A relatively peaceful day of protests in Sacramento descended into a second night of anarchy Sunday as looters and vandals roamed through pockets of downtown and midtown, smashing windows and looting stores. Some businesses were hit for the second night in a row.
The day had its tense moments, particularly when a large group of Black Lives Matter protesters succeeded in halting traffic both ways on I-5 for about a half hour. But it wasn’t until evening that the situation boiled over.
After police used tear gas to disperse a large group of demonstrators north of the Capitol, a subsection of the group began meandering through downtown streets and embarked on another looting spree.
Here are Sunday’s developments, as they happened.
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11:25 p.m.: More vandalism by roaming bands of looters
Sacramento Bee journalists are reporting that pockets of midtown and downtown are being overrun by roaming bands of looters, as what had been a relatively peaceful day of protest is quickly descending into mayhem for a second straight night.
Ryan Sabalow and Jason Pohl say groups of vandals were kicking in doors and windows along J Street. The CVS store at 17th and K was badly damaged.
Sam Stanton saw groups smash in the windows on two prominent restaurants near 16th and J streets, Mikuni’s and PF Chang’s. Police set up a heavy presence near that intersection.
Meanwhile, The Bee’s Daniel Hunt reports that police are maintaining a heavy presence at Arden Fair mall, guarding all the store entrances. He says two dozen vehicles are cruising back and forth on Arden Way, as if looking to plot a way inside the big mall. Others are prowling the area on foot from across the street.
By contrast, activist Stevante Clark has begun leading a peaceful march of about 100 protesters from the DoCo area south on 9th Street toward the Capitol.
11 p.m.: Bee journalists mugged, camera taken
Two Sacramento Bee journalists covering the protests and downtown looting were accosted by a group in the area of 7th and J streets.
Photojournalist Paul Kitagaki Jr.’s camera was taken. Reporter Sam Stanton was knocked to the ground, banging his knee and his head.
“Other than that, I’m fine,” said Stanton, a Bee veteran who has been a fixture at these protests as well as the recent demonstrations at the Capitol against the coronavirus shutdown.
The incident occurred as the two were covering the looting and vandalism that is continuing even after Sacramento police have effectively shut down the main protest just north of the Capitol.
This had been a fairly peaceful day and evening, at least when compared with Saturday, but the situation seems to be deteriorating as more reports of vandalism come in.
10:40 p.m.: Protesters disperse from Capitol but some keep looting
Protesters have mostly scattered from the area near the north side of the Capitol but some are smashing windows as they disperse. The Bee’s Hannah Wiley says some windows have been shattered at the Hyatt Regency on L Street, across from the Capitol.
The Bee’s Sam Stanton says somebody just smashed windows on an optometrist’s office on 9th Street, north of the Capitol. The office is near the Rite Aid at 9th and K, which caught fire earlier in the evening. Sprinklers put out the fire but the store is still filled with smoke. A Bank of America ATM nearby has had its glass shattered.
About a half dozen walked up to a 7-Eleven at 8th and J, which was looted the night before, removed the plywood from the door and headed inside to peruse the remaining merchandise.
Further north, perhaps 100 protesters have gathered along the eastern perimeter of Downtown Commons, site of Golden 1 Center, where they are kneeling and peacefully listening to a talk from activist Stevante Clark, brother of Stephon Clark.
Dozens of helmeted police officers have formed a line to make sure the protesters don’t get into the DoCo plaza itself, and are backstoped by a group of police SUV’s parked door handle to door handle.
Meanwhile, the Bee’s Jason Pohl says the BevMo store got looted for the second straight night, on J Street heading toward midtown.
10:30 p.m.: State government closing offices Monday
State government offices will be closed Monday because of the protests that have enveloped the downtown area the past two days.
“Please be advised that due to escalating conditions of protests, the Governor’s Office and CHP have advised that all offices to close tomorrow,” read a message sent to the Department of Consumer Affairs using a state emergency notification system.
10:08 p.m.: Police fire rubber bullets at protesters
Sacramento police have started firing rubber bullets in an effort to disperse protesters who have refused to leave the area near the Capitol after two waves of tear gas and at least a dozen official orders to disperse.
