San Jose Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio says he and colleagues have not been given a full update on what police have done in the wake of violent protests following Donald Trump’s rally last week at the Convention Center.
In a memo penned for Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Oliverio said Police Chief Eddie Garcia and City Manager Norberto Dueñas have still not provided “any written update” on what occurred four days after media outlets and attendees with smart phones captured people shouting racist epithets and brawling in the streets.
“It has been four days since violence related to a political rally took place on our downtown,” Oliverio wrote. “The city council has not been provided any written update from the city manager or police chief. Presently none of us have all the information required to completely assess exactly what transpired, what else may or may not have been done, or what should be done in the future should similar circumstances arise.”
Oliverio suggested that there is an urgency for more information considering the city’s lone major sports franchise, the San Jose Sharks, are currently playing in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“I feel this issue needs to be discussed and reviewed in short order, especially (fingers crossed) since the Sharks could win the Stanley Cup, and the city needs to ensure that it can prevent innocent people from wanton violence,” Oliverio wrote.
Protesters started throwing punches shortly after Donald Trump’s rally concluded. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
Both Mayor Sam Liccardo and Chief Garcia have come under scrutiny for how the city handled the protest, as well as comments the two made the next day. Liccardo blamed Trump’s racist and antagonistic rhetoric over the last year for stoking racial tensions that have led to violent clashes between supporters and opponents across the country, and Garcia admitted that officers witnessed crimes being committed Thursday but chose to hold the line rather than single out perpetrators and risk creating a more chaotic scene.
San Jose police spokesman Albert Morales released a media advisory Monday evening saying arrests are “imminent” as investigators continue to field phone calls and review witness statements, as well video evidence.
“Police investigators have made significant progress and additional arrests are imminent,” Morales wrote. “We have identified some of the suspects involved in the violence associated with the Trump rally. However, we still need the public’s assistance, and we are urging those individuals who were assaulted or injured during the rally to contact San Jose PD investigators immediately. We need any person who was a victim of a crime, or can provide valuable witness information, to come forward so we can complete our investigations and bring charges as appropriate.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact the San Jose Police Department at 408.277.4161 or 311. Anonymous callers should reach out to the Crime Stoppers Tip Line, 408.947.7867 or this website. Cash rewards might be available. In addition, online crime reports can be filed here.
We could trust an independent investigation to answer: Why were citizens pummeled while the police stood by? Why exactly were the police even there, anyway? Who were arrested, and what are their gang affiliations? Were any Trump *supporters* among those arrested? If so, were they actually acting in self-defense? Is the PD making appropriate charges, given the pre-meditated nature of the assaults (bringing eggs and weapons to the event)? Have the police combed the Facebook pages of all the organizers of the protests to see to what extent the violence was planned?
Wake up! All the rally attendees were searched for weapons. All they came with were words and the First Amendment. It is time to call out the rioters, the thugs, for what they are. Those who failed to do so will look a lot like thugs themselves.
My gosh there is video, comments, and even petitions circulating all over social media and especially from Police from across the states about what happened. I even Google FB pages that I sought out to see the videos. Teens were being chased, eggs tossed at people, people sucker punched, clothes torn off people walking, hats ripped off heads, etc. You never stand down in uniform while on duty when citizens are being attacked for participating in their constitutional right to assemble. Wait on those letters but do your own research in the meantime.
Agree 100%. Watch the videos, don’t read the reports. Videos don’t lie.
We should all be proud none of our council members are playing politics with this and tackling the issue constructively.
Here’s your memo:
“Although chronically and dangerously understaffed and therefore, even if prepared, lacking sufficient resources for even a remotely adequate crowd control response, I (Mayor, chief or any other political follow-on) am proud of the members of the San Jose Police Department for their actions during the recent protest situation as it resulted in no negative controversy involving any politically sensitive bias or issue involving officers during the rioting. The rioters are also to be commended for their restraint”.
