Update: Sacramento sheriff wants National Guard. Mayor says ‘we can handle our own business’
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said Friday he had requested the National Guard be deployed to the city after a group of roughly 200 protesters broke windows at the downtown offices of the sheriff, district attorney and other government agencies the night before.
Jones, flanked by blown-up photographs of protesters decked out in body armor during Thursday’s protest, referred to the demonstrations as an “attempted insurrection.” Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert described the actions as a planned attack.
“It’s been one day and I’m already done with this,” Jones said in a Friday afternoon news conference.
As of Saturday morning, there was no immediate plan to send the National Guard into Sacramento. And Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he does not want the Guard deployed to the capital city.
”I’m confident that we can handle our own business here,” Steinberg said. “There may be a time where it is necessary, but remember, just as with all these strategies, you have to ask the only question that matters: will it reduce the chance for great damage or injury? The National Guard can also be a provocation.”
Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said “we are aware of Sheriff Jones’ comments and have been coordinating with his office.”
“Through California’s Law Enforcement Mutual Aid System, we are providing local and state law enforcement officers from multiple agencies throughout the Region to support Sacramento,” Ferguson said. “We are closely monitoring the conditions and can provide additional resources through the Mutual Aid System as needed. Use of the National Guard for law enforcement support is used only in the most extreme cases, or after the mutual aid system is fully committed.”
During a Friday briefing, Newsom declined to comment on the situation, saying he’s been monitoring protests across the state and didn’t have enough details about Sacramento specifically to weigh in.
“All I can say is this: I respect and revere people who express their point of view,” Newsom said. “What I condemn is people doing it in a way that puts other people’s lives at risk or destroys other people’s livelihoods or property. That just has no place and always should be called out and condemned.”
Jones spoke with reporters outside the Sacramento County Main Jail, where deputies had been stationed. The jail was not damaged, and Jones said that was due to the large law enforcement presence at the facility. The protests are in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, the latest use-of-force incident against Blacks and other minority groups to enter the national spotlight, prompting familiar calls for law enforcement reforms.
Blake is the 29-year-old Black man who was shot in the back seven times on Aug. 23 by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as he pulled away from an officer and leaned into his SUV, in which three of his children were seated. A family attorney said Blake was paralyzed, and it would “take a miracle” for him to walk again.
‘These are not protesters’
A separate peaceful protest at Cesar E. Chavez Plaza on Thursday gave way to vandalism by separate groups after 8 p.m. Windows were shattered and tagged with graffiti and a small fire was lit inside a broken door at the district attorney’s office before clean-up crews came at 5:30 a.m. Friday.
Jones said that attendees included locals and regional residents, but also claimed that many had come from out of state. Local officials have pointed to so-called ‘outside agitators’ as the main culprits for violence and property damage in recent months, but the majority of arrests stemming from protests in late May were shown to be of Sacramento-area residents.
“These are not protesters, as indicated by the quotes of some of their leaders as they were ginning up the crowd at Cesar Chavez park last night,” he said. Jones claimed that one demonstrator told the group “if you’re here to be peaceful, then you should have left three hours ago.”
Jones said all available officers had been activated in order to respond to the planned protests on Friday, and that National Guard personnel would be available to assist the Sheriff’s Office on Saturday, if necessary.
“We will end this. ... We have plenty of room in this building behind me,” Jones said, alluding to the jail behind him.
Links to Portland, other hotspots
A statement from Schubert’s office said the protest was led by “a domestic terrorist and anarchist organization,” Sacramento Antifa. Schubert declared that the organization led “an attack on Sacramento’s public safety.”
“This organization seeks to destroy public safety, dismantle law enforcement, and eliminate all social discourse,” Schubert wrote.
The DA said that the group wreaked havoc and damaged the downtown Sacramento community, contrary to the peaceful protest led by Justice Unites Individuals and Communities Everywhere (JUICE) Sacramento in Chavez park earlier in the evening. Schubert compared the events of Thursday night to similar “attacks” in Portland, Seattle and Denver.
