LIVE UPDATES: Silicon Valley Gears Up for Another March Against George Floyd’s Killing

Scroll from the bottom up to read in chronological order. And click here to catch up on the rest of our police protest coverage. 

10pm: Court closed.

The Santa Clara County Superior Court will be closed Monday in response to the citywide curfew. An email from Presiding Judge Deborah A. Ryan announced that all South Bay courthouses will remain closed for the day.

“With consideration for the safety of the public, our judicial officers and employees, I have made the difficult decision to close our courthouses tomorrow,” she said. “We will closely monitor circumstances in Santa Clara County and the City of San Jose and continue to act in the best interests of our community and public safety going forward.”

The court will provide updates tomorrow as new information becomes available.

9:14pm: Another curfew.

Santa Clara City Manager Deanna Santana has instituted an 8:30pm curfew in the Mission City due to “civil unrest” in San Jose.

According to a news release sent out minutes before the curfew went into effect, city officials were concerned about nearby “looting and rioting.”

“Santa Clara and San Jose have shared city borders where both Westfield Valley Fair and Santana Row shopping districts are located and have been identified as locations of potential interest for protests and raids,” the release read. “At this time of issuing this release, there is already credible activity in the area.”

The curfew will mirror San Jose’s and run from 8:30pm until 5am until further notice.

—Grace Hase

8:18pm: And we’re back.

SJI has been down the last few hours, but we’re finally up and running again.

While we were away, Mayor Sam Liccardo, City Manager Dave Sykes and police Chief Eddie Garcia held a news conference about the new curfew, which will go into effect at 8:30pm and run until 5am every day until next week or until city officials take further action—whichever comes first.

“As these protests run into the third day we have seen too many episodes of the few taking advantage of this moment to exploit these protests despite the very peaceful intentions of the many,” Liccardo said.

Sykes clarified that essential workers, medical personnel and members of the news media are exempt from the order. Garcia explained that the curfew is a “useful tool to mitigate further violence and property damage.”

“This police department wants peace,” he said. “We want to continue to have dialogue with our community. I don’t want any community member harmed. And I also want my officers to return to their homes safely every night. We’ve heard the calls for change. We’ve heard the calls for accountability.”

Liccardo also finally broke his silence on San Jose police Officer Jared Yuen, who was caught on video antagonizing and swearing at protestors on Friday. The mayor called Yuen’s behavior “particularly disturbing” and said “his conduct [is] in sharp contrast with what was otherwise overwhelmingly admirable professionalism in our department.”

Garcia said he spoke with Independent Police Auditor Shivaun Nurre and will make sure the incident is investigated properly.

“I know Jared and he’s a good kid who made a mistake, who let his emotions get the better of him,” Garcia said. “He’s put his life on the line for this police department many an occasion and so we’ll take all of that into consideration. He will have to live with the consequences of what he did but I can guarantee you Jared’s embarrassed.”

—Grace Hase

4pm: A show of solidarity.

Olympian Alvin Harrison spoke with SJI about how much it meant to see the mayor bend a knee in solidarity with protestors. (By the way, excuse the typo on my video up there. It was edited in a hurry. His surname is Harrison, not Harris.)

—Jennifer Wadsworth

3:58pm: Take a knee.

The moment marked the first time the mayor directly engaged with protesters since the George Floyd demonstrations began a few days ago in downtown San Jose. (Photo by Jennifer Wadsworth)

Mayor Sam Liccardo finally descended from his 18th floor office for some face time with protesters, who chanted “take a knee” for several minutes before he finally obliged.

Two-time Olympic medalist sprinter Alvin Harrison announced the moment through a megaphone. “The mayor has agreed to take a knee with me right now in support of George Floyd,” Harrison said, “and with all of us. ... Just for five minutes, take a knee with us so that we know you stand with us in solidarity.”

With a row of cops behind him and hundreds of protesters before him outside City Hall, the mayor—clad in khaki pants, a white button-down shift and a San Jose-branded face mask—bent his right knee to the asphalt and bowed his head.

The gesture elicited cheers and applause. After Liccardo stood up to make his way back to City Hall, protestors began directing their “take a knee” chants back at the cops.