The bullets were fired in an extended burst by a phalanx of officers at 10th and L streets. “We have a long night; you have to conserve your ammo,” one officer has been overheard telling a colleague.
They are focusing on removing a few dozen protesters on 10th, along the west side of the Capitol. A larger group has scattered further east along L Street.
It appears the police are taking a more aggressive tack than they did Saturday night, when looters smashed windows and tagged buildings from downtown to 25th Street in midtown.
There has been some looting downtown tonight, and the Rite Aid at 9th and K caught fire, but the violence hasn’t been as extensive as the night before.
9:59 p.m.: Police lob more tear gas
After a half hour standoff with protesters at 10th and L, Sacramento police fire more tear gas and flash bangs into the crowd, dispersing many of the several hundred who were clogging the street.
The protesters have ignored about a dozen “unlawful assembly” orders to disperse. But this second wave of tear gas, about 40 minutes after the first, has sent many of the demonstrators scurrying east down L Street, along the north side of the Capitol.
9:34 p.m.: Police order protesters to leave
Sacramento police have issued four “orders to disperse,” the point at which they generally become serious about ending a protest.
Scores of protesters are lingering in the area around L Street near the Capitol, and a standoff is underway. Scores of police officers have lined up at 10th and L, maybe 25 feet from a crowd of several hundred demonstrators facing them across 10th Street.
The protesters are standing with their hands up, and dropping to their knees as a form of protest against police brutality.
They’re chanting, “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
The officers are holding rifles.
9:21 p.m: Sacramento police fire tear gas
Chasing a horde of looters away from businesses on K Street, about two dozen city police cars set up a line along the west side of the Capitol and then lobbed multiple tear gas cannisters.
The tear gas wound up dispersing many in the crowd, including the largely peaceful protesters who had just celebrated the fact that they coaxed two officers into taking a knee in a gesture of solidarity.
“They formed a defensive line and opened up with tear gas, a lot of tear gas,” said the Bee’s Sam Stanton, repeatedly coughing. A few minutes later he said more tear gas was lobbed, along with “flash bang” noisemakers.
While many protesters left, many others stayed in the area and were milling around L Street, across from the north end of the Capitol.
9:17 p.m.: Officers take a knee
In a brief moment of solidarity with protesters, the Bee’s Hannah Wiley reports that at least two law enforcement officers in the area of the Capitol have taken a knee, a signature form of protest against police brutality.
The crowd of protesters cheered wildly and chanted, “Take a knee!”
9:10 p.m.: Looting begins in downtown Sacramento
The Bee’s Sam Stanton says hordes of looters left the area around the Capitol, headed north, and wound up breaking into a restaurant called Fish Chicken at 9th and K. Someone ran out a few minutes later with what appeared to be a cash box.
Police have formed a line on K Street, near the Crest Theatre.
Scanner traffic from police indicates a drug store by 10th and K has been looted.
8:55 p.m.: More car windows smashed
The splinter group that vandalized cars and businesses on J Street has been making its way toward the Capitol. The Bee’s Ryan Sabalow says people are smashing car windows in a garage on 11th Street, near the Capitol.
Meanwhile, the main group that was listening to speeches at Chavez Plaza has moved to the north side of the Capitol, where more speeches are taking place. The group briefly took a knee , in what has become a significant gesture of protest against police brutality. They asked the CHP officers guarding the Capitol to take a knee with them, as law enforcement has done in a few cities, but the officers in Sacramento wouldn’t go along.
8:40 p.m.: Police assemble to contain violence
Multiple police cars, their sirens blaring, are racing to the area northeast of Chavez Plaza where a splinter group of protesters began smashing windows.
8:20 p.m.:Windows smashed on J Street
While tonight’s demonstration has been much more peaceful than Saturday night’s, the calm was shattered as a group of about 200 left Chavez Plaza, headed east on J Street and began smashing windows.
This group had been setting off fireworks intermittently during the speeches at Chavez. Some of the organizers waded into their crowd and appealed to them to stop the noise. But a few minutes later this group broke away completely.