My friends, the object of the exercise, as far as the mayor and the police chief are concerned, is to avoid enforcement until the rioting gets so bad that even the media won’t criticize the police (too harshly) if they move in to shut it down, particularly if the police have to use any force, no matter how justified that force may be.
SJPD lacks the resources to adequately police this city even under the best of normal conditions. Should a riotous mob swell or the protesters become more violent than has fortunately been the case so far, the SJPD lacks resources for any credible type of crowd control but this won’t become important until the protesters march on Willow Glen, Almaden Valley, or smash the windshield out of the mayor’s car.
The officers have the courage and the commitment. They lack the numbers, the equipment and the true support of City Hall.
BOYCOTT racist San Jose California
. Vague statement, Lonnie Allen? Who do you claim are the racists? ALL The videos clearly show that it was the racist brown skins attacking the fleeing white skins, who were unprotected by SJPD. .
Luigi, you are such a disingenuous person. The SJPD has 600 officers less than it did 6 years ago, due in large part to your devotion to Mayor Reed’s efforts to dismantle the department. That you now throw up your arms in faux indignation is so laughable. Look in the mirror if you want an answer.
Well, it’s been a few days now and really does anyone care at this point. Do you think that just maybe Trump protesters were planted to be among the residents just to provoke? Trump does bring this on himself especially in a community with high numbers of “Mexicans” Latinos. Unless there are lawsuits, heck, let it be. San Jose’s finest made the right decisions, therefore no ‘riot’ occurred. Actually, considering, it was pretty peaceful.:)
Thank you, now someone finally talking sense.
Absolute failure of leadership by Liccardo – and I’m a Liccardo supporter. His entire adult life has been motivated by wanting to be mayor of San Jose. With hard work, a smart vision for the city, and the support of hundreds of volunteers who believed in him, Sam was elected mayor last year.
San Jose is the 10th largest city in the United States, but suprisingly not much power resides in the mayor’s office. So Sam, like his predecessors, got to the business of managing the mundane day to day of city hall, traveling around town attending cutting ribbons, and issuing memos that on the hot topic of the week
Yet, because the city of San Jose sits at the literal crossroads of California (former State Capital), and is by default the “capital” of Silicon Valley because of its shear size (1.1 mil), San Jose enjoys a national prominence inspire of itself.
Liccardo, has worked hard to build a national reputation for San Jose, even participating at international conference of mayors at the Vatican!
What happened last week and the response by Liccardo was a complete dissapointment. Sam, if you want San Jose to be a national or even international city, and you want to be seen as a smart, capable, connected leader then you need to lead.
Donal Trump is not good for America. Donald Trump is not good for America – one more time – Donald Trump is not good for America – that said, as a Harvard educated lawyer, Sam you already know that every American citizen has a right to support any candidate for office, and at no point, in any American city, should they be attacked for their beliefs the way the Trump supporters were last week. Hiding behind Hillary Clinton campaign talking points was a failure of leadership.
Residents of San Jose and visitors came to San Jose to support their candidate and they were physically and verbally assaulted, and chased down the street. Despite any “logistical” failures by the Trump campaign to communicate with SJPD when the event let out, the fact still remains people were being chased down YOUR streets. You own that, Sam. Leadership is owing the bad with the good.
I don’t want to see another press conference with Sam, the police chief and the city manager, attempting to unravel the events and finding people to blame. Rather, I want a leader to stand up, apologize to the residents and visitors of this city, take full responsibility for the failures of the police department, and commit to never letting this type of incident from ever happening again. That’s leadership.
> and commit to never letting this type of incident from ever happening again. That’s leadership.
The current political leadership of San Jose simply CANNOT make such a commitment with any credibility.
The cow has left the barn. The train has left the station. That dog won’t hunt. Sam Liccardo is now a known quantity on the national stage, and his reputation is of a feckless, craven, politically correct, light weight who wants to BE somebody, but thinks that the only people in the world who matter are Democrat voters and SJWs.
San Jose is now a NON-STARTER in the calculus of leading business and institutions in America as a site for marquee gatherings and events.
San Jose will NEVER host a national political convention, Democrat or Republican.
