‘This is our city!’ A volunteer army takes to downtown Sacramento with brooms and mops

On Saturday night, roaming bands laid waste to downtown Sacramento, smashing windows and looting stores. Early Sunday morning, another group began roaming the streets.

They were young Sacramentans in masks and gloves carrying brooms and mops, plastic garbage bags and cleaning materials. Call it the morning-after broom brigade – they were there to help fix their broken city.

Aref Aziz, 28, a midtown resident, was in attendance Saturday for what started as a protest in support of George Floyd, the black man who died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. However, he left before the violence, and was horrified by the destruction he saw on the internet later that night. At sunrise, he grabbed a broom and went downtown, where he was surprised to find others like him.

“We just ran into each other,” said Aziz, 28. “So we grouped up just to make things a little bit better for everybody that lives here. We went up L Street and J and came down K Street. “

He was among a half-dozen who swooped into the 7-Eleven store at Eighth and J streets to help the still shell-shocked franchise owners clean up the mess after dozens of looters stormed through the night before, overturning what they didn’t steal.

By 9 a.m., downtown streets were alive with all manner of clean-up workers. The Downtown Sacramento Partnership had its crews out. The city contracted with workers to screw plywood sheets to broken doors. Ramsey Nijem, owner of Base Camp Climb studio on Eighth Street, was washing the big red “ACAB” lettering from his window, an acronym for the phrase “all cops are bastards.”

But the most notable group of all were the dozens and perhaps many more Sacramentans like Aziz, who figured their city and store owners needed an assist.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg ran into several dozen of them as he toured the damage. He said meeting them was the most heartening thing he has experienced during a tough weekend and proof of this contention that the city will make a comeback.

Ian Anker, 38, drove down from Roseville to clean up and was scrubbing the courthouse flagpole, which someone had sprayed with “F--- the 12.”

“I just love this city and it’s a tragedy what’s really going on down here,” Anker said as he rubbed the pole with acetone that was eating through his disposable glove. “We’re just trying to be part of the community, pray over people who need prayer and build the city from what other people are destroying.”

Carl Watson, a longtime Sacramento resident, showed up early with a broom as well.

“This is our city,” he said. “I love this city. We are out here to do our part taking care of the city.”

For some, it was a family affair and a lesson in civic mindedness. Ben Hector, wife Tiffany, and children Lilyana, 9, Tristan, 7, and Fabian, 5, set out from their midtown home and quickly filled two garbage bags with litter.

“We had walked down to the protest last night so the kids could see what was going on,” he said, “and after seeing on the news as things escalated we wanted to show solidarity with the community and show we still care about the city. We wanted to see it thrive.”