The Bee’s Ryan Sabalow reports that the group has broken some car windows and at least one window at a restaurant on J Street and is now moving east on I Street at about 13th ,.
Sabalow reports seeing no police in the immediate vicinity. But police dispatches suggested officers were assembling nearby in an effort to contain the outbreak of violence.
7:35 p.m. Protesters back at Chavez Plaza
The two earlier separate groups have merged and returned to Chavez Plaza, in front of City Hall, where people are taking turns speaking to the group.
The CHP has pegged the crowd at 600 people. The Bee has estimated the group was upwards of 700 when it first launched at 4:20 p.m.
The crowd has been listening attentively to a series of speeches, although a small group gathered at 10th and J and began shooting off fireworks.
7:30 p.m. Mayor says police to be proactive
Mayor Darrell Steinberg says police will intervene more quickly tonight to avoid the kind of window-smashing and looting that happened Saturday night.
“I believe the safety of the public and the safety of police officers themselves are paramount and that will remain tonight,“ Steinberg said. “But I do believe that they will intervene even faster tonight because of the mutual aid agreements that will be elevated this evening and will allow them to be able to move faster.”
The Sacramento City Council talked Sunday about imposing a curfew but decided against it. The city will, however, “reserve the ability” to impose a curfew if the behavior from last night reappears, Steinberg said during a virtual press conference Sunday.
“We do not believe, based on experience from other jurisdictions, that a curfew would necessarily be successful because those who are committed to perpetrating looting and violence would probably ignore the curfew anyway,” Steinberg said. “So we reserve the ability, but not tonight.”
7:20 p.m. Protester says rubber bullet hit him
A protester who only identified himself as Buddha said he was hit by a rubber bullet as he stood on the wall above the sunken section of the I-5 freeway. He showed reporters a red welt on his stomach. When asked if he was OK, he said he’ll be fine.
7:10 p.m. Less rowdy tonight, so far ...
Despite the freeway takeover - which is now over – the protest groups tonight have been a bit less rowdy to this point than they were last night. Bee reporter Ryan Sabalow, who chronicled looters in the early morning hours Saturday night and who is with them again tonight, says: “Completely different vibe.”
Last night, at this time, protesters had already begun smashing windows. This group clearly has stronger leadership guiding it.
Notably, though, some people who were not part of the main group were throwing rocks at the police when police found themselves down in the sunken section of I-5 trying to herd protesters back up the ramp.
South Sacramento businesses close early
Stores across a prominent south Sacramento shopping center closed early Sunday night under law enforcement’s request as the city braced for another night of protests over the death of George Floyd.
All shops in Florin Towne Centre, formerly the site of the Florin Mall at the intersection of Florin Road and Stockton Boulevard, were shutting down for the night at about 6:10 p.m. One of many Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office deputies in the plaza told The Sacramento Bee that law enforcement asked business owners to close early.
A social media post Saturday indicated protesters would take aim at the Walmart Supercenter on Florin Towne Centre’s north end by 65th Street, as well as a Target store on Cosumnes River Boulevard near Highway 99.
7:05 p.m. Two protesters detained by police
CHP has detained two protesters who were driving cars that helped the group get onto the freeway a half hour ago. Police are firing snub-nosed flash bang guns at protesters up on the walls above the sunken section of I-5 in preparation for allowing cars to begin rolling again without being hit by projectiles.
7 p.m. Protesters exiting freeway
CHP is using batons to force protesters with bikes to give up their bikes. Demonstration leader on a bullhorn is telling the group to head back up the ramp off the freeway toward the state Capitol. Their movement is low, though. And many are not yet moving.
CHP is firing flash bangs at people standing atop a wall next to the sunken portion of the I-5 freeway in downtown. The people up on the wall, near the Crocker Museum, have been throwing rocks down onto the freeway.
6:50 p.m. Stalemate on the freeway
Southbound I-5 traffic is now free to flow. A few dozen CHP officers have corralled a large group of protesters in the northbound lanes near the Capitol Avenue overpass. They appear ready to attempt to herd them back up the P Street ramp. They are taking bikes from the protesters to avoid the bikes being used as a weapon.
