Saturday at Capitol: Bottles thrown, cops hit protesters with batons at freeway in Sacramento
A massive crowd protesting police violence swarmed through downtown Sacramento on Saturday, chanting the name of a man killed by Minneapolis police this week and shouting at police during a day-long event that itself turned violent and verged by evening into a near riot.
At one point, California Highway Patrol officers hit and jabbed protesters with batons when a group attempted to storm the Capital City Freeway in West Sacramento. Nearby, another protest group briefly shut down Interstate 5 before being pushed off the freeway by officers.
Later, as protesters regrouped at the Capitol, they repeatedly threw plastic water bottles, Capitol Park oranges and an egg that splattered on an officer’s chest, as perhaps 100 CHP officers stood in a semi-circle on the west steps, clad in riot gear, holding their batons in front of them. A drone flew overhead, and a helicopter flew high overhead.
By evening, groups of young men were shattering glass doors and windows of buildings near the Capitol, hurling rocks and other large objects. Notably, several protesters broke all four glass front doors of the Sacramento County Main Jail, apparently kicking the doors with their feet and hitting them with a skateboard as deputies inside the building looked on. Others sprayed anti-police graffiti on the jail walls, as well as other downtown buildings.
Police meanwhile stationed themselves strategically around the Capitol and at freeway onramps, but did not attempt to hinder marchers on the largely empty downtown streets.
The protest that numbered an estimated 1,000 at its peak was the largest and at-times the least controlled of what has now been a series of angry anti-police violence events in the capital city going back more than two years since the 2018 police killing of south Sacramentan Stephon Clark.
Yes, it was just one of many violent protests and riots that exploded this weekend in cities around the country after videos showed George Floyd being pinned to the ground by several Minneapolis police officers. As an officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, Floyd plead to be let up, saying he could not breathe.
The protest started peacefully, but by 11 a.m., police radio reported protesters throwing water bottles. Within minutes, a scuffle broke out and police reportedly detained one or more people.
Some protesters split off to march through downtown and midtown, at one point walking through the 20th Street farmers market.
A larger group, led by activist Stevante Clark — brother of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man shot and killed by Sacramento police two years ago — marched to the plaza in front of Golden 1 Center, where it stopped for a brief 12:45 p.m. rally before heading through Old Sacramento and over the Tower Bridge into West Sacramento, knocking aside steel gates and walking past stoic Downtown Commons security guards.
A few threw water bottles, apparently at police, as they headed into Old Sacramento. Marchers cheered as some drivers on Capitol Mall honked horns in support.
A splinter group of protesters attempted to walk onto Highway 50 via a ramp in West Sacramento at 1:30 p.m., but were met with a blockade by law enforcement, some of the officers running to get to onto the ramp ahead of the protesters. Officers then hit and jabbed protesters briefly with batons, forcing them back down the ramp.
One protester who said she is pregnant said an officer hit her in the stomach with his baton and pushed her down.
At the Capitol, two men wearing green and brown camo fatigues with ballistic helmets joined protesters, one with a large gallon of milk in a satchel around his waist, another with a tear gas mask. One protester said she believes the two men are Antifa with milk to treat people in case they are hit with tear gas.
A separate group of some 100 protesters launched an afternoon march in Arden-Arcade, at times blocking Arden Way, Howe Avenue and Fulton Avenue.
The protest was the second huge and at times violent anti-police violence gathering in Sacramento this weekend.
A six-hour protest in south Sacramento Friday night ended with a lingering group of protesters early Saturday morning storming Highway 99, briefly shutting it down. Protesters threw objects at police, reportedly injuring a handful of officers. Police, who engaged in brief shoving matches with protesters, reported two arrests.
Sacramento mayor, governor decry violence
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg decried the violence Saturday in a series of social media postings.
“I hope the nine officers hurt in last night’s demonstration are doing OK and that their injuries are minor,” he wrote. “There is no moral equivalence between George Floyd’s killing and what happened last night in our community. But violence of any kind is wrong, wrong, wrong.
“We can’t let a few detract and derail the strength of our ability to come together for change, and we will not tolerate violence or provocateurs.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement Saturday afternoon saying every raised voice needs to be heard. However, he warned against troublemakers who have their own agenda.
“In California and across the country, there are indications that violent actors may be attempting to use these protests for their own agendas. We are closely monitoring organizing by violent extremist organizations ahead of tonight. To those who seek to exploit Californians’ pain to sow chaos and destruction, you are not welcome. Our state and nation must build from this moment united and more resolved than ever to address racism and its root causes.”
Several of those in the largely young and diverse crowd of protesters Saturday morning spoke passionately but said they were advocating for peaceful protest. Organizers of the Saturday protest set up water stations, snack areas and put out poster boards for the crowd to write messages. A volunteer at a table was handing out masks for protesters. An “I Can’t Breathe,” sign stood nearby.
Another protester held a sign saying, “Murder is not your job description.” A third read: “Stop KKKilling Black and Brown People.”
Among the protest group was Selenne Martinez, 21, from south Sacramento, wearing a coronavirus mask.
Martinez said she wants to protest non-violently to focus the public view on police training and attitudes.
“We want to draw attention towards it, but in a peaceful manner, therefore people aren’t just focusing on the threat and taking away from the actual movement and what the purpose is,” she said. “I think the biggest thing I would like to see is to retrain the cops and have them aware the tactics they are using are fatal and brutal and just because someone is of colored skin, do not presume that they are guilty.”
Martinez said she is hoping the mass movement this week will finally tilt the page toward police reform. “I have hope for this time around.”
Like the Clark case in Sacramento, Floyd’s death has riveted the nation. A video captured white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pin his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd, an unarmed and handcuffed black man, complained he couldn’t breathe. Floyd was being detained for allegedly using counterfeit money to buy cigarettes at a store.
Michael Brook, 26, of Sacramento came to the Capitol Saturday to advocate for an end to what he calls “systemic racism.” He said the news media should focus on the violence being perpetrated on powerless members of society by the authorities, rather than the violence that sometimes occurs in the heat of protest.
“I’m here in support of my friends and family who have interactions with cops in ways that I don’t have to deal with as a tall white guy,” Brook said. “It’s systemic racism that is harming people directly. Every single day.”
The Sacramento demonstrations coincided with protests spreading across the country as outrage mounted over Floyd’s death. Hundreds marching through San Jose halted traffic on city streets and a section of Highway 101, and officers shot rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse crowds. Some protesters hurled water bottles at law enforcement officers.
Meanwhile, demonstrators in Los Angeles shut down the 110 freeway. In Atlanta, protesters broke windows at CNN Center and torched an American flag. Nine people were arrested in Detroit and an officer was hit with a rock.
Much of the Twin Cities was under curfew following riots that left businesses burnt to the ground, even as Chauvin was charged Friday with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other officers who watched the incident are under investigation. All four were fired from the force.
This story was originally published May 30, 2020, 9:52 AM.
