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Walnut Creek police chief responds following weekend protests, vandalism
Cristina Rendon reports.
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The interim police chief has responded to the public about how the department handled its response to a protest on Saturday that resulted in vandalism to businesses and an assault.
Interim Police Chief Jay Hill explained in a social media post on Facebook that he felt the community deserved a response to the department’s approach to the incident. He spoke to KTVU via Zoom on Wednesday.
“This past weekend things escalated and we didn’t anticipate them turning to criminal behavior,” Hill said.
Roughly 80 protestors with the group called “East Bay Resistance” blocked cars in the street, set a flag on fire, and at least one person was assaulted with pepper spray at Bourbon Highway Restaurant. The restaurant is right across the street from the police station. There were tense moments between patrons and demonstrators, some of whom were wearing helmets and ballistic-style vests.
A Facebook page for the group East Bay Resistance said its mission is to “develop leaders and organizations who build power through their communities to drive systemic change.”
A patron at the restaurant, Margaret Trutola, told KTVU that the police response was lacking Saturday night. She did not see any officers in the area, despite the police station being across the street.
“In this case we had non-uniformed officers watching from a distance,” Hill said. “Had we seen an assault or public safety issues we certainly would have jumped in right away. We were not aware of any assaulted behavior until after the fact.”
Hill said there was not an order for officers to stand down. Supervisors made the decision not to intervene based on the circumstances and the crimes being committed, graffiti and vandalism. Hill agrees with the call not to step in, but said the department is making changes moving forward.
“If this group comes back or if any groups come back with the intent to vandalize we have every intention of taking action and holding them accountable,” Hill said.
While police did have additional staffing on hand, Hill said he is committed to preventing the incident from happening again. The department is beefing up patrols this weekend even though there are no planned protests.
“Walnut Creek has always been known as a safe community,” Hill said. “We take a lot of pride in being a safe community and we intend to keep it that way. I want to make sure our residents and visitors feel safe coming downtown.”
The investigation continues into the alleged assault by a demonstrator, but no arrests have been made so far.