Sacramento protesters ask to block future police action during protests

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Racial justice protesters on Monday pushed in federal court for permanent changes to how Sacramento polices protests, pointing to what they called a culture that favors right-wing beliefs and opposes “antifa.”

The non-jury bench trial beginning on Monday over the proposed injunction police should face comes after the protesters’ request for monetary relief — $350,000 — was reached in a settlement. However, the parties did not settle on the matter of court oversight of future police action during protests.

In their opening statement before U.S. Senior District Judge John Mendez, the protesters argued that police treated their protests, which stemmed from the killing of George Floyd, differently from Stop the Steal rallies in the wake of Joe Biden’s presidential win.

Megan White and several others who participated in the 2020 George Floyd protests sued the Sacramento Police Department over its “war zone” tactics handling the protests. They say officers used overwhelming force, including tear gas and batons, and failed to properly announce that people should disperse before using these tactics.

The plaintiff’s attorney EmilyRose Johns said this treatment wasn’t isolated, as Sacramento police also acted improperly during the 2015 Mike Brown and 2018 Stephon Clark protests — which responded to incidents where a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer fatally shot Brown during an altercation and Sacramento police shot Clark after searching for a suspect who was breaking car windows.

“The police used these weapons to quell the racial justice protests,” Johns said.

“The Stop the Steal protesters were met with officers who were lenient and accommodating," she added.

Protesters received injuries from police, Johns said. In one case, a munition hit a woman’s hand and broke her finger. In another, someone was struck in the chest.

A key component of Johns’ argument is that Sacramento police had a longstanding, cultural practice or custom in its training that led to the overwhelming use of force. For example, police were taught that Proud Boys — a far-right, militant group — carried knives for self-protection, whereas they were taught antifa had them to use as weapons.

“There is every indication these practices will continue without court intervention,” Johns said.

Mendez stopped Johns a handful of times with questions about crowd sizes of the racial justice protests, comparisons of those with Stop the Steal protests, and whether protesters had a permit.

Johns said no requirement exists for people to get a permit for demonstrating in the street. Mendez noted police knew where the Stephon Clark protests would occur and alerted the public.

The judge questioned if the number of protest participants and their destination matters, as the injunction racial justice protesters seek would apply to all future protests.

Attorney Sean Richmond, representing Sacramento police, argued that the protesters wanted the judge, through the proposed injunction, to rewrite police policy — an act he can’t legally perform.

Part of that proposed injunction prohibits police from using weapons like tear gas indiscriminately, instead requiring they only target people who pose an immediate threat of death or serious injury.

Richmond said the protesters must prove a link — that police policy and training directly led to protester injuries.

“The plaintiffs fall short here,” he said.

Some officers did act improperly, which was addressed in the monetary settlement, Richmond said. However, he claimed those were isolated incidents involving individual officers, not the result of department-wide policy and training.

As evidence, Richmond noted that no similar incident has occurred since the 2020 protests. Additionally, police updated its use of force manual after asking the state Department of Justice to review the department.

Richmond called the proposed injunction an extraordinary remedy, one that became more unique because it asks the judge to rewrite department policy.

“This is extremely onerous on the side of SPD,” Richmond said.

The trial resumes Wednesday. It’s expected to last 10 days.