—Jennifer Wadsworth

3:46pm: Curfew announced.

San Jose officials have implemented a citywide curfew for the next week. The curfew will go into effect at 8:30pm and run until 5 am. Mayor Sam Liccardo, City Manager Dave Sykes and Chief Eddie Garcia are expected to provide more details this evening.

—Grace Hase

2:45pm: A weekend recap.

Cops repeatedly clashed with protesters since Friday, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bangs. (Photo by Kyle Martin)

Before we head into another protest, here’s a look at some stats from the past two days.

SJPD told us it assigned 327 officers to the Friday protest, which drew somewhere north of 1,000 at its peak. It tapped 91 people from 13 outside agencies to help with the effort and made 38 arrests by the time the march was all said and done.

One officer was injured. Though the department offered no details about what happened, the incident unfolded in full view of the camera, showing that the officer snatched a cellphone from a protester and chucked it into the crowd. The protester responded with a quick blow to the face, and the officer slumped to the ground—out cold.

Meanwhile, eight patrol cars were vandalized. The only major incident mentioned by SJPD in response to our query was the SUV that drove into a crowd of protesters, injuring two. The driver was arrested a day later.

On Saturday, SJPD assigned 196 officers to the protest at City Hall and tapped 39 people from just one outside agency (the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office) for help.

Despite a much smaller crowd size compared to the day prior, police made 50 arrests.

When this news outlet asked for names of people arrested and why police detained them (information that other cites promptly provided to news media), Officer Gina Tepoorten said she has to process the query as a formal records request. That means we probably won’t hear more for at least another 10 days.

If you or anyone you know was arrested or detained—or has anything you want to share about an interaction with SJPD—feel free to email me at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter and Signal.

Meanwhile, click here to learn how to file a complaint with the San Jose Independent Police Auditor (IPA), a civilian watchdog that can only investigate specific officers or incidents if a member of the public asks them to do so. If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, try this option, which routes the data back to the same office.

In a phone call earlier today, IPA Shivaun Nurre said her office will catch up on scores of missed calls and emails this week. As someone tasked with investigating those incidents, she refrained from commenting about any directly.

But she said it would be a good idea for me and other members of the public to study up on SJPD Duty Manual Section L 2300, which governs how officers must respond to demonstrations and civil disturbances. To download a copy of the manual, click here.

Since I’m already late to the march, I’ll sign off for now. But check back for photos and updates I send to my colleague Grace Hase. Stay safe, folks.

—Jennifer Wadsworth

2:30pm: Another day, another march.

Members of the River Church Community will convene a third march in San Jose against the killing of George Floyd. It starts at 3pm today at City Hall. Details are posted here.

For those who want to observe from afar, organizers plan to broadcast at least some of the event on Facebook Live. The planned route: counterclockwise around City Hall from Fourth to San Fernando and then Sixth and Santa Clara streets.

Organizers plan to repeat the route eight times, like the Biblical march around Jericho, and one for each minute Floyd was choked to death by Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin.

13 Comments

  1. https://bit.ly/2XmnxQN

    > LIVE UPDATES: Silicon Valley Gears Up for Another March Against George Floyd’s Killing

    Mr. Newsroom:

    It’s not a “March Against George Floyd’s Killing”.

    It’s a riot.

    And this isn’t “reporting”:

    “Organizers plan to repeat the route eight times, like the Biblical march around Jericho, and one for each minute Floyd was choked to death by Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin.”

    The interns from Trotsky Club at the community college have taken over your newsroom.

  2. > When this news outlet asked for names of people arrested and why police detained them (information that other cites promptly provided to news media), Officer Gina Tepoorten said she has to process the query as a formal records request. That means we probably won’t hear more for at least another 10 days.

    Just as an aside, the fees that SJPD charges for reports are ridiculous.

    I am told that the cost of getting a report for a car accident or incident investigation is something like $45 PLUS $5 per page, And if too much administration is involved, a fully allocated office rate is applied for time required.

    Other police departments seem to charge far less.

    And in small times, like Buffalo Gap, the complete police blotter is just printed in the daily of weekly newspaper for free.

    The taxpayers have already paid people to make the reports. The information SHOULD belong to the public and be routinely available for at most a modest charge.

