Half Moon Bay farm workers treat shooting as reopening

Barely a week after their colleagues were mortally wounded, workers returned to pick mushrooms at a farm in northern California. They say they have practical and emotional reasons for coming back so quickly – they need to make a living and find strength by being around people who have gone through the same trauma.

“We all feel we need each other; we feel like the people on the farm are the ones who really understand you right now,” said one farm worker in Half Moon Bay, who asked not to be named.

She and two other workers spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are traumatized and don’t want the attention that could get attention if their names were released.

The woman recently started working at Concord Farms, one of two farms where seven people were shot dead on Jan. 23 by a man who officials said was a disgruntled worker. The woman recalled how she gave her two older Chinese colleagues the nicknames abuela and abuelo – Spanish for grandparents – and established family ties with them, despite language barriers.

The couple, Aixiang Zhang, 74, and Zhisheng Liu, 73, were two of three people killed at Concord Farms, along with farm manager Marciano Martinez Jimenez. According to the workers, the couple lived on a farm.

The young woman wondered why the two were doing such hard work at their age. Although they had difficulty communicating in the language, the woman spoke Spanish and the couple spoke Mandarin, they recognized each other by pointing fingers, signing signs and laughing, and felt like a big family, she said. She credits them with helping her learn to pick mushrooms using gestures and a translation app on her phone.

The woman was away from the farm’s greenhouses when the shooting took place, but soon returned to find their bodies on the ground.

Prosecutors say the suspect in the case, Chunli Zhao, started a shooting rampage in California’s Terra Garden, located 2 miles (1.5 km) from Concord Farm, after his boss demanded he pay the bill for a forklift repair. $100 after he was involved in a colleague’s bulldozer accident.

They say that Zhao caught up with his boss while talking to a colleague who was driving a bulldozer and shot them both. It is said that he then fatally shot the chief’s wife, shot another employee, and shot the employee’s brother.

Those killed were Qizhong Cheng, Yetao Bing, Jingzhi Lu and José Romero Perez.

Authorities say Zhao then went to Concord Farms, where he worked until 2015, and started shooting there.

Zhao, 66, was charged with seven murders and one attempted murder. He is due to appear in court on February 16. Eric Howe, Zhao’s attorney, did not immediately respond to an email on Friday asking for comment.

Half Moon Bay is a small coastal community in San Mateo County, about 30 miles (50 km) south of San Francisco, consisting of rolling hills dotted with farms and beaches that attract many weekend visitors. Most of the farm workers in the area are Hispanic, advocates say, and the two mushroom farms are among the few that employ Chinese workers.

Workers at Concord Farms said Zhao worked there for about four years before he was fired eight years ago. Aaron Tang, the owner of the farm, did not immediately respond to an email on Friday asking for comment.

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The young woman said that the murdered Chinese couple often gave her eggs, chickens or vegetables at home.

“Grandma and also grandpa were so patient with me; they will teach me,” said the girl with tears in her eyes. “They always helped me and were very kind to me.”

She said that before the tragedy struck on a small farm with about 15 workers, the working atmosphere was so collegial that it felt like family. The workers said they enjoy working there because the owner gives them the option to leave during the work day if needed.

“It was a really joyful place,” she said.

The workers who spoke to the AP said they have been working two to three hours a day since Tuesday, picking, cleaning, weighing and packing mushrooms because they need money to pay rent. They said they received little financial assistance and offers of psychological support from local farm worker advocacy organizations.

Another farm worker who spoke to the AP stated that he fell ill on the day of the shooting and did not witness it. But he recalled that he previously worked with Zhao and said that he still feared that he might be released from prison and returned to the farm.

“I try to forget what happened, but I seem to always carry this fear with me,” he said.

The killings came shortly after heavy rains hit San Mateo County, putting farm workers out of work for several days, exacerbating the hard lives of many people who live in cramped conditions and earn just enough to pay bills and rental housing.

A third farm worker who spoke to AP said he and his wife were trying to get therapy to deal with the shooting.

“Being there is not easy,” he said of the farm. — My wife is not feeling well. We have mixed feelings. I don’t know how to explain it, how to digest what happened.”

This man has been working on farms in Half Moon Bay for the past decade and described the hardships he and others face doing grueling work for pay that barely covers their living expenses.

He said he earns $16 an hour and pays $1,300 for a room for himself, his wife, and two children in a four-bedroom home they share with eight other people.

“We do work so that others can eat when there are times when we don’t eat and we have to fight to get the job done,” he said.

Last week, San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller visited California Terra Garden, where some of his workers lived with their families, and called it “deplorable” and “heartbreaking.” Muller, who represents Half Moon Bay and other agricultural towns, tweeted photos showing a shipping container and sheds being used as homes.

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David Oates, a spokesman for California Terra Garden, said on Friday that employees returned to work on Monday and were given access to counseling.

“They will have this access for as long as it takes,” he said, adding that they will also receive payment for the last week the farm was closed.

The farm owners have agreed to build new permanent homes on a separate farm property for their employees and their families and provide them with affordable housing during the year it takes to build them, Oates said.

Officials have said nothing about whether housing at Concord Farms complies with the code.

Belinda Hernandez, founder and chief executive of the farm worker advocacy group ALAS, said she hopes officials will take the plight of farm workers seriously this time and make a change.

“We have been talking about this with many people for a long time. There should be no tragedy for people to stand up and listen,” she said.

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Associated Press contributor Janie Har provided information from San Francisco.