San Diego City College student injured during peaceful protest

Fundraising efforts underway for medical bills

A GoFundMe page has been created to assist with Leslie Furcron’s medical expenses. GoFundMe screenshot

Gabriel Schneider, Staff Writer
June 2, 2020

A woman severely injured at a protest in La Mesa on Saturday has been identified as Leslie Furcron, a San Diego City College student.

“My heart is heavy,” City College President Ricky Shabazz wrote in a tweet. “Leslie Furcron is a caregiver, a grandmother, and one of our students.” 

 

A GoFundMe page has been created to assist with Furcron’s medical expenses, travel expenses for family and possible attorney fees, it said. To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/csgskf-love-and-support-for-leslie.

According to the GoFundMe page, La Mesa police opened fire at close range and shot Furcron “directly in her head.” The object that hit Furcron was not specifically named there, but Shabazz’s tweet said it was a beanbag. 

At a press conference live streamed on June 2, Dante T. Pride, the attorney for Furcron, said they believed it was a beanbag that hit Furcron in the head but are waiting to hear confirmation from the hospital.

An update on the GoFundMe page on Sunday said Furcron, 59, had come out of a coma and was placed on a breathing machine. She is responding to commands, it also said, but remains in the intensive care unit. 

The GoFundMe page had an initial goal to raise $100,000. It had reached nearly $90,000 as  of 3:45 p.m. on June 2.

Furcron was part of a peaceful protest, standing in a parking lot in La Mesa, when she was injured at around 7:30 p.m., according to media reports. Pride said she was streaming video on her phone.

Protests against police brutality and racial injustice faced by the black community have spread across the country after George Floyd was killed in police custody in Minnesota on May 25.