The 66-year-old former farmworker is accused of killing seven individuals in back-to-back shootings in California final month.A farm employee in the US charged with killing seven individuals at two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay, California, has pleaded not responsible at a court docket look in Redwood Metropolis.
The 66-year-old suspect, Chunli Zhao, entered the plea himself on Thursday, talking from behind a glass partition together with his head lowered. He used a Mandarin-language interpreter to speak.
He faces seven counts of homicide and one rely of tried homicide for his alleged position within the mass capturing, which came about on January 23 at farms the place he had beforehand been employed.
Zhao had beforehand admitted to finishing up the capturing in a jailhouse interview with native outlet KNTV-TV, saying he had been bullied and labored in tough circumstances that went ignored throughout his time on the farms.
San Mateo County Choose Elizabeth Ok Lee issued a gag order on Friday to stop Zhao, his defence, the prosecution and the native sheriff’s workplace from talking to reporters about info or opinions concerning the continuing case.
The capturing rampage, which came about 48km (30 miles) south of San Francisco, started on the Mountain Mushroom Farm the place Zhao was employed on the time. He allegedly killed 4 co-workers, wounding a fifth.
He’s then accused of driving to a second location, Harmony Farms, the place he had labored for about 4 years earlier than being fired in 2015. There, Zhao is alleged to have shot and killed three former co-workers.
The assault — which came about days after one other mass capturing in Monterey Park in southern California — drew consideration to the persistent concern of gun violence within the US, with President Biden calling it a “mindless act”.
The Half Moon Bay capturing additionally underscored the tough circumstances confronted by California’s poorly paid, largely migrant agricultural labour drive. The entire victims within the capturing had been of Asian or Latino descent.
Within the wake of the capturing, California Governor Gavin Newsom and different officers visited victims’ households and toured Half Moon Bay, a coastal neighborhood identified for tourism and agriculture.
“A few of it’s best to see the place these of us reside — the circumstances they’re in, residing in transport containers,” Newsom mentioned in a press convention on January 24. “Of us getting 9 bucks an hour. You wanna confirm the California minimal wage? It’s not $9 an hour. No healthcare, no help, no providers.”