6:30 p.m. Protesters storm northbound I-5
Hundreds of protesters are running down the P Street ramp onto northbound Interstate 5. The freeway is shut down. They are jumping over to the southbound lanes to stop traffic there. Many are sitting on the freeway.
Now, there’s a brief scuffle. CHP has pushed them to the northbound lanes, using batons and flash-bangs. Officers are trying to squeeze them to the side of the freeway to let traffic through.
Driver George Reed from Merced is caught in the traffic. He said protests are one thing, but people also need to vote.
Demonstrators knelt in the freeway, raising their hands in a silent display of protest.
6:20 p.m. Leader calls for calm at Capitol
While one group of protesters marched on downtown streets, another group of 200-plus is gathered at the state Capitol. A woman in the group admonished that crowd to stop throwing plastic water bottles at police.
“We need to be smarter. Right now we look like a joke,” she said. She said peaceful protests must prevail for change to happen.
6:15 p.m. Protesters throw plastic water bottles
Protesters veer south on 7th Street from I Street, where their westward march was stopped by concrete barriers that police placed across the street to block them from getting to the J Street on-ramp onto Interstate 5. Officers in riot gear stood behind the barriers.
Protesters threw plastic water bottles at police from close range as they marched by.
6 p.m. Looting starts in East Bay
Dan Thorn of KRON4 TV in the Bay Area is reporting that a group of protesters in the East Bay city of Walnut Creek have begun looting some stores, including a LuLuLemon and a Ray-Ban store. Police are moving in on them, Thorn reports. Several stores there, including an Apple store, locked up today out of fear of looting
5:50 p.m. Man with pipe in hand confronts protesters
A dangerous confrontation happened on J Street in front of Cesar Chavez Plaza: A man was standing outside of a Chevy Suburban holding a pipe, threatening the protesters and calling them names. He then got in the vehicle and swerved onto the sidewalk, nearly hitting protesters and Bee reporter Sam Stanton. He drove a half block, stopped and got out, then got back in and drove away.
Protest leaders cautioned their group not to confront him.
5:40 p.m. No National Guard yet, mayor says
Gov. Gavin Newsom called on the National Guard this morning to deploy in Los Angeles, which was hit hard Saturday night by violence amid protests.
But Sacramento officials have not, to this point, asked for National Guard help. Speaking a Zoom press conference at 5 p.m., Mayor Darrell Steinberg said local officials are holding off on that request, but could make it if the city sees another chaotic scene like it experienced Saturday night.
Los Angeles officials, though, felt overwhelmed by mass protests.
“I find that local authority is inadequate to address the threat posed by the civil unrest within Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles,” the governor’s emergency order reads.
5:20 p.m. CHP, protesters scuffle
CHP and protesters briefly scuffled at 10th and N streets, near the Capitol. Protesters were lined up along the fence protecting the Capitol, changing. An officer threw a bike into the gutter. Then CHP cruisers arrived and officers jumped out, leading to shoving, before officers backed off, and protesters began marching.
A CHP phalanx is now pushing protesters back toward the Capitol. The CHP is clearly taken a more active stance than they had during most of Saturday.
4:45 p.m. Brief confrontation with couple
As officers on motorcycles directed traffic away from the crowd of 800 people, the protesters marched from Cesar E. Chavez Plaza to 12th Street toward the state Capitol building.
At one point during the march, some of the activists got into a confrontation with a bystander who claimed he was punched after he confronted some marchers who jumped on his car.
“What is happening?” a woman with the man screamed as they were briefly swarmed by protesters outside the couple’s condominium. “Get out and get away!”
The pair declined to be identified.
Protesters arrived at the Capitol, where they confronted officers in riot gear who stood behind a barricade. No one tried to jump over.
4:20 p.m. Protesters begin march
As many as 800 people left Chavez Plaza and began marching south on Eighth Street through downtown Sacramento, heading toward K Street.
The march began without warning at the conclusion of a relatively quiet rally at Chavez Plaza, where Stevante Clark linked his late brother’s cause with Floyd and other black men victimized by police.
