Modesto police seek man for alleged violent action after May 31 BLM protest march
Police seek to identify a man for his alleged actions during a clash between protesters and police following a peaceful George Floyd/Black Lives Matter rally and march in Modesto on May 31.
Sunday, the Modesto Police Department posted on Facebook a very low-resolution photo of the man and said simply, “He is believed to be the responsible in an assault that occurred recently.”
Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear clarified Monday that after the peaceful protest by more than 1,000 people, when a much smaller group advanced upon officers and began to throw water bottles and other objects at them, police declared the assembly unlawful.
“A distraction device (flash bang grenade) was deployed in an attempt to disperse the crowd. ... The subject in the photo picked up the flash bang and threw it at officers, nearly hitting some. Based on the size and weight of the flash bang, it could have cause injury to an officer or civilian had they been struck.” She said the device is about the size of a 12-ounce soda can, weighs 2 to 3 pounds and would have been hot to the touch.
Bear also shared with The Bee a sharper photo — submitted by a resident — of the man sought.
Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager updated The Bee on Monday about possible prosecution of people arrested or cited during local protests, the biggest of which have been in Modesto, Turlock and Ceres.
Her office has been reviewing about a dozen cases of people cited or arrested for actions occurring in or near the protest activities, she said. “Most all of these individuals were given citations for court dates in September — which of course won’t occur if we do not file charges — and which means that we don’t have a major time pressure to receive these cases from law enforcement or give them priority for review over more serious cases.
“There may be additional people who were arrested or cited by law enforcement, but whose cases have not been referred to us yet. So, essentially, we are still in the review process.”
Regarding the man sought by MPD, anyone with information that could help identify him is asked to call Stanislaus Area Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 9:27 AM.
