Sorry, kids, but the California fair has a history of violence. A curfew is a good idea
The California State Fair has always been a summer destination for those growing up in Sacramento, whether it was to traipse through the gray gates in brightly colored bikinis on our way to Waterworld or to run around the Midway hopped up on cotton candy and fried Snickers. It was hard to believe Sacramento was the only place in the state with such a huge annual party.
But I never stayed long after dark. Even on the fair’s notorious Teen Nights, which directly catered to the little disposable income we garnered in high school, our parents wouldn’t let us go.
Why?
Because everyone knew the State Fair could be dangerous after dark.
The State Fair has long had a problem with violence. Case in point: 2019 marked the first year in a decade when there wasn’t a violent incident on opening day. The problem didn’t seem to be a lack of security but rather the unruly guests.
So this year, there’s a new rule: Young people who are unaccompanied will be barred from entry after 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the run of the fair, July 15-31. They will need to have an adult 21 years of age or older verbally take responsibility for them at the gate.
“Public safety is paramount to us,” fair CEO Rick Pickering said in a statement.
As a 17-year-old, I probably would have felt this was pretty unfair. Then again, at 17, I also felt grades, curfews and having to clean my room was unfair.
At 32, I’d rather annoy the region’s teenagers en masse than see them become victims of violent crime — especially now, at a time when mass shootings occur in public places regularly. The State Fair is a high-profile event, with as many as 60,000 people attending each day. Public safety at such high-attendance events can no longer be an afterthought.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are the evenings of greatest fair attendance, Pickering said.
“We want to avoid some of the challenges that happened in previous years during these specific times, and further ensure all attendees have a fun and safe experience,” he added.
That’s quite an understatement. Just taking a look back at The Bee’s coverage of the state fair over the past 30 years or so reveals numerous violent events, including a 2018 shooting outside the fair gates on opening night. According to a 2019 story, an average of 66 people were arrested each year at the fair between 2009 and 2017, with a 10-year high of 93 arrests in 2010.
In 2006, an Oak Park resident was shot across the street from the entrance. And in 1993, someone shot off fireworks and yelled “gun,” leading to a panicked crowd surging toward the exits. Two pregnant women, a person complaining of chest pains and someone with a head injury sought medical attention after the crush, and one poor woman from Citrus Heights was carted away in an ambulance with a fractured ankle.
There’s also been violence on the other side of the coin: In 2017, three officers at the state fair wrestled Shanita Minor to the ground and a fourth handcuffed her after accusing her of “loitering” near the carousel. Minor is Black and was 17 years old at the time. The Bee’s Editorial Board pointed out at the time that “’loitering’ is precisely what one is supposed to do at a fair.”
Minor wound up with a fractured thumb, a concussion and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.
After Sacramento’s most recent mass shooting on K Street in April, local leaders rushed to institute youth violence prevention programs. They pointed to the incident as evidence that the city had not invested enough in youth services.
It’s telling that decades of violence at the state fair did not prompt the same call.
So, the 17-year-olds in the crowd may feel stifled after dark, but the directors of the state fair have every right — and every reason — to institute these rules.
This story was originally published June 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