“When you’re saying the name ‘George Floyd,’ you’re saying the name ‘Stephon Clark,’” he said. His brother was killed by Sacramento police in 2018.
4:10 p.m.: Stevante Clark addresses crowd
Stevante Clark, the brother of Stephon Clark, addressed the crowd at Chavez Plaza and afterward said the people who looted in Sacramento Saturday night weren’t the people who were demonstrating against the death of George Floyd.
“What happened last night was not the protesters,” he told The Sacramento Bee. “You didn’t see ‘No justice, no peace’ signs.
He said the media was misleading people by linking the violence in Sacramento with the protests against police brutality.
“When people say there were protesters looting, that’s a false narrative,” he said. “The people who are out here (at Chavez) are not going to go to Target and Walmart .... We’re all standing out here in solidarity.”
Clark became a central figure in the protests that developed after his brother Stephon was shot to death in 2018 by two Sacramento police officers.
3:30 p.m.: Rally winding down at Chavez
Part memorial service, part how-to session on how to protest, a demonstration was drawing to a close at Cesar Chavez Plaza, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether a march would ensue.
“This is organic,” one organizer, who identified himself only as Keyan, said as the event wound down.
Much of the 90-minute rally was spent explaining to demonstrators how to maintain silence when questioned by police, how to contact the National Lawyers Guild, and how to apply gauze to a bleeding wound.
One speaker noted approvingly that many were wearing masks to guard against the coronavirus pandemic. She said masks would have a second purpose, enabling demonstrators to guard their privacy. “Fortunately, you have a ... reason to keep your face covered,” she said.
The only reference to Saturday night’s looting and vandalism came when a speaker urged the crowd to deflect any questions from the media about Saturday night’s looting and violence. Turn the question around, the speaker said, and ask the reporter about the damage done to Floyd.
3:15 p.m.: City Council prepares emergency declaration
The Sacramento City Council was preparing to meet at 3:15 p.m. in an emergency tele-session to discuss whether to declare a “local public emergency” in light of the violence.
“There has been a significant increase in the amount of criminal behavior, including violence against first responders and peaceful protesters, vandalism of public and private property, looting of businesses, and failure to follow the lawful dispersal orders of the Sacramento Police Department and other law enforcement agencies,” the resolution says.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg has raised the possibility of imposing a curfew, similar to San Francisco and some other cities, but there was no mention of that in the resolution.
Teen recovering from rubber bullet wound
Eighteen-year-old Dayshawn McHolder is recovering in a hospital after being hit by a rubber bullet in the face during Saturday night’s protest.
Video obtained by The Sacramento Bee shows that McHolder threw a small object toward Sheriff’s deputies and Sacramento Police officers, who had formed a barricade outside of the Sacramento County jail on I Street.
In response, law enforcement fired off their nonlethal weapons, knocking the recent high school graduate to the ground.
A video circulating via social media shows McHolder bloodied, being carried by a fellow protester from the scene. Afterward he was taken to the hospital, where police cited him for assault on officers.
His jaw was broken, and as of Sunday afternoon, he could not chew food and had a hole in his cheek big enough to fit a finger.
Ian Lee, who saw the incident, said law enforcement’s violent response to McHolder turned the tide of the protest.
“Everything got super intense,” Lee told The Bee. “Someone lit a trashcan on fire, and probably about 20 minutes after that, that’s when the vandalism and looting started.”
2:15 p.m.: Somber start to gathering at Chavez Plaza
Unlike previous protests, Sunday’s event at Cesar E. Chavez Plaza began with a somber tone.
The protesters stood in a circle around the giant fountain in the center of the 2-acre park, before turning their attention to a series of speakers and singers who took the stage at the north end of the plaza across the street from City Hall.
Demonstrators placed flowers at the base of the stage as a makeshift shrine to Floyd and other black people who’ve been victims of police brutality. Several protesters knelt in front of the shrine as someone performed a gospel-style song. A speaker reminded the crowd that it was Pentecost Sunday, which marks the descent of the holy spirit on the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ.
Organizers brought dozens of cases of bottled water, first-aid kits and jugs of milk — used as a remedy for tear gas in the eyes. Police used tear gas to dispel the crowd of looters early Sunday.
