Up to 2,000 hold ‘die-in,’ others march in downtown Sacramento in 8th night of protests
Impassioned yet often solemn, thousands Sacramentans took to the streets again Friday night to protest the police killings of black men and women in the United States — including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Stephon Clark in Sacramento — as calls for police reform grow across the nation.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died when he was pinned to the ground, face down with an officer’s knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes on Memorial Day. Floyd, being arrested for allegedly passing counterfeit money, pleaded that he could not breathe.
The four officers involved have been arrested and charged in connection with his death, but the incident has ignited nearly two weeks of protests across the country.
In Sacramento, protesters have hit the streets every day since May 29. In two instances, vandals splintered from the peaceful protest groups to break store and restaurant windows following demonstrations. Some ransacked businesses, including Macy’s downtown.
On Friday, two crowds gathered for events that were poignant and somber, striking a very different tone from the boisterous demonstrations that took place over the previous weekend and earlier in the week.
One crowd of more than 2,000 people conducted a series of 8 minute, 46 second “Die-Ins” at Greenhaven Drive near Florin Road, three blocks from Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s house. That was how long Floyd was pinned by police. Black Lives Matter Sacramento organized that event.
Another group gathered in Cesar E. Chavez Plaza downtown, organized by the Anti Police-Terror Project Sacramento chapter, to celebrate Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old woman who was fatally shot by police in Louisville, Ky. in March during a no-knock search warrant in her apartment. Friday was Taylor’s birthday. That group of several hundred then marched to Memorial Auditorium, where it held vigil and released balloons.
Here’s a rundown of Friday’s developments.
9 p.m.: Downtown remnants disperse
The last remnants of the downtown vigil group have dispersed. Although it was after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew, there does not appear to be any issues with police.
8:30 p.m.: J Street sit-in
About 200 people remain from the earlier vigil, and are conducting a sit-in on J Street at 10th Street adjacent to Chavez Plaza, chanting names of people killed by police. Although the 8 p.m. curfew has passed, there is no sign of police, other than officers guiding traffic away from the protesters.
8:15 p.m.: Downtown vigil ends, but crowd remains
The formal Breonna Taylor vigil downtown is over. People are heading back to Chavez Plaza.
7:45 p.m.: Mayor tweets a message
Mayor Darrell Steinberg tweeted this at the end of the Greenhaven “die-in” event: “Tonight’s demonstration near my home is a powerful and necessary expression of the anger and demand for greater change in our city and in our country. I embrace the demand and expect to be judged by my actions, not just by my words. It starts with a commitment to work with Chief Hahn and my colleagues to build upon the police reforms we have implemented over the last several years.” Speaking to The Bee later at his home, Steinberg vowed to push for more police reforms. “We are absolutely going to see more changes.”
7:45 p.m.: Happy Birthday song
The crowd from Chavez park moved to Memorial Auditorium where it sang happy birthday to Breonna Taylor, who was killed three months ago in Louisville, Kentucky, by police. Protesters then let fly dozens of helium-filled balloons.
7:30 p.m.: Greenhaven event ends
Black Lives Matter ended the Greenhaven “die-in” event, telling the crowd to go home before 8 p.m. curfew to avoid being harassed by police. Some stuck around though, continuing to chant.
7 p.m.: Stevante Clark’s hoarse voice
People at Chavez park posted ideas on yellow suggestions boards about how to reform prisons and redirect polices spending in the community ahead of the memorial march for Taylor. The crowd was calm. Stevante Clark, brother of Stephon Clark, who was killed in south Sacramento two years ago by two police officers, has been at numerous rallies this week, often leading them. His voice was hoarse as he told the plaza crowd of about 500 to take a knee. He told everyone to love each other. The crowd also had a bit of levity dancing together.
6:30 p.m.: Greenhaven crowd swells
Sacramento Bee journalists estimated the Pocket-Greenhaven crowd at 2,000, which made it among the largest of the George Floyd events in Sacramento over the past week. It was silent, though, as the crowd lied on the pavement for another 9-minute “die in.”
