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One day, two cities, two shootings: While Lancaster protested, Reading was quiet. Roxanne Moore’s brother wants that to change.

Advocates suspect control of information and Moore's identity affected response

  • Anthony Orozco
Family of Roxanne Moore wearing 'Black Trans Lives Matter' shirts attend a rally advocating for Moore.

 Jane Palmer

Family of Roxanne Moore wearing 'Black Trans Lives Matter' shirts attend a rally advocating for Moore.

witf · One day, two cities, two shootings, two different responses

This story has been updated to show the charges filed against Roxanne Moore on Sept. 28.

(Reading) — Earlier this month, police shot two people in two south central Pennsylvania cities. The shootings happened nine hours and more than 30 miles apart.

Some details of the incidents are similar: armed people of color battling mental illness reportedly posed a threat to police, and the officers’ responses left one dead and the other wounded.

When Lancaster police killed Ricardo Munoz, the story appeared in national headlines and led to protests and arrests.

Courtesy of Roxanne Moore's family

Photo of Roxanne Moore provided by her family.

But when Roxanne Moore was shot and critically injured by Reading Police, the story went widely unnoticed by media outside the region and drew little public interest.

“Basically, CNN should know about this, because they know about every other Black person shot by the police and I’ve haven’t seen it on CNN. Not one time,” said Malik Nock, Moore’s brother.

But the circumstances of each incident, Moore’s history and the control of information about her shooting contributed to very different community responses.

‘You don’t get the same support’

The lack of attention on Moore’s shooting is not all too surprising when taking into account her identity, said Enrique Castro, vice president of Reading Pride Celebration.

“The bottom line is Roxanne is a transgender woman,” Castro said. “Although she’s an African-American woman, being trans a lot of times, unfortunately, you don’t get the same support from the community as everybody else.”

Reading is a majority-Latino city, and while it convulsed in protests after the death of George Floyd, Castro said religion may have deterred similar support for Moore.

Castro and Michelle Dech, executive director of the LGBT Center of Reading, organized a candlelight vigil for Moore at the Reading Hospital the day after Moore was shot. Friends and family of Moore expressed anger with some journalists and with police for misgendering Moore, while others expressed disbelief in the accusations against her.

Other organizers held a rally for Moore and her family two weekends ago. They were brought together by Brianna Tyson and Shakair McCain, two women who rallied around Stanley Gracius after video of him tussling with police in a Berks Walmart went viral.

Castro said he understands people must take responsibility for their actions and that he is not excusing any crimes Moore may have committed. The reason for the vigil, he said, was out of empathy for someone he does not personally know but who needed support.

Anthony Orozco / WITF

Enrique Castro Jr., left, is the vice president of Reading Pride Celebration and was part of a small meeting with Mayor Eddie Moran after police shot Roxanne Moore.

“So whether her actions were justified or not, it’s still a human being, a member of our community who’s in the hospital fighting for their life,” Castro said. “And whether you’re religious or not, you know, if someone’s hurt, they’re fighting for their life. It’s the human thing to be kind, you know, and hope that they get better.”

Rumors and a private meeting

Castro said a lack of information of what happened may have played a part in how people in the city responded to the shooting.

Moore’s brother agreed, saying the community has been generally unaware of the incident. Her family had limited access to information on what happened.

“They played it very close to chest, because for eight hours we didn’t know what the heck was going on,” Nock said. “We didn’t know if my sister was dead.”

In contrast, Lancaster Police released bodycam footage the same day an officer killed Munoz, a 27-year-old man with a knife who ran at a police officer outside his home. City leadership held a press conference the next day, which sparked a conversation about mental health resources and social workers in the police force.

When Reading police shot and critically injured Moore, the department issued descriptions of the incident, investigators safeguarded footage of the shooting and city leaders like Mayor Eddie Moran limited their public comments.

Castro and Dech were privy to more information than the public the day after the shooting. A group of community leaders was invited to Mayor Moran’s office, including Castro, Dech and Reading Branch NAACP president Stacey Taylor.

Castro said the meeting was partly to quell false rumors on social media that Reading Police did not have their body cameras turned on. Castro said the group witnessed only a few seconds of the footage, which showed nothing of the shooting.