1:30 p.m.: Sac RT suspends service to downtown
Sacramento Regional Transit said it was suspending bus and light rail service to and from downtown, effective 1:30 p.m. RT had previous rerouted its services around the Capitol during protests over the past several weeks related to the coronavirus stay-at-home orders, but this was the first time they had pulled routes entirely.
In addition, Yolobus, which provides public transportation services in Yolo County, also canceled all buses in or out of downtown Sacramento for Sunday, in response to “large crowds and heavy traffic congestion” expected in the area.
1 p.m.: Scene at the Capitol
After a daylong protest Saturday culminated in hours of looting, the California Highway Patrol was out in full force again at the state Capitol, where hundreds gathered the day before. Officers in helmets and medical masks ringed the perimeter of the north, west and south sides of the building, all of which are sealed off by steel barriers.
On the east side, which isn’t guarded by a barrier and was the scene of some of the most intense protests Saturday, a dozen officers stood guard next to an armored CHP vehicle.
1 p.m.: Protesters begin preparing at downtown park
There was no immediate Sacramento police presence at Chavez plaza, which sits across I Street from City Hall. But, in the case of previous demonstrations, Sacramento police typically remain out of sight until they’re needed during protests. Mayor Darrell Steinberg and some members of the City Council planned to be at Chavez plaza to speak with protesters. Before the protest, however, Steinberg said he would not go out to the park.
About 20 demonstrators arrived at around 1:30 p.m. Thirty-four cases of water were placed at the base of the statue in the center of the plaza, next to a sign that said, “If they start shooting stand behind me.”
Mayor: Curfew isn’t off the table
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg — as he toured the ravaged downtown Macy’s Sunday morning, saying he was upset by the destruction — said he will meet with Police Chief Daniel Hahn, the city manager and council members this afternoon about the possibility of imposing a curfew for Sunday night.
“It could have unintended consequences of encouraging people who would be bent on this kind of destruction to violate the curfew,” Steinberg said. “If curfew would be effective, I would be very open to that. But I want to get the professional judgment of our law enforcement.
The mayor said he had no criticism of the police efforts on Saturday night, given the numbers of people that splintered into groups around downtown late in the evening and into the early morning when much of the looting took place.
“Police in Sacramento are in a precarious and difficult position on how to respond,” he said. “The police are caught between wanting to go right in and arrest the perpetrators, versus not elevating the situation in such as way that the potential for more violence where people get hurt or killed is more likely.
More on Saturday’s looting, violence
All told, at least 22 people were arrested following the difficult day of protests and vandalism Saturday.
The downtown area was a study in contrasts throughout the day. Dozens of volunteers swarmed the area and began sweeping up broken glass and scrubbing anti-police graffiti off buildings. As law enforcement continued its preparations, Steinberg toured the downtown Macy’s, the first store ransacked by looters, and met with other business owners who suffered damage.
Another building that sustained damage was the Sacramento County Main Jail, which had its front glass doors were smashed. Protesters returned to the building later Saturday and got into several altercations with Sheriff’s deputies before leaving the area and heading to Downtown Commons, where they looted Macy’s, defaced an $8 million sculpture by renowned artist Jeff Koons and embarked on their looting spree.
Following Saturday’s protests, the Sacramento chapter of the National Lawyers Guild issued a statement condemning law enforcement actions and accusing them of “indiscriminate brutality.”
The lawyers argued that police and deputies at the protest fired nonlethal weapons at peaceful protesters, while largely ignoring the looters, who broke into several storefronts and smashed windows at many others.
“NLG legal observers reported that police attacked the wrong targets,” the chapter said in a prepared statement. “They took an hour or more to arrive in the area of J Street Saturday night where businesses were being looted. The looters then left.”
The chapter also noted that a board member who was wearing a bright green cap identifying him as a legal observer was hit in the forehead with a rubber bullet from 25 feet away, and was hospitalized as a result.
A Bee reporter was also struck in the foot by a law enforcement projectile.
This story was originally published May 31, 2020 1:21 PM.