Sacramento police chief, mayor kneel with George Floyd marchers at peaceful Oak Park protest
Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn and Mayor Darrell Steinberg knelt with a large group of demonstrators in Oak Park on Wednesday in a display of unity as another day of George Floyd protests was planned in the capital.
Hahn took a knee outside the Oak Park Community Center, in the neighborhood where he grew up, encircled by hundreds of others doing the same. Later, he said it was just one way of showing that it’s possible for the community and police officers to work together.
“I love being a black man and I love being a police officer,” Hahn said. “The hope is taking the knee, hopefully that brings a little bit of hope to people when they see police officers and community kneeling together.”
“That was the purpose, in addition of showing honor to the memory of Mr. George Floyd.”
The chief, Steinberg and hundreds of demonstrators then walked two blocks from the community center to Shiloh Baptist Church. Rev. Anthony Sadler, the pastor of Shiloh Baptist, said the largely older crowd gathered Wednesday is beginning the process of handing over the baton to a new generation of community leaders in Sacramento.
Steinberg said he continues to listen and try to understand the experience of black residents of his city.
“I felt great comfort (kneeling), but I don’t want to feel comfortable,” Steinberg said. “I want to dig deeper.”
Hahn has said this week in interviews and public comments that the Floyd killing was horrific, troubling and callous. A Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, during an arrest on Memorial Day despite Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe. That officer, one of four who detained the 46-year-old as he died, has been charged in Floyd’s death.
Hahn has been city police chief since late 2017 and is the city’s first black chief. He took over during a period when the city police were heavily criticized for the fatal shooting of Joseph Mann, a mentally-ill black man in July 2016.
This is the second time under Hahn’s tenure that Sacramento and its police force have come under scrutiny for use of force. The first was in 2018 when two officers shot and killed Stephon Clark, an unarmed man in his grandmother’s backyard. Police said they mistook the cell phone in his hand for a gun.
That killing led to massive streets protests in spring 2018 and again in 2019 when District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced she would not prosecute the officers.
The Stephon Clark shooting ultimately led the governor and legislature to pass SB 392 in 2019, which restricted when police are allowed to use deadly force.
The event was attended by hundreds, some of whom had not yet participated in any of the handful of rallies and protest marches that have taken place in Sacramento since last Friday.
Among them was Chandra Reed, 43. She has been watching the Sacramento protests online and was frightened by the violence she saw at the end of the first three nights, but was heartened by the peaceful protesters who appeared to care for their community as well as the cause of civil justice.
“I said I’ve got to be part of something positive,” said Reed, a member of Bayside Church in Sacramento. “I just needed to be somewhere safe and positive. I’ve been a little nerve-wracked, a little afraid to go and do something. So, to show love and respect and do it in a positive manner for change, I needed to be here, I must be here today.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 12:20 PM.
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