Bay Area Curfews Begin To Lift As Protests Continue
Demonstrations across California to protest the death of George Floyd and racist violence have been almost completely peaceful. Now curfews have ended in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.
That includes Alameda County, except the city of Oakland, which plans to keep its 8 p.m. curfew in place.
Golden State Warriors stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson marched with protesters in Oakland, yesterday. Some demonstrators lay down for nearly nine minutes — that’s the amount of time a white police officer pressed a knee into Floyd’s neck while he pleaded for air.
In San Francisco, a student rallied some 10 thousand people to protest in the Mission District. That event, too, was non-violent.
The city of Vallejo has been a significant exception as other cities become more peaceful.
Yesterday, Police Chief Shawny Williams released details of the police shooting that killed 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa.
The chief said officers responding to calls of looting at a Walgreens around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning confronted about a dozen people in the parking lot. One of the suspect’s cars rammed into a police vehicle.
Officers spotted Monterrosa near the building with what they thought was a gun in his waistband. An officer opened fire through the windshield of a police car, hitting the suspect. Chief Williams said what appeared to be a gun turned out to be a hammer.
John Burris, an attorney for Monterrosa’s family, said the victim “was shot multiple times while he was on his knees and appeared to be trying to surrender."
The officer who fired the shots has been placed on paid administrative leave. Williams declined to name him but said he has worked as a police officer for 18 years.
Since 2011, at least 18 fatal police encounters have taken place in Vallejo, according to multiple reports — that’s one of the highest per-capita rates of officer-caused deaths in the state. Since then, no Vallejo officer has been disciplined for the use of deadly force.