San Jose will NEVER have a Trump Hotel or Resort.
San Jose will NEVER have any national event hosted by any company or agency the the political left disapproves of.
The left now has the power to threaten, disrupt, and shut down ANY event or business they disapprove of. And that encompasses a great part of the U.S.economy.
From now on, politically correct events only. And that’s not going to pay the bills for San Jose.
No truer words ever spoken! Hope you say the same at the City Council Chambers at 1:30 PM today during Public Comments. If so, I’ll see you there. http://sanjose.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=&event_id=2139&meta_id=577898
You just have to marvel at the artful bias, deceitfulness, and incompetence of the dominant media.
From today’s Mercury News, page B3
“Trump rally melee suspects identified
. ..
“Four people were arrested as of Friday. Police have not identified the suspects.”
From Wikipedia:
> In California, arraignments must be conducted without unnecessary delay and, in any event, within 48 hours of arrest, excluding weekends and holidays.[8] Thus, an individual arrested without a warrant, in some cases, may be held for as long as 168 hours (7 days) without arraignment or charge.[8]
Sooner or later, the authorities are going to have to tell us who they arrested.
Why allow this guy to grandstand….numerous units have been eliminated or embarrassingly cut down for the 10th largest city in the USA…Im sure more than 10 motors units could’ve helped crowd control, Im sure the horse mounted unit could’ve helped crowd control…Im sure the 400+ officers that have left or retired early (whom haven’t been replaced) could’ve helped with crowd control….the politicians created this mess in San Jose. They talk about fixing it, but talk is cheap
Oliverio is absolutely not grandstanding. It’s that little thing called the California Primaries that is probably causing a bit of stalling at City Hall. But meanwhile, as Oliverio correctly points out, that big hockey series could be the pretext for a major riot. It won’t be Trump supporters, but rather, it could be Pittsburgh Penguin fans versus the San Jose Sureños or the Norteños, the latter using crowd conflict as a pretext for starting a riot. Oliverio is absolutely right and *is* showing leadership.
Keep drinking the Kool-Aid…”it could be Pittsburgh Penguin fans versus the San Jose Sureños or the Norteños, the latter using crowd conflict as a pretext for starting a riot.’….since when is Oliverio concerned with Surenos vs Nortenos in Willow Glen? Per the current politicians and former COP, there is no gang issue in San Jose….I’m pretty sure there will be no parade unless Pittsburgh decides to play 2 on 5, to make if fair for your hapless sharks….If there is a parade, you and the rest of the Willow Glen elite will be on the hook $$$ for 100’s of officers from surrounding bay area cities to babysit you and the gangs of San Jo….Laugh today, Cry tomorrow!!!
I live in San Jose, but 10 miles from Willow Glen. Your complaint that I drink Oliverio’s Kool-Aid, and that I am an “elite,” doesn’t speak to me. The police should have issued a follow-up report more promptly. Oliverio shouldn’t have had to beg for that.
I am offended by the San Jose Police Department’s “hands off” policy regarding last weeks thuggish attacks on Donald Trump’s supporters after the candidate’s recent rally. Nothing in Trump’s rhetoric remotely justifies this violence. It’s an assault not simply on fans of the candidate, but on the right of free assembly, the right of free speech — that is, on democracy itself.
The police chief should be fired for this performance.
Councilman Oliverio (soon to be FORMER Councilman) is using this as his last little hurrah to say he stood up to make a difference. Before Pierluigi fades into obscurity and everyone forgets what he did to help transform the Alameda into an inhabitable space he wants to be able to have some momentum moving towards whatever office he’s plotting to run for next.
The bottom line is here.. SJPD doesn’t have anywhere near enough officers to adequately perform crowd control in an event like this. Even with mutual aid from some of the surrounding agencies, SJPD was 200-250 officers short for this event given the size of the venue, streets to control and the knowledge that there would be violent opposition along with antagonistic support.
