Clashes in downtown Sacramento as pro-Trump mob invades U.S. Capitol
Several hundred supporters of President Donald Trump gathered Wednesday to rally outside the state Capitol building in Sacramento as mob chaos in Washington, D.C., derailed Congress’ plan to affirm the Electoral College vote win for President-elect Joe Biden.
By the afternoon, the rally in Sacramento escalated to clashes between Trump supporters and a smaller group who gathered at the state Capitol in opposition. Sacramento police officials said they moved-in to separate the opposing groups. A few hours later, most of those gathered for the Trump rally had dispersed.
The rally was somewhat calm as it began Wednesday morning. Trump supporters stood near the Capitol grounds listening to rally organizers speak to the crowd. It appeared there were a handful of members of the far-right group known as the Proud Boys at Wednesday’s Trump rally, as well as numerous pro-Trump vehicles circling the area.
Trump supporters earlier had lined the closed street in front of the Capitol’s west steps, waving Trump flags and “Stop the Steal” placards. At one point, they listened to an audio broadcast of Trump speaking to supporters at a Washington, D.C., rally.
In attendance and aligned with these groups were a number of demonstrators at odds with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s regional orders to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Why they came to Sacramento
Barbara and Reed Francis drove from Chico for the rally and were standing near 10th and N streets holding a “Stop the Steal” sign as a motorcade of Trump supports roared by blaring horns and music.
The couple said they came to show “courage for Trump” and insisted the election was stolen.
“It was fraudulent,” Barbara Francis said. “It’s proven. The fake news doesn’t tell us the truth.”
Neither had heard about the storming of the Capitol building in Washington, but said they could understand the emotion behind it.
“They’re not violent people,” she said. “Maybe there are some that are, but my answer is prayer.”
Reed Francis compared the events unfolding in the nation’s capitol to protests in American cities over the summer in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and other Blacks in Americans at the hands of police.
“I didn’t think the riots and the burning of buildings was good either,” he said.
Few of the demonstrators in Sacramento were seen wearing masks to limit spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease that continues to surge in California and overwhelm hospitals with an increasing number of patients.
Capitol staff stays home
Members of the California Senate and their staffers were asked to stay away from the Capitol building Wednesday after learning of large rally and counter-protests planned, according to an email from Secretary of the Senate Erika Contreras.
The Capitol and the Legislative Office Building remain closed to the public, and only essential staff have been allowed in. The email from Contreras urged all senators and essential to work remotely Wednesday and to only to go to the Capitol building if absolutely necessary.
Newsom on Wednesday canceled his scheduled news conference on COVID-19 out of what his office called “an abundance of caution to ensure the safety of Governor’s Office staff.”
The California governor condemned the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol, demanding that Trump “call for an end to this escalating situation,” according to a written statement.
“Peaceful protest is an important mechanism of our democracy, but what we are witnessing in our nation’s Capitol building is reprehensible and an outright assault to our democracy and Democratic institutions,” Newsom said in his statement.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg called the violence at the U.S. Capitol “abhorrent and a direct attack on the very foundation of our democracy,” according to a written statement he released about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday.
“What we are witnessing is not protest — it is an attempted insurrection,” Steinberg said in his statement. “I do not expect President Trump to call off the chaos he has incited. I pray that his supporters will.”
The mayor also said “in Sacramento, we are continually coordinating with law enforcement to make sure the situation here in California’s Capitol remains under control. Our democracy and the rule of law will prevail.”
Pepper spray on Capitol Mall
Some people were arrested around the Capitol building on suspicion of possessing pepper spray, the Sacramento Police Department said in tweet. Officials said a “heavy police presence” remained in the area of the Capitol.
Shortly before 1 p.m., clashes escalated after police moved in to separate Trump supporters and the opposition group confronting each other near Ninth Street and Capitol Mall in Sacramento. Members of both opposing groups had been arguing with each other as they moved along L Street before tensions ran high.
The Sacramento Police Department reported that there were some fights between the opposing groups, and officers remained in the area, trying to keep the groups separate.
A group of about half-dozen counter-protesters, whom Trump supporters identified as Antifa, were surrounded after about two hours of verbal confrontation as they tried to leave the scene near 10th and L streets.
As the group tried to make its way south on Ninth Street, a line of Sacramento police bicycle officers cut them off from the Trump supporters and began to escort them out of the area.
That’s when officers and the group were surrounded by Proud Boys and other Trump supporters. Within minutes, one of the counter-protesters had been hit in the face with pepper spray.
The counter-protester collapsed to the ground for several minutes while Trump supporters insisted they had not sprayed him. Several officers descended into the crowd and detained a middle-aged man, removing what appeared to be a large can of pepper spray holstered to his belt.
After that, police escorted the counter-protesters to Eighth Street and Capitol Mall as the Trump protesters chanted “f--- antifa.”
Away from the tense scene, police began to summon Uber and other ride-share vehicles to escort the counter-protest group out of the area for their own safety.
One member who had emerged from the counter-protesters tried to make his way back to the Capitol, but was surrounded by Trump supporters and engaged in a jawboning session as rain began to fall around 1:45 p.m. in downtown Sacramento.
With the rain, most of the rally-goers began to leave the area. Shortly before 2 p.m., Sacramento police officials announced that a “majority of the demonstration near the capitol is dispersing.” A heavy police presence remained in the area.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 11:53 AM.
