Sheriff identifies man shot during California wildfire as tensions rise with pot growers

Amid escalating tensions between Siskiyou County authorities and Hmong marijuana growers, officials have identified the man shot June 28 by authorities during the Lava Fire as a 35-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, man.

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said the man, who was shot near a roadblock set up to keep residents from entering the fire zone at the Mount Shasta Vista subdivision, was Hawj Soobleej Kaub, a father of three and farmer.

“Mr. Kaub’s family has been notified of his death,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post. “Additional information surrounding the incident will be released once the investigation is complete.

“Officer-involved shootings are complex investigations that take time to thoroughly investigate. There are certain details surrounding this incident that have not been made public as the investigation is ongoing; however, in the future, once the investigation is completed, a thorough report of the incident will be made public.”

Authorities have said Kaub was shot as he left the subdivision and pointed a gun at officers who were ordering him to turn left to escape when he, instead, turned right.

“The driver of the GMC ignored numerous directions by officers and attempted to drive around the roadblock and head southbound on County Road A-12 toward the evacuation zone,” the Sheriff’s Office said after the shooting. “While the law enforcement officer was communicating with the driver, the driver raised his hand and pointed a semi-auto handgun at the officers.

“Peace officers from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Etna Police Department shot the driver.”

The shooting has exacerbated tensions between Siskiyou County officials and Hmong growers who say deputies and firefighters prevented them from bringing in water trucks and fighting the blaze on their own as the flames approached their properties.

Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue has denied that, saying the growers blocked roads, threw rocks at firefighters and threatened them, forcing Cal Fire to retreat from the area.

One community activist has now engaged in a 10-day hunger strike outside the county courthouse, Hmong leaders say, and a “peace and justice vigil” is planned for noon Saturday in Yreka. A livestream of the event is planned on Facebook.

Lawyers for the growers have been seeking a restraining order and injunction against the county to stop it from enforcing an ordinance requiring permits to bring in water, and they filed new documents in federal court Thursday in Sacramento claiming some farmers are unable to get water for their food crops or take showers because of the ordinance.

“My current living situation is much like when I lived in the jungles of Laos,” one of the residents wrote in a declaration filed in court. “However, in the jungle I had plenty of water and never had to worry about getting water.”

The 56-year-old owner of a 2½-acre plot wrote that he attempted to follow the county rules but has had no success in getting a permit to haul in water.

“I have no well on my property,” he wrote. “I paid Siskiyou County $360 for a permit in April of 2021.

“Though I passed my percolation test, the county has not come out to my property or approved my permit. I must depend on water trucks to bring me water. I have a large above-ground pool in which I store water. Right now, the amount of water left in the pool does not reach my knees.”

Lee wrote that to get drinking water he must fill jugs at a Yreka Walmart 25 miles from his home, and that “sometimes there is no water at Walmart.”

He wrote that all of the vegetables he and his wife grow on the property have died from lack of water, and that he is concerned about keeping his four dogs, 100 to 200 ducks, and 100 chickens alive.

“We rely on the animals for food,” he wrote. “I worry how I will get water from them when my pool runs dry. Two of my chickens have already died due to lack of water.

“I normally allocate 100 gallons of water each day for the animals. I have had to reduce the amount to 45 gallons of water per day because I do not have access to enough water.”

Other residents filed similar declarations, writing that their inability to truck in water has left them in dire straits.

“We are only able to bathe one time per week,” Koua Lee wrote. ‘We do not have enough water to stay cool and hydrated in the summer heat.

“We must rely on the shade of the trees to keep cool. I am thirsty all the time.”