Let’s also address the elephant in the room here.. If you went to the Trump rally, whether as a supporter, observer or protestor, and you didn’t expect at least some violence or at the very least some heated confrontations, you are naive and as an adult you need to take responsibility for making bad decisions. The people who attended this event, then blamed the police for the outcome were not being accountable for their own actions, and poor choices.
> The bottom line is here.. SJPD doesn’t have anywhere near enough officers to adequately perform crowd control in an event like this.
I agree and I disagree.
The shortage of officers for SJPD is a real problem, and Sam Liccardo has a great deal of ownership of the problem.
Nonetheless, there were reportedly 250 officers deployed at the venue to control 400 activist-provocateurs.
With the right tactical plan, the officers should have been able to provide necessary security.
The leadership provided by Sam Liccardo and Chief Garcia is the difference.
Failed leadership, failed plan.
I don’t disagree with you that there was a lack of planning here, however I believe the issue still boils down to a lack of officers –
Two things – Those are “estimated” numbers of protestors.. If the building was secure and there weren’t tons of points of ingress & egress, 250 officers could have dealt with the “roughly” 400 protestors.. But due to the fact that the convention center parking garage became a choke point requiring immediate response, San Carlos was basically a free for all between Market & Almaden, and those 250 officers were spread thin VERY quickly. That’s a lot of terrain to cover and you can’t roam around putting out fires in small groups due to the fact that you have to eventually take people into custody, and 10-20 officer squads can quickly become enveloped by 100+ protestor mobs.
Second thing – I know you’ve said you were in the military long ago, but the tactics deployed in crowd control operations are much different than military tactics. Without the ability to use anything more than close quarter combat techniques (Batons, control holds, etc) versus tear gas, sonic field emission systems, pepper balls etc, important decisions regarding the arrest and capture of misdemeanant offenders or the dispersal of large crowds must be weighed by those in charge.
Which brings me back to my other point.. If these people made better decisions and didn’t attend this function, they wouldn’t have exposed themselves to harm and we wouldn’t be wasting our time with this discussion. I get that people should be free to attend whatever event they want in peace, but if you’ve watched the news, read any recent articles or listened to the radio, you probably knew that something like this was going to happen.
So, Mr. Rogers, it sounds like you’re position is that any person who attended the rally and was attacked “had it coming.” Do you also believe that the woman who was raped by Brock Turner at a Stanford frat party had it coming? The second you start blaming the victims, you have validated the perpetrators. Predicting violence in order to convince folks not to attend an event is just another form of terrorism. So, under your rubric law abiding people are left to cower in their homes rather than peaceably assemble if they knew or should have known rowdy thugs might attack them? Don’t we all have a reasonable expectation that SJPD will protect us? Well, considering how SJPD responded last Friday, I guess the expectation that we can attend a rally safely would be unreasonable in SJ.
Since when did your heart start bleeding John?
I never said anyone had anything coming, but if they didn’t expect and prepare themselves for the prospect of a confrontation, the type of confrontations that have been highly publicized across the country almost everywhere Trump has “rallied”, then they are in no position to attend such an event without some level of culpability for their naivety or lack of preparation. We’re not talking about a freak incident or some predator who calculated taking advantage of innocent people, this was extremely predictable and even forewarned of.
How pathetic of you to relate this to the violent rape of an intoxicated woman. Was she forewarned that a predator was going to be at the party? Did anyone give her an indication, weeks in advance, repeatedly, that if she went to the party there would be a high likelihood she’d be sexually assaulted? No, John… Otherwise she probably would have made better decisions.
But the people attending the Trump rally, they did get those warnings, yet they still chose to attend. Its quite a stretch of you to say a good number of the people attending the Trump rally were “peaceably assembling.” Many of these “law abiding” people attending the rally were quite antagonistic towards the protestors, but cried wolf when things turned violent. Bad decisions compounded by worse decisions.