Schubert condemned the threats made against the media at the event, asking for the public’s help in identifying an individual believe to have told a reporter that they would “break your f------ camera if you don’t back off.”
The DA told the public that the group has “threatened to do the same in the coming days.” Schubert warned that the District Attorney’s Office “will prosecute anyone identified and arrested for these crimes to the full extent of the law.” The DA’s Office is asking anyone with information to contact them.
Steinberg said he was satisfied with the way the police department handled Thursday night’s protest. He said there will be arrests, even if they were not happening in real time.
”They’re doing a significant amount of surveillance including video surveillance and identifying who are engaging in these acts,” Steinberg said. “Just as they did last time, they’ll go back and make arrests.”
Friday’s march through downtown
Sacramento Police Department spokesman Officer Karl Chan said it was still to early to say how Friday’s demonstration fared in comparison with Thursday’s — during which marchers targeted several government buildings — he was confident that the “huge law enforcement presence” helped to deter major damages.
Unlike Thursday night, Sacramento City Hall was not damaged Friday, according to Chan. A ring of officers were seen guarding the building, as a group of more than 100 protesters marched by, offering insults as they passed. The downtown sheriff’s building and the Main Jail were also not damaged to Chan’s knowledge, and the District Attorney’s Office was spared another beating.
However, there were many reports of vandalism and graffiti along the marchers’ route. After gathering at Cesar Chavez Plaza, protesters dressed in black looped around the downtown area. As the march continued, protesters could be seen briefly stopping to spray paint slogans or expletives on walls and buildings in the immediate vicinity. Some vandalism was seen at the John Moss Federal Building on Seventh Street, but damage appeared minimal.
Chan said officers did receive reports of broken windows at the Wells Fargo Pavilion on I Street, but no other reports of damage.
No injuries were reported either. During the march, police radio traffic suggested a motorcycle officer was struck by a rock, and officials confirmed that officers were being pelted, but Chan said on Saturday that the officer had not actually been hit, though his motorcycle was slightly damaged.
A violent scuffle broke out around 10 p.m. near the Memorial Auditorium when a sword-wielding man approached a crowd of protesters, causing a brief panic, but officers arrived and calmed him down. A man with a gun was reportedly spotted in the same area. On Saturday, the police department said it had briefly detained someone who was said to have been armed, but it turned out to be a BB gun.
Sacramento police officers did not make any arrests, Chan said, but detectives will be following up on reports of vandalism and working to identify suspects.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Steinberg attempted to strike a balance in a statement released Saturday afternoon, condemning property damage but remaining optimistic when comparing the city’s recent protests to others in major metropolitan areas.
“People are right to express their outrage over the shooting of Jacob Blake and too many similar shootings. At the same time, no one has the right to damage public or private property. Such actions only undermine the cause and the attention that must be paid to remedying the sickness of racism that never goes away,” Steinberg said. “The last two nights have been challenging for our city. ... But it is also important to have perspective, especially where other cities have experienced injuries, deaths, and large scale destruction. In Sacramento over the past two nights, property damage has been minimal and no one has been seriously injured.”
The mayor concluded by commending the “strong presence” maintained by the Sacramento Police Department on Friday night and the leadership of Chief Daniel Hahn.
Protests throughout California coincided with those in the capital Friday night, as groups across the state marched in solidarity with Jacob Blake. The Associated Press reported that 250 marched through downtown Oakland, and the local police department arrested more than a dozen people, some for assaulting officers. Protesters in San Jose targeted the home of the city’s mayor, Sam Liccardo, spray-painting it with profanities as well as “BLM.”
Meanwhile, protests were peaceful in Placerville, as demonstrators allied with the Black Lives Matter movement set up in front of the El Dorado County courthouse on Friday for several hours. As has often occurred in foothills communities, counter-protesters appeared with American flags and Blue Lives Matter apparel in a show of solidarity with law enforcement.
This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 2:45 PM.