Sacramento law enforcement, faith leaders join to urge peaceful George Floyd protests
Law enforcement leaders, faith groups and civil rights leaders in Sacramento issued a joint call for peaceful protest amid the continuing marches over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police on May 25.
A week after violent looting sprees racked Sacramento over a two-day span, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, Sheriff Scott Jones, Police Chief Daniel Hahn and others joined with NAACP leaders from throughout the region and faith leaders denouncing the violence and saying it is interfering with the rights of marchers.
“Our mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan said. “The FBI respects the First Amendment right to peacefully protest and be heard.
“Our investigative focus is on those who sow seeds of violence and destruction. These acts interfere with the rights of protesters and harm the community.”
The U.S. attorney echoed Ragan, saying officials “stand together as one community to call for unity and peace, not division.”
“We stand together to call for justice, not violence and lawlessness,” Scott said. “We call on our community to model peaceful protests like the one Chief Hahn and other community leaders joined in Sacramento on June 3 (when Hahn and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg took a knee while meeting with protesters).
Protest leaders have denounced the violence and looting, and some marchers have physically intervened to try and stop it. The protesters say the looters have been drawn in because the law enforcement focus on marchers left other parts of the city vulnerable.
Looting, arson and violence spread throughout downtown last Saturday and Sunday, causing $10 million in damage to more than 100 businesses across downtown and midtown.
Since then, the city has implemented an 8 p.m. curfew that protesters have largely ignored as they march through the city in what have been peaceful demonstrations.