Update: Protesters in Modesto, Turlock, Ripon; Rumored Oakdale protest doesn’t materialize
Several protests, and one “meet and greet” of a civilian military-style group, are planned today in the Modesto region after the death of a black man in the custody of police in Minnesota last month.
Rallies are planned in Modesto, Ripon, Turlock and Oakdale. These come on the heels of peaceful protests held in Modesto and Turlock Friday night.
Follow The Bee for continuing coverage throughout the day.
Sit-in protest begins at Stanislaus Sheriff’s Department
The group of mostly Modesto-area college students behind Modesto March began a 24-hour sit-in at the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department at 1:30 p.m. About a dozen supporters joined in at the start of the event, which is expected to stretch into Sunday afternoon.
The group, which has organized one of the largest protests in the region, has recently renamed itself Never Stay Silent. Jozette Luke said the core group of a half-dozen organizers plans to stay on site all 24 hours. The small group was camped out on the sidewalk in front of the sheriff’s office and public safety center.
Luke said the county’s recent decision to declare a state of emergency is the reason for the sit-in protest.Organizers said a captain came out to talk with the group initially, but sheriff’s deputies were largely out of site and not a presence around the group.
“We believe the funding that they get should not go to the police department but to under-served community such as the black and brown ones,” Luke said. “We don’t believe that the police force needs any more funding, at all….We want to show people there is more than just marching to this, it’s doing the little things in between.”
Supporters were encouraged to drop by the sit-in site to join the peaceful protest anytime during its planned 24-hours.
Rumored Oakdale protest ... just a rumor
In Oakdale, members of the all-volunteer armed citizens group the California State Militia and a little more than a dozen counter-protesters showed up to stand on the sidewalk of a boarded-up downtown.
Online rumors had prompted several businesses to cover their windows with plywood and the city to barricade off parts of the street.
A possible protest was scheduled for 3 p.m. No protesters supporting the Black Lives Matter movement appeared to be present.
About an hour after it started Saturday afternoon, Oakdale Police Chief Scott Heller asked the small crowd of what appeared to be mostly locals to disperse so the streets could be reopened.
Oakdale was the site of a protest on Wednesday that ended with a man counter-protesting a planned protest throwing a punch at an occupant in a convertible.
A short altercation broke out, resulting in two people being booked, one for battery (the man who threw the punch) and another for assault against an officer. Nobody inside the vehicle was booked.
March near California State University, Stanislaus
A large crowd gathered around noon on Saturday on the street in front of California State University, Stanislaus. Organizers of this demonstration appealed to marchers to squelch any calls for violence they might hear among themselves.
They also said they asked police for protection because they have heard rumors of agitators who might attend, and advised demonstrators to stay out of the street as they marched down Geer Road.
The demonstrators, by 1:45 p.m. as they were nearing Donnelly Park, they stopped on the road, and took a knee and began chanting for justice and peace.
Bishop Colbert, a young African-American man, said change comes in the form of education, and learning “true history, not whitewashed history.”
He urged those who see something like what happened to George Floyd to do something about it at that moment, instead of simply watching or pulling out their phone to shoot video.
Guadalupe Emigdio, a college student, was out Saturday at Donnelly Park to spread the message of unity, something she said she doesn’t hear from President Trump.
She said she’s been asked by Latino why weren’t African-Americans weren’t more vocal about those Latinos being held in cages at the border.
To her, “skin color is irrelevant.” She said the two are only shades apart, and “what matters is that our hearts are the same and our blood is the same color.”
Demonstration in downtown Modesto
Roughly 50 people have gathered in 10th Street Plaza in downtown Modesto at the start of the planned protest at 10 a.m.
Roads in the area have been barricaded, with several downtown blocks inaccessible to cars and most parking garages closed. Modesto police officers are patrolling the area but are not in the plaza itself, staying about half a block away with a small line of motorcycle cops.
The entirely peaceful rally eventually drew around 100 people, who listened to husband-and-wife organizers LeAnthony King and Monica Johnson, who founded the ActionsOver# Facebook group. Representatives from MoPride, a Stanislaus County LGBTQ support and advocacy group, and Faith in the Valley, a non-profit group that works on racial, economic, immigration and other issues in the community, were also present with information and snacks.
Johnson said she and her husband founded ActionsOver# because they wanted to create real change, not just lip service.
“We’re tired of seeing hashtags of people who have been killed. We need action to stop these racial injustices,” she said.
The approximately two-hour event included a small handful of local speakers, some who discussed of the racism they had experienced through their lives, and others who suggested concrete calls to action. Faith in the Valley was also registering people to vote.
Like Friday night’s candlelight vigil at the Tenth Street Plaza, the protesters kneeled in silence for 8-minute and 46-second, the length of time ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was filmed pinning George Floyd to the ground with his knee. An African drum circle also provided the soundtrack for parts of the protest.
“It is very emotional for me (taking part in protests),” said Modesto resident Jacqueline Sanders-Bell, who attended the rally with her 18-year-old daughter Zhane Bell and their friend Janie Warren. “We are coming together and seeing that other states are coming together as well, it is across the whole nation. It’s very powerful. I’m sad that it took us so long to do this. Now that we are here I am very proud.”
State militia members gather in Denair
With several events planned to protest the death of George Floyd today, one in Denair is aimed at reassuring residents that a civilian military-like group is only there to protect them.
The Echo Company of the Second Infantry Regiment of the state militia is holding a meet-and-greet in the parking lot of Road Dog Cycle.
Capt. Tim Brown, the leader of the company, said he’s been seeing a lot of worry on social media about what might be coming to small towns like Denair. He said his company has 80 to 100 regulars at any given time from Mariposa through the Bay Area.
“If people come by today, they will see their neighbors, shop owners, business owners and professionals who serve them,” he said.
Members of the militia have attended local rallies and marches, Brown said. They have not worn uniforms and have served in an intelligence capacity. Brown noted that at this time the militia members are not carrying guns, though they could if bringing them out becomes “necessary”. Their gear includes tools, flashlights and radios.
Brown said his company will not engage people over store break-ins and thefts of electronics, but they have heard of gun shop owners worried about thefts from their businesses, and would step in there because of the danger that could bring to the streets.
“There is a time and a place for farmers to get their guns from their mantles and protect their property,” Brown said.
This story was originally published June 6, 2020 at 10:49 AM.
