Group promises food distribution, not protest, in Vacaville
(File photo by Solano NewsNet)
A grassroots group that organizes a weekly anti-police protest in Vacaville says it will shift tactics this week and distribute food to the homeless instead.
The shift comes one week to the day after a splinter group took advantage of last week’s anti-police protest to vandalize the headquarters of the Vacaville Police Department and nearby City Hall.
The crime spree cost the city between $20,000 and $30,000, according to a police department spokesperson. No one has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Voices of VV group refused to denounce the destruction. Instead, the spokesperson denied any link between their group and the vandals last week.
"We refuse to place a false dichotomy between peaceful and non-peaceful reactions to violent oppression,” the message said.
It went on to include a number of unsubstantiated claims against the Vacaville Police Department before encouraging people not to use social media as a conduit for fact-based news. (Interestingly, the message was posted to the group’s Twitter account.)
Due to weather, the group postponed their weekly protest at Andrew’s Park and the Vacaville Police Department building, shifting instead toward a charitable event in which they pledged to distribute food and warm jackets to the area’s homeless community.
The police department is taking no chances: On Sunday, officers began pulling over suspicious vehicles in the area of City Hall, according to dispatches reviewed by Solano NewsNet.
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