Vacaville protester charged with robbery posts bail
One of three protesters charged with robbery following a criminal justice reform rally has posted bail; the other two remain in custody.
(A still frame from a recent rally organized by the grassroots group Voices of VV. Image via Twitter.)
A protester who was arrested following a criminal justice reform rally in front of two municipal buildings in Vacaville has been released from jail after posting bail, Solano News Update has learned.
The news was confirmed in an update posted on a GoFundMe page created by Voices of VV, a grassroots organization that has organized several protests in front of the Vacaville Police Department and Vacaville City Hall in recent months.
On Saturday, police officers monitoring the rally reported several scuffles between criminal justice reform advocates and pro-police counter-protesters in front of the police department’s main headquarters on Merchant Street. At one point, a participant described by police in dispatches as “the organizer” allegedly grabbed a pro-law enforcement flag from an opposition protester, then celebrated the theft with other protesters nearby.
In the dispatches, police used the number “211,” which relates to the California penal code for robbery. On Sunday, Solano News Update exclusively reported that organizer Dalauna Knox and two protesters, Jaquan Edwards-Harrison and Isaiah Robinson, were arrested and booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of robbery.
Knox was further charged with destruction of evidence and accessory to a crime. A police source said those charges relate to an incident at Andrews Park later that day. The source, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the news media, said Knox allegedly participated in the removal of an American flag from a city-owned flag pole. The flag was later burned at the scene, according to the source.
The three protesters had different bail amounts set over the weekend, with Knox’s bail topping out at over $100,000.
On Monday, Voices of VV released a statement on their GoFundMe page saying one of the demonstrators had been released from jail. The group said the released demonstrator was still charged with a crime and had a court date set in November.
The demonstrator was not named, and a search of Solano County court records on Monday did not return any new cases filed against the three. Booking records published by the Solano County Sheriff’s Department listed Knox and Edwards-Harrison with a projected release date of September 28. Records for Robinson were no longer available.
It was not clear if any of the three had retained counsel, though Voices of VV said on its GoFundMe page that the protesters had been in touch with the National Lawyers Guild.
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