    It sounds like SJPD is trying to limit the information available to the public AND make a big profit off of it.

    Investigation needed.

  3. > SJPD told us it assigned 327 officers to the Friday protest, which drew somewhere north of 1,000 at its peak.

    A 1,000 people isn’t a very big protest considering the enormous media hype.

    A thousand rioters in a county of two million people? It’s nothing.

    That’s not even a homecoming parade for a small high school with a losing football team.

    It will be interesting to see the names, residencies, and charges for the 38 arrested.

    I’ll bet a dollar, that every single one of the perps was released without bail, the charges for all will eventually be dropped, and the names will never be released.

    Go back to your homes. Nothing more to see.

    • The story says 38 + 50 the next day. I doubt the cases will all be dismissed. Many will simply pay their fines. Many will go to court, maybe next year if the courts eventually reopen. Some will be hounded by credit collection companies for the next twenty years.

      Local government orders have made even having a copy shop or giving a haircut illegal. Don’t try it and expect to get away with it — at least if they know where you live.

  4. Liccardo is obviously working on his PR picture. We know the SJPD has been the most corrupted during your time.

  5. Remember what happened in Jericho? “When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it–men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys… they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house.” (Joshua 6)

    Even the donkeys? That won’t sit well with PETA.

  6. > Liccardo took a knee while chatting with demonstrators, who urged police officers to join the mayor.

    Refresh my memory?

    Who does Liccardo work for?

    Is it the citizens of San Jose?

    Or is it the mob who took over the streets, compelled him to impose a curfew, and to deny law abiding citizens of their liberty, property, and peace?

    And where is our useless, cowering City Council?

    Are they just going to sit on their thumbs and grin the silly grin of stationary lawn ornaments?

    Neither the Mayor of San Jose nor it’s citizens nor the SJPD had anything to do with the death of George Floyd. So, Liccardo CANNOT offer any apology or accept any guilt for Floyd’s death in the name of the City.

    So, after Liccardo kneels on one knee, is he then going to kneel on two knees?

    And then plant is face on the ground and ask to be spanked?

    The dimmest wit on the school yard knows that giving your lunch money to the bully only results in the bully demanding lunch money every day.

    It’s pure cravenness for Liccardo to grovel to these insolent, disruptive racketeers. They will only escalate their demands for ritual abnegation,

    Weak. Pathetic, Compromised.

    • I’m not a fan of Sliccardo, but have to give the guy credit for showing up in person to try to quell the crowd. We need more of that across the country.

      As for taking a knee, that was Kaepernick’s ill-chosen method of protest by disrespecting the national anthem. It’s been played out.

  7. “Successful Behavior is Repeated”

    Is “progressive Minnesota” a success? Or, are there lessons for San Jose on what NOT to do?

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/minneapolis-progressive-image-burns-streets-190550018.html

    “Minneapolis’s Progressive Image Burns in Its Streets”

    “He served for most of the 1970s, until he was succeeded by a liberal mayor. Since then, the city’s politics have trended increasingly progressive. Its last Republican city council member retired in 1997.

    Nonetheless, African-Americans in Minnesota continue to fall behind white residents on every meaningful metric, including rates of poverty, unemployment, homeownership and educational performance.”

    – – – – –

    “Friday afternoon’s arrest of Derek Chauvin, the now-fired police officer filmed pinning Floyd by the neck with his knee for nearly nine minutes, only seemed to accelerate the tensions. For a city that’s long-reveled in flattering profiles of its progressivism, this must trigger a reckoning with its self-image, leadership and willingness to treat its residents equally.’

    – – – – –

    ” In 1964, Art Naftalin, the progressive new mayor of Minneapolis, entered office with promises to address the city’s racial disparities. . . .

    In 1966, Plymouth Avenue burned for the first time. Amid the destruction, Mayor Naftalin asked African-American residents to meet him at a nearby square, listened as activists detailed the discrimination they faced, and promised jobs.

    Naftalin no doubt meant well, but his efforts didn’t make much of a difference. One year later, in 1967, even more of Plymouth Avenue burned.”

  8. Our comments are all accessed by scrolling from the top down. Why can’t your updates be accessed the same way?

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