Editor,
I attended the protest in San Mateo, and although mostly peaceful, I am disturbed by something I witnessed. At the end of the march, once we ended up at the police station, I was on the side of the building facing Saratoga Drive. Protesters turned to the direction of the police and began shouting, chanting and asking officers to kneel. At the side of the building I was facing, officers arrived with big guns, which I assume were tear gas launchers or something similar.
I have since learned that San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office sent in personnel with full-on riot gear because the protest was supposed to end at 7 p.m. (a full hour and a half before the official 8:30 p.m. curfew). Despite this escalation tactic by the Sheriff’s Office, the protestors (many of them youth protestors) remained peaceful. It is shameful that San Mateo Sheriff’s Office sent in officers with riot gear simply to enforce an “end time.”
It felt like escalation and a visual threat to a youth-led group of peaceful protestors. In addition to killings of black and brown people by the police, Americans are witnessing law enforcement use excessive force against peaceful protestors across the country, including tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray and worse. How do tactics like these mend the broken trust between community and law enforcement?
Ashley Hernandez
Burlingame
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(13) comments
Christopher Conway Jun 10, 2020 6:24am
Trust me, they didn't
No, I don't trust you.
And as usual, Chris Conway finds a way to promote Trump. "Law and Order." Yep--send in the military against US citizens while you hide in your bunker. Oh, I mean while you're "inspecting it." LOL Conway--do you know anyone in the military? Besides the excellent former leaders who have spoken up recently, I don't know one veteran or current serving member who believes using the military in the way Bunker Boy wanted to is right.
I was at the protest watching to make sure none of these protestors disengaged and started causing property damage. Go ahead and protest, but looters and those who came to do damage where being closely watched by business owners and concerned citizens. If they had started, it would have been on.
So glad you were there "watching to make sure none of these protestors started causing damage." And what were you prepared to do if they were: go hide in your bunker?
Thank you for speaking out, Ashley. I couldn't agree with you more.
Ms. Hernandez,
I encourage you to click over to the June 6th article in the Daily Journal titled, “Concern over Police Response to San Mateo … “ Scroll down to the “Comments” and carefully digest the three statements posted by “Officer Michael Haobsh.” You will see a very transparent insight into the behind the scenes activity of the police dept, as they prepared for the protest. Plus, activity during the protest, which the police dept needed to react to to keep the event peaceful and to protect life and property. I'm confident you'll find these three statement quite the eye-opener.
(https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/concern-over-police-response-to-san-mateo-s-peaceful-protest/article_97886a1e-a7a5-11ea-bc03-e7d461725524.html
By the way, I hope the San Mateo Police did not kneel.
What if they wanted to kneel?
Trust me, they didn't
Turning and shouting to the police officers to kneel. Is the letter writer being serious? The people of San Mateo pay the police to do just what they did the evening of the protest. Like at the White House, some protestors are upset they are not left alone to destroy what they want. The letter writer needs to understand that we want the police to do what they did, and how about reimbursing all the money local merchants used to board up their windows. #BlueLivesMatter.
"...we want the police to do what they did..."
Not sure who you mean by "we." Perhaps the word you are looking for is "I."
"how about reimbursing all the money local merchants used to board up their windows"
Why reimburse people for actions taken of their own accord? My neighbor down the street bought some security cameras for her house a month ago. Do you think the community should pay for those too? Would you be willing to chip in?
No, I mean we, I said it quite clearly. These protests are doing more to hurt BLM than to help. You watch as Donald Trump has an easy victory again as the law and order president. Last thing I need is for you to speak for me.
Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.
Benjamin Franklin
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