (45) who was killed in the San Jose church stabbing.

    SAN JOSE — Even as they mourned their dead and prayed for those traumatized by the recent attack at Grace Baptist Church, the church’s leaders promised to double down — not back away from — their commitment to sheltering the unhoused.

    “My greatest hope out of all of this is that we all will unify around a commitment to creating ways to make changes, to make things better,” said Phil Mastrocola, director of the homeless shelter program at Grace Baptist where five people were stabbed Nov. 22. “And curing the condition of houselessness.”

    He spoke during a vigil Tuesday night to honor the two people killed and three injured in the attack. About 100 people gathered on the street and sidewalk in front of the church, holding flowers and candles. They cried and hugged as Mastrocola and others spoke.

    Police have arrested 32-year-old Fernando Lopez, a man who stayed at the shelter and is accused of stabbing fellow shelter guests, as well as a volunteer and a church employee.

    But despite the tragedy, the Grace Baptist shelter, which provides showers, food and a place to sleep to dozens of people a night, should reopen within the next few days, Mastrocola said. The program has been closed since the attack, but displaced shelter guests have been put up in a San Jose hotel — in rooms first funded by volunteers, and then paid for by Grace Solutions, the nonprofit that backs the shelter.

    Grace Solutions is accepting donations through PayPal to help repair and clean the facility, and hire additional staff, so the shelter can reopen.

    John Paulson, 45, was staying at the shelter when he was killed in the attack. He was a “humorous and down-to-earth man” who had been a regular guest for years, said Mastrocola’s son, Anthony Mastrocola, who manages the shelter.

    The second victim was a woman who started out as a guest, but quickly was promoted to an honorary staff member. She worked tirelessly to help others in the shelter, Mastrocola said.

    She “found her life here as a volunteer, but also lost it,” added Karen Kieffer Gillette, a member of the Grace Solutions board, and a shelter volunteer.

    The female victim’s name has not yet been released by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office, pending notification of her next of kin.

    “Both will be sorely missed by us and the many others whose lives they’ve touched throughout San Jose,” Mastrocola said.

    Mastrocola also had good news to share Tuesday night: All three of the victims injured in the attack are out of the hospital — including one shelter staff member who attended the vigil.

    The surviving victims include Nguyen Pham, a city employee who recently started volunteering at Grace Baptist and was known for his dedication to helping those without a home. His friends and family, and Mayor Sam Liccardo, have publicized a GoFundMe page to support Pham through his recovery.

    At a news conference last week, Liccardo said Pham works in the city’s Office of Economic Development and was heavily involved in the city’s census-taking effort, which was recognized for achieving the highest response rate in the country.

    “He was able to work with community groups and the community to be able to encourage folks to come out … that’s consistent with what I’ve heard from so many who have worked with him,” Liccardo said. “He has an incredibly generous spirit and was passionate about serving and volunteered for the unhoused community at Grace, and is a model person in every way.”

    The stabbings were reported at 7:54 p.m. Nov. 22 at the church grounds at 10th and San Fernando streets across from San Jose State University.

    A blood-covered Lopez was arrested within 15 minutes by an officer who spotted him in the area, according to the newly released police summary that accompanied two murder charges and three attempted murder charges filed against him. The officer reported that Lopez discarded a large chef’s knife that was later recovered and is believed to have been used in the attack.

    Police say the unprovoked stabbings occurred in different areas of the shelter, and all three surviving victims, as well as multiple witnesses, identified Lopez by his first name in describing the suspect. Some who know him fear he might have returned to using meth.

    His arrest and criminal history have re-opened a political schism over Santa Clara County’s sanctuary policy — a framework that prohibits county jails from notifying immigration agents when an undocumented person is released. Lopez had been deported three times before the attacks, according to authorities. When Lopez, who had been in jail in Santa Clara County following a domestic violence arrest, was released in June, he might have gone into the custody of federal immigration authorities, not back to the streets, if not for the county’s sanctuary policy. San Jose police Chief Eddie Garcia, Liccardo, and the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office say that could have prevented the Grace Baptist attack.

    Immigration-rights advocates, civil-rights groups and Grace Baptist’s senior pastor have excoriated that claim, saying Lopez is being used as a scapegoat against sanctuary policies that are vital to instilling community trust in law enforcement.

    But politics were pushed aside Tuesday night to focus on the grieving community.

    “People needed this,” said Scott Largent, who slept at Grace Baptist off and on in February and March, and now volunteers there. The attack has rattled the community and shaken an institution scores of people rely on for food, shelter and safety.
    “There were times when I came to that door there,” Largent said, gesturing to the church’s door, “and I was damn near freezing to death. And they let me in.”

    Despite the tragedy, Anthony Mastrocola vowed the shelter staff will get right back to work helping those in the community who are overlooked and underserved.

    “That’s what we do,” he said. “Someone needs to do it, and that’s just what we do.”

  13. #13
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    https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/12/...delayed-again/

    Update the second stabbing victim who was reported deceased is identified as Kimberly Susan Fial (55). Thread is heading to non-MDS thanks.