In Lancaster, soon after Munoz was shot, rumors swirled online that police had shot and killed an autistic 14-year-old boy. City leaders moved quickly to dispel them by releasing Munoz’ name, age and the bodycam footage.

Castro’s and Dech’s organizations shared statements on social media that they had seen partial camera footage, but noted they still had questions about the shooting.

Unreleased footage

Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams held a press conference Sept. 23 and gave more information on the events surrounding police shooting Moore. The prosecutor alleged Moore set a stove fire, stole a handgun from someone, “pistol whipped” another person and pointed the gun at another person and at police.

As for any bodycam footage, Moore’s lawyer will get a copy, but it will not be publicly released during the course of the investigation, Adams said.

Berks District Attorney John T. Adams released stills of surveillance footage of Roxanne Moore with a gun before police shot her.

Nock said one of his principal requests is for police to allow everyone to see the footage.

“You got to be transparent. It’s not being transparent. All we want is transparency,” Nock said. “And it’s too many times over the years Black and brown people aren’t getting transparency from (the) D.A.”

Adams said that would not happen because it could affect Moore’s right to a fair trial. Berks detectives announced Monday that Moore is facing charges for robbery, theft, receiving stolen property, terroristic threats, two counts of aggravated assault and three counts of simple assault.

Reading Pride Celebration issued a statement after Adams’ press conference, demanding an “in-depth investigation is completed and that the appropriate training is given to police to ensure the proper de-escalation protocols are followed, preventing this from happening again.”

Deadname vs. legal name

Though Adams referred to Moore by her preferred name during the news conference, he also used Moore’s legal name, as he did in initial statements about the shooting.

Dech said she and others were incensed by the district attorney’s use of Moore’s “deadname,” the name given to her at birth, rather than the one she chose for herself.

“Every day, our community, especially our trans friends, fight, to be recognized in their authenticity of who they are,” Dech said. “So, misgendering somebody with pronouns, using a deadname is one of the most detrimental, disrespectful things you can do to a transgender person or a non-binary person.”

Michelle Dech, executive director of the LGBT Center of Reading, also attended the meeting with Moran.

Dech acknowledged that the initial identification of Moore was complicated. While Moore has called herself Roxanne for the past six years, the process to legally change a name is layered and costly.

Adams addressed the issue in the press conference.

“In any situation where criminal charges are going to be filed, we will be filing and we are mandated to file criminal charges utilizing that person’s legal name,” Adams said. “We do not file charges under an alias and we will not under any circumstance file charges under an alias.”

‘One small piece of the puzzle’

Mental health is another common thread between the shooting cases, according to families of both Munoz and Moore.

Around six weeks before her shooting, Moore was sending texts to family members that didn’t make sense, Nock said. His sister was involuntarily committed, but released from Reading Hospital the same day.

Adams said there had been an attempt through Moore’s parole officer to involuntarily commit her. Moore was on parole after pleading guilty to vandalism of an educational facility in August 2019, according to court records.

Nock said he has a limited understanding of his sister’s battles with mental health, but has learned that she took medication. He said he believes her mental health may have played a role in the day that likely changed her life forever.

When asked what police could have done differently, Nock said there needed to be more effort to de-escalate the situation. He acknowledged the danger was heightened when his sister had a gun and someone falsely reported shots had been fired.

After wounding Moore, police found the gun had a locked safety that required a separate key to fire.

“Talk them down first, because we (are) all humans,” Nock said. “Even though they’re going through psychotic breaks, I mean, people still want somebody to listen to them, care about them feel as though they’re loved or that somebody gives a f*** about them.”

Dech said the LGBT Center of Reading is trying to provide that support for a vulnerable population.

In recent days, Dech’s organization began offering free English- and Spanish-language counseling services for anyone in the LGBT community.

“We felt it was something that we were able to do and something so very important that this community needs,” Dech said. “So that’s just one small piece of the puzzle.”

Though one shooting ended in death and the other ended in arrest, Reading and Lancaster find themselves in similar positions now.

Families and advocates for two people of color shot by police are calling for more transparency, better de-escalation training and more resources for people struggling with their mental health.

“Truth and help — that’s all we want for Roxanne,” Nock said. “ I don’t want the police to die, none of that. I just want to know exactly what happened.

“I just want everyone to see the video footage and know what happened to my sister, truthfully, and to get her help. That’s it.”

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