6 p.m.: Nine-minute die-in begins in Greenhaven
A crowd of what may be 1,000 is lied down silently in the intersection at Greenhaven Drive and Greenstar Way, a busy thoroughfare in the Greenhaven-Pocket neighborhood. A helicopter circled overhead. Bodies — most of them young — were splayed on the pavement in every direction of the intersection, holding signs that said “I can’t breathe.
The “die-in” lasted 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time George Floyd was on the ground suffocating. “That was a really long time,” said Tanya Faison of Black Lives Matter chapter in Sacramento. “That was a really long time to be laying down with no air.”
Neighborhood residents passed out water to the demonstrators.
6 p.m.: First-time protesters downtown
Throughout the week, each protest appears to be drawing scores of first-timers. Zaire Hammond, 21, stood with her family in Chavez Plaza Friday evening. It was her first protest against police violence, and she said she wanted to be a part of the movement that has swept the country. “I feel like it needed to happen,” she said. “We’re slowly making a change.” She planned to attend Saturday’s demonstration downtown, too.
5:30 p.m.: The evening protests began
A group of about 150 has sat in the Greenhaven Drive and Greenstar Way intersection not far from Steinberg’s home, blocking traffic and chanting: “We have nothing to lose but our chains.” In Chavez Plaza, several hundred people gathered attentively, silently as a speaker talks about the role of community in promoting racial equality in America: Do what it is that you can do, and sometimes that might include getting arrested, to push for change.
Mayor doesn’t attend Greenhaven protest
Steinberg said in the afternoon he would not attend the “sit/die-in” in his neighborhood Friday night, which started at 6 p.m. and was organized by the Sacramento chapter of the Black Lives Matter. “I respect peaceful protest wherever it occurs,” he said in a statement. “Every fiber of my body wants to be out with the protesters, but I don’t want to be a distraction. I will be listening very carefully.”
Newsom, Steinberg call for end to carotid hold
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he’s moving to ban police in California from restraining people with the tactic used in Minneapolis on George Floyd. Newsom said he’d remove the technique, known as a carotid restraint, from statewide law enforcement training and was endorsing a bill, AB 1196, to ban the practice. He said there is no longer a place for a policing tactic “that literally is designed to stop people’s blood from flowing into their brain.” He said the state must ban “strangleholds that put people’s lives at risk.” Steinberg tweeted in support: “Thank you, @GavinNewsom. I support the statewide removal of the carotid hold as an allowable police tactic.”
Black Lives Matter art approved for Capitol Mall
City Councilman Steve Hansen, who represents downtown, said he approved a permit for activists to paint “BLACK LIVES MATTER” in big letters in the grassy medians of Capitol Mall between Sixth and Ninth streets. Demetris Washington, 29, a local Sacramento artist known as BAMR, was leading the project Friday. He heard the idea from some other activists.
”It feels liberating,” said Washington, who has lived in Sacramento for about a decade. “I’ve never seen anything like this in Sacramento so to be the artist that’s coordinating it is a pretty big honor.” The group decided on the design partly because it would be simple and easy to spot from a helicopter, Washington said.
More stories published Friday
- Sacramento law enforcement, faith leaders join to urge peaceful George Floyd protests
- ‘Die-in’ planned in Sacramento mayor’s neighborhood, followed by Saturday march downtown
- No vandalism, 4 curfew arrests as Sacramento has seventh straight night of protests
- Gavin Newsom backs ‘stranglehold’ restraint ban for California police after George Floyd’s death
- City Councilman wants Sacramento to lift controversial curfew immediately. Will it happen?
- Folsom player apologizes and resigns from football team after social media racial chats
- Sacramento-area university bucks trend: Pledges ‘neutrality’ amid recent protests
- 4 days after fatal shooting, California Justice Department opens review of Vallejo police
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 5:32 PM.