Do you recall the two brothers, the Dhaliwals who went to the SF Zoo and antagonized Tatiana the Tiger? Well Tatiana killed their buddy Carlos Souza, and wounded them because they pissed her off and she was able to get past her barriers. So by your logic Mr. O’Connor, Tatiana was a terrorist, the Dhaliwal’s should not be culpable for their part in the incident, and they should have been safe because they had a reasonable expectation that the barrier would protect them?
I’m sure there are plenty of people who were able to “peaceably assemble” at the rally, who went home once it was over, didn’t go outside to confront the protestors, and managed to make it home safely without any confrontations or issues.
> I get that people should be free to attend whatever event they want in peace, . . .
Great! We agree.
> but . . . .
Excuse me? But what?
Please explain. WHEN are people NOT free to attend whatever event they want in peace?
Still wondering why at least Seyfudin Mohamud hasn’t been arrested unless he already traveled to Minnesotastan and they’re having a hard time getting him to come back or maybe they don’t care.
Who gave the ‘Stand Down Order?’
Uh, there was no stand-down order. The police already addressed this, but in their next report, they will once again address this. Mayor Liccardo during the Tuesday 6/7 Council meeting advised so to the City Manager, and I paraphrase: <>
Once again, the police say they were way outnumbered and that it could have caused more problems had they broken their line. They only broke their line if they saw a life-threatening situation. They couldn’t break their line (along Market St) because they had to separate protesters from supporters — to break that line would result in a large-scale, worse riot. They did not have enough officers on hand partly due to the short notice (of just one day) the Trump campaign gave to them.
HTML botched my paraphrase. So, here it is, a paraphrase of what the Mayor said at Tuesday’s public meeting: He asked the City Manager and/or the Police, in their next report, to comment on rumors that there was any stand-down order, and if so, what was the nature of that order.
And how do you know all this? Are you a cop that was on the line? Dude, the story is changing. Out numbered, they had 250 to a total of 400 persons. Not all 400 were rioting. Secondly, you just watch people get assaulted?
Sal, I am not a cop. I was there that day and nearby, although (being sane) I didn’t stay around to be in the middle of a riot.
All my info is what was stated publicly by the Mayor or by the police chief or police union or police reports or City Manager report. All are public information.
Their public positions might not even be correct! But as a first step, people need to understand their positions. Now, you believe that 250 police are enough to handle 400 “protesters” trying to get at thousands of attendees who were streaming out. That is not what I saw in the videos. YMMV, decide for yourself if the official statements are credible. I also am very interested to know if and how the police were told to “stand down”, but the current info I have is that they were told to maintain a barrier line.
Who gave the ‘Stand Down Order’?
Steve:
You contradict yourself:
“They didn’t have it coming.”
“I never said anyone had anything coming, . . . ”
“They had it coming.”
“. . . they are in no position to attend such an event without some level of culpability for their naivety or lack of preparation. “
Latino Trump Supporter Brutally Attacked: ‘Coming Out as Gay Was Easier’
insider.foxnews.com/2016/06/08/latino-trump-supporter-attacked-outside-rally-speaks-out-kelly-file
“A Latino supporter of Donald Trump left a rally in San Jose last week with a mild concussion, broken nose and clothes covered in blood.
Juan Hernandez said he was just walking when, out of no where, anti-Trump protesters came up from behind and started throwing punches
“It was riots. Riots were happening everywhere, and the protesters were picking out supporters and sucker-punching them, taking them down.”
He said that a friend who was with him who’d had her glasses ripped off asked a police officer why they weren’t doing anything, and he told her they were told to stand down by the city’s mayor and police chief.“
> He said that a friend who was with him who’d had her glasses ripped off asked a police officer why they weren’t doing anything, and he told her they were told to stand down by the city’s mayor and police chief.
Let’s see. A news Web site said that Juan Hernandez said that a friend said that the police officer said that “they” were told by the Mayor and Police Chief to stand down. Sorry, that is way too many levels of hearsay to be credible. This episode of violence is grotesque, but we get further away from the truth the more this is politicized. Our best bet is to wait for the whole truth to come out, but to demand it come out as soon as possible.
Mark:
You forgot to say that since it was reported by Fox News, it can’t possibly be true.
