‘More important than ever now’: Hundreds gather for National Night Out in Sacramento

About 20 young Hmong girls wearing intricately decorated headdresses and colorful makeup smiled and stood in formation Tuesday night, moving their hands up and down to the rhythm of the song.

The dancers, from M. Swans Dance Institute, performed at the sixth annual Hmong Youth and Parents United National Night Out. A few hundred people gathered on the grass at Nuevo Park in West Del Paso Heights to celebrate their heritage and come together with local law enforcement and public officials.

Booths with sushi demonstrations, free T-shirts and cotton candy lined the sidewalk. Children jumped up and down in a bounce house.

Police officers from the Sacramento Police Department; Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento; and Sacramento City Councilman Allen Warren were all in attendance, chatting with members of the community.

“It’s more important than ever now, communities need to come together,” Matsui said, “especially with what happened in Gilroy and El Paso and Dayton.”

Matsui added she hoped the event showed residents local police and public officials have their backs.

“They should be able to reach out to any one of us,” Matsui said.

This story was originally published August 6, 2019 at 9:29 PM.