Downtown Sacramento government buildings hit by vandalism. Another protest is planned

In what seemed like deja vu downtown, a window-smashing march promoted by Antifa Sacramento on Thursday night was followed at daybreak Friday by scores of city clean-up crews scrubbing graffiti off government buildings and patching up broken windows.

But to the relief of city leaders and downtown businesses, the damage from Thursday’s anti-police protests in the capital city was far lighter than during similar June protests after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd.

“Overall, the damage was not as significant as we had feared,“ said Michael Ault, head of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, who toured the downtown late Thursday after two protests were held, stemming from a police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, last week In Kenosha, Wisconsin — one protest peaceful, the other focused on doing damage.

Early in the evening, JUICE Sacramento led a peaceful protest of several hundred people which started at Cesar E. Chavez Plaza and wound through downtown streets.

Soon after that event wrapped up, a second group arrived at Chavez Plaza for a “Solidarity With Kenosha” protest, promoted on social media by Antifa Sacramento. A picture promoting the event said “don’t snitch,” “no good cops” and “no peace police.”

The antifa protest started with speakers telling the crowd that if they don’t want to get arrested they should leave. They then went from government building to government building for about two hours before ending up again at Chavez Plaza and dispersing.

City Hall was spray painted with red paint staining the glass at the front entrance and graffiti on several facades. The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office at 9th and G streets was hit hard. Protesters set a small fire just inside the broken front door. Many of the windows on the front facade sat broken Friday morning. Cleanup crews arrived at 5:30 a.m. Friday.

Sacramento police spokesman Karl Chan said government buildings were being targeted.

“That appears to be the point,” he said.

At Dr. Helen Kwong’s optometry shop on 9th Street, workers were taking down boards Friday morning that were put up Thursday night. The shop was vandalized in late May protests over the death of George Floyd. The windows were getting a short reprieve.

“They’re going back up tonight,” said Mike Kwong, Helen Kwong’s husband. Her shop was one of many that had boarded their windows Thursday as a precaution.

Police, who said they were out in force last night, reported no initial arrests, but said they are reviewing video in an attempt to identify vandals.

“At this time no arrests have been made,” the police department said on Twitter on Thursday. “Detectives will be following up on reports of vandalism. Law enforcement presence will remain downtown throughout the night.”

Police, CHP and sheriff’s deputies allowed marchers to roam the streets, but positioned themselves in front of the state Capitol and at times in front of City Hall to protect those buildings.

The county courthouse was untouched, while several bail bonds offices across the street had their windows shattered. Police and downtown businesses did not report any break-ins or thefts, unlike in June when a handful of businesses, including Macy’s, were ransacked.

Also unlike in June, protesters did not make any forays into midtown, instead focusing their protests on the downtown government area.

“The relatively minor damage is a relief for most, but to the small businesses that are struggling it’s just another nerve-wracking reminder of how far away from normal we still are,” City Councilman Steve Hansen said Friday.

The area around the Capitol bore evidence of antifa’s presence. The Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building, just west of the Capitol, was tagged with anti-law enforcement graffiti. One slogan read, “The people hate you.”

Groundskeepers from the state Department of General Service were on the scene before 7 a.m., beginning the cleanup process. The Mosk building was tagged during the George Floyd protests, when Gov. Gavin Newsom joined a cleanup crew that included Stevante Clark, whose brother Stephon was shot to death by Sacramento police in 2018.

Ault repeated a plea he has made since the Floyd protests: downtown business people are supporters of the social justice movement, he said, and should not bear the brunt of the anger.

“We hope our shared desire for social justice doesn’t translate to more destruction,” he said.

However, he said downtown may be in for a few more nights of unrest, based on comments he said his group picked up from protesters. He said the city of Sacramento had crews out during the protest putting up wood coverings on windows almost as soon as they were shattered.

More protests appear to be in store. The Sacramento Activism account on Instagram promoted in its stories another event at Chavez Plaza at 8 p.m. Friday, using the same image and wording as the Thursday event. “Stay together. Stay tight. We do this every night,” the post said. The event was also promoted by the JUICE Sacramento Facebook page.

This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 6:12 AM.