> Sorry, that is way too many levels of hearsay to be credible.
Mark:
So, you want credibility?
How about from the horse’s mouth in the Washington PC establishment’s official opinion registry, The Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/10/im-voting-for-donald-trump-so-i-went-to-see-him-speak-protesters-broke-my-nose/
“I’m voting for Donald Trump, so I went to see him speak. Protesters broke my nose.”
Any more excuses, Mark?
Re “credibility” I was talking about the “stand down order”. Don’t spiral my comments into stupidities I haven’t mentioned.
I was at the Council meeting last week, publicly asking the Mayor and the City Manager questions. Where were you? Don’t give me attitude.
In the end this is what the citizens want! They do not want the ugliness of proactive policing. Yes going after violent thugs whether they be Trump protestors or the gang turds that swallow the entire east side of san jose is not a pretty business. Batons break skin, bones and make loud sounds. Punches flying and pepper spray in faces is not what people want, they want the cops to talk everyone into submission except when it effects their neighborhood. Every jackwagon has an iPhone camera including many of the WG bubble people. I guarantee you if the cops started spraying pepper and laying wood on these “poor kids” there would be hell to pay. They would be painted as racist. Get over it people you have gotten what you have asked for. Welcome to the Ferguson effect!
This video sums it up. BLM does not acknowledge this scholars findings. Of course it goes against the agenda of the LIBS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Fr-xKukco
MARK CAO:
> I also am very interested to know if and how the police were told to “stand down”, but the current info I have is that they were told to maintain a barrier line.
I think you have your answer.
“Go stand over there and don’t do anything no matter what” is the operational equivalent of “stand down”.
Bureaucrats learn how to be experts at saying things in ways that will “cover their asses”.
The “authorities” continue to dribble out the names of suspected perps:
4 adults
Antonio Moses Hernandez, 19, San Jose
Ahmed Abdirahman, 19, Santa Clara
Robert Trillo, 18
Michael Kitaigorodsky, 19, San Jose
4 juveniles
16 year-old San Jose resident
16 year-old San Jose resident
17 year-old San Jose resident
16 year-old Milpitas resident
6 adult suspects being sought
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-arrested-donald-trump-rally-san-jose-20160607-snap-story.html
> San Jose Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio says he and colleagues have not been given a full update on what police have done in the wake of violent protests following Donald Trump’s rally last week at the Convention Center.
Is the City Council STILL WAITING for the Mayor and the Chief of Police to tell them what is going on their city?
How is it that 10 days after a rioting injuring multiple San Jose residents the only thing we really know are the names and ages of four adults?
News reports describe an aggressive, threatening mob of over four hundred people.
How many videos and police reports has the SJPD received from the public?
What is the estimated property damage to cars, clothing, personal, items, windows, etc.?
Did this mob just spontaneously appear outside of a Trump rally?
Or, was the mob orchestrated by “community organizers”?
Who were the “community organizers” and where were the from?
How did the “community organizers” communicate with their “activists”? Smoke signals? SIgn language? Smartphones and social media?
Has anyone actually looked at the social media accounts of the perps? Who is on their “friends” lists?
What were the tactics employed by the “community organizers”? Did they intentionally incite “juveniles” to engage in criminal acts to gain anonymity and to escape the consequences of adult criminal justice. Isn’t this “child endangerment”?
Violence is not the answer! http://recallsamliccardo.wix.com/mysite
The official San Liccardo recall committee is raising funds for signature gathering to place the referendum on the ballot and leave it up to the voters who are not happy with violence:).
It’s a steep hill to climb, but GOOD LUCK!
http://www3.sanjoseca.gov/clerk/charter.asp#Art16
Could this be on the November ballot?
Still waiting for that report from Mayor Liccardo and Chief Garcia.
Maybe this will help law enforcement to identify the perps:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-16/gao-report-reveals-fbi-has-built-massive-facial-recognition-database
“GAO Report Reveals The FBI Has Built A Massive Facial Recognition Database”