    SAN JOSE — An arraignment was delayed again for the man charged with stabbing five people, killing two, at the downtown San Jose homeless shelter where he stayed and volunteered, as the Grace Baptist Church community fondly remembered one of the victims and continued working to resume their services for unhoused people.


    Fernando Jesus Lopez, 32, has been charged with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder in connection with a Nov. 22, 2020 mass stabbing at a homeless shelter at Grace Baptist Church in downtown San Jose, a place where he had stayed and volunteered. (San Jose Police Dept.)
    Fernando Jesus Lopez, 32, initially refused to be escorted to a San Jose courtroom Thursday, and his arraignment was held over to Monday. Last week, his original arraignment hearing was postponed because of a COVID-19 exposure concern at the Main Jail, according to authorities. He remains in custody without bail.

    Lopez has been charged with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder in connection with the Nov. 22 outburst of violence, which caught many at the Grace Baptist shelter by surprise and left church staff and volunteers reeling just days before Thanksgiving.

    On Wednesday, the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office identified one of the two people who died in the attack as 55-year-old Kimberly Susan Fial. John Paulson, 45, the first person killed, was identified last week.

    Fial arrived at Grace Baptist Church as a shelter guest in the middle of the year, and almost as soon as she got there, she started pitching in to help staff however she could, said shelter manager Anthony Mastrocola. That included helping make and serve dinner, passing out coffee in the morning, and running the shelter’s shower arrangements.

    “My heart always felt warm when I saw her when I got into the building,” Mastrocola said. “One, I’m thinking ‘OK I know everything’s under control.’ And two, she’s just a good person.”

    Fial was a proud trans woman, according to those who knew her. She had a military background, and experience working in restaurant kitchens.

    They also said she loved bright colors, and could usually be seen in hot pink shoes and colorful leggings, sipping a soda — her favorites were Coke and Dr. Pepper. And her quiet temperament belied her ability to draw a laugh out of people around her.
    “She had a twinkle in her eye. This little smile,” said Shaunn Cartwright, who uses the church as a base for her homeless outreach efforts. “It was kind of like, ‘What are you up to?’ ”

    On the night of the stabbing, Cartwright was at the church with other volunteers, making foam tombstones for their annual memorial to unhoused people who died in the county over the past year. The group unwittingly stayed too late, with Fial waiting for them to clear their supplies out of the Grace Baptist gym so she could lay out the sleeping mats for the night.

    But Fial was too nice to say anything, Cartwright said. When Cartwright finally left for the night, Fial was setting up the mats with Lopez, the man now accused of killing her.

    According to San Jose police investigators, Lopez attacked Paulson first with a chef’s knife, inflicting a fatal injury that resulted in Paulson dying at the scene. Then Lopez stabbed a man staying at the shelter; this victim told police that as he ran to safety, he saw Lopez stab Fial.

    As another shelter guest and volunteer came to Fial’s aid, Lopez stabbed him in the back, he told police. The fifth victim, who survived, reported that Lopez ambushed him in the bathroom and slashed him with the knife. A blood-smeared Lopez was found and arrested about 12 minutes later by a San Jose police officer canvassing the area.

    Mastrocola said he was down the street when the attack began, but rushed back to the shelter after a staff member called him. When he arrived, guests were running in panic, and he immediately saw one of his staff members covered in blood. Inside, he saw a body on the floor of the kitchen, which according to police would have been Paulson.

    Mastrocola is still coming to grips with the idea that Lopez could commit these acts.

    “He had us all thinking, this dude is solid,” Mastrocola said. “He’s helpful. He’s respectful. He’s thoughtful.”

    But Mastrocola had noticed Lopez becoming increasingly paranoid. And people who knew him suspected he had gone back to using drugs, particularly meth.

    His arrest and criminal history — which included drug arrests and convictions for assault and domestic violence — inflamed a political divide over the county’s sanctuary policy. Lopez had been deported three times before the church attacks, and was released from jail after another domestic-violence arrest in June. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, as well as San Jose’s mayor and police chief, have argued that his release, coupled with the county’s policy of defying ICE notification and detainer requests, were missed opportunities to prevent Lopez from committing the attack.

    Immigration-rights advocates, civil-rights groups and Grace Baptist’s senior pastor have said those arguments exploit Lopez as a scapegoat for sanctuary policies that are vital to building and preserving trust in government by immigrant communities.

    At a Tuesday vigil to honor and support the victims, church and shelter staff vowed to re-open in the coming days, saying there remains a critical need for shelter and resources for the unhoused population they serve and who were at the center of the tragedy.

    The program has been closed since the attack, and displaced shelter guests have been put up in a San Jose hotel in rooms first funded by volunteers, and then paid for by Grace Solutions, the nonprofit that supports the shelter. Grace Solutions is also accepting donations through PayPal to help repair and clean the facility, and hire additional staff, to help the shelter resume its mission.


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