Community activist calls for resignation of Vacaville police chief
(Still frame via Twitter, Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
The organizer of an anti-police movement called for the resignation of Vacaville’s police chief during a city council meeting on Tuesday.
It was the first public statement by Dalauna Knox, the organizer of the grassroots group Voices of VV, since she and three other activists were arrested near a traffic stop in the city’s downtown district on Sunday.
The arrest came shortly after the conclusion of a homeless outreach initiative at Andrews Park, which supplemented a weekly anti-police rally held by Voices of VV that was canceled due to inclimate weather.
Undercover Vacaville police officers were near the park conducting a surveillance operation. When event participants began to leave, officers pulled over several vehicles for minor traffic infractions.
One stop in particular drew the ire of Knox and other community activists who began recording officers at the scene. Some broke into anti-police chants, while others taunted officers from the sidewalk, according to eyewitness video and police dispatches reviewed by Solano NewsNet.
Police declared an unlawful assembly around 4:30 p.m. Twenty minutes later, a tactical team moved in to detain several people who refused to adhere to dispersal requests. Four people were transported to the Solano County jail, where they sat in isolation for hours before being cited and released.
Over the next 48 hours, supporters and opponents urged members of the public to address the Vacaville city council during its regularly-scheduled meeting on Tuesday. Knox was one of several people to call in with comments on what took place on Sunday.
"Vacaville PD did an entire surveillance operation on our unhoused outreach event," Knox said. “I don’t know what kind of terrorist organization you think we are, because I know you’re as ignorant as everyone else [at] this city council meeting. We were serving the community. You targeted us, you followed us…you pulled up and declared an unlawful assembly for six people on the sidewalk recording a traffic stop.”
The incident took place one week after a Voices of VV-led anti-police rally drew a splinter group of demonstrators who went on a vandalism spree at the Vacaville Police Department’s headquarters and nearby City Hall. The damage cost the city between $20,000 and $30,000 to clean up, according to the police chief.
No one was arrested in connection with the vandalism, though officials say an investigation is ongoing. Since then, Vacaville police have routinely conducted surveillance operations along Merchant Street, logging the personal appearances of people walking on sidewalks and taking note of license plates on suspicious vehicles that drive near the municipal complex.
The police department also prioritized the formation of a tactical team when protests are anticipated. The mobile field force has been deployed at least twice since the vandalism spree: Once on Wednesday during a separate civil rights protest and again on Sunday after the homeless outreach event.
“The riot cops followed us…they pushed us again for recording,” Knox said on Tuesday. “Then a group of police swarmed me. And you can hear an officer say, yes, her, grab her.”
The confrontation led to injuries among the activists who were detained, including bruises and cuts to fingers, Knox alleged, who added that the response was an overreach and should lead to the resignation of John Carli, the town’s police chief.
“All I have to say, John Carli, is we want you out — and I’m not afraid of you,” Knox said.
Knox was one of dozens of people to call in to the public comments portion of the city council meeting, which drew an even amount of activists who demanded accountability from city officials for the police department’s actions and others who said the officers were justified and were simply trying to keep the city safe and secure.
While the rhetoric was wildly different on both sides, there was one common thread: Most felt city officials were derelict in their responsibilities.
“You all have a responsibility to announce where you stand,” one commenter, who identified himself as a military veteran, loudly proclaimed before he was cut off.
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