Crews clean up after destructive Vacaville protest
(Photo by Solano NewsNet)
Crews are cleaning up broken glass and graffiti on several city-owned buildings in Vacaville after a weekly anti-police protest turned unexpectedly violent on Sunday.
The protest organized by the grassroots group “Voices of VV” usually draws a peaceful crowd, but this weekend’s demonstration brought participants who were dedicated to destruction.
The protest began to get rowdy around 5 p.m. as demonstrators clashed with local police at Andrews Park near the city’s downtown district. At one point, a trash can fire was lit, and police witnessed several demonstrators graffiti businesses and infrastructure in the area.
The crowd moved toward City Hall where several buildings were vandalized with anti-police and anarchist graffiti, causing hundreds of dollars in damage.
Police quickly called in reinforcements from neighboring agencies. Deputies with the Solano County Sheriff’s Office and police from Fairfield, Dixon and the California Highway Patrol were brought in to quell the unruly crowd.
At the city’s police station, several walls were tagged with anti-police messages, including “Kill All Kops” and “KKKops.”
Crews were already working on repairs to windows and walls at City Hall and the police department’s headquarters when a photographer with Solano NewsNet went to the scene around 10 p.m. The front of the police department was roped off with crime scene tape.
Joe Desmarais, a candidate for Vacaville City Council, was one of the first to denounce the violence in town on Sunday.
“Any group that pushes an agenda that results in violence, vandalism and hate, must be condemned by all of us so strongly they find no refuge in our community,” Desmarais wrote on Facebook. “Those who participated in these acts must be prosecuted.”
It was not clear if anyone was arrested Sunday evening. The Vacaville Police Department says the incident remains under investigation.
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