Police visit to California union leader’s home disturbs newly elected SEIU president
.JPG "Richard Louis Brown stands in the parking lot with his supporters at SEIU Local 1000 before he is sworn as president on June 27, 2021.")
Police visited the Sacramento home of the new president of California state government’s largest union early in the morning after his election to lead SEIU Local 1000.
Officers determined the anonymous call that led them to new Local 1000 President Richard Louis Brown’s home lacked merit, a police department spokesman said.
The call disturbed Brown. He believes someone from the union called the police to try to intimidate him.
“Common sense tells me I’m being sent a message,” he said. “Since I have done a lot of talking and I’m challenging the status quo.”
Brown has often cited the police call in videos he has recorded since his election, calling it evidence of racism and efforts from inside the union to undermine him.
About 5:00 a.m. on May 25, police knocked on Brown’s door in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood after receiving an anonymous report of a woman screaming, Sacramento Police Department spokesman Ryan Woo confirmed in an email.
Officers checked the residence and determined the call was unfounded, according to Woo.
Woo said the department had recently received “at least two other calls of similar circumstances for other residences within this area, and on different streets,” and that the department is investigating whether the calls are connected.
“The department has not identified any specific intended victims of these unfounded calls for service at this time,” he said in the email.
Brown, 52, unseated longtime Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker in a five-way election. It was his third run for the elected position leading a union that represents about 100,000 California public employees.
This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.