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“It can’t happen here,” two Palo Alto City Council members said when discussing the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and other police conduct during Monday’s meeting.
But it almost did happen here. Twice.
In 2005, then-Police Chief Lynne Johnson said that a group of anarchists would be coming to Palo Alto — anywhere from 50 to 800 — and the city had to be prepared for their arrival. She urged residents to stay home that Saturday, June 25, evening. And she asked for help from police in neighboring cities.
Help arrived. By 7 p.m., a helicopter swirled above University Avenue, with police on megaphones leaning out to direct the crowd.
“The anarchists are on their way,” we heard.
I was covering the story that night and was amazed and afraid of what I saw. Hundreds of police (800?) stood shoulder to shoulder up and down University — those with pistols in front and then police with rifles behind them, and then officers on horses for a block. Many had shields.
They were lined up across the entire street, from storefront to storefront. Barriers prohibited entrance onto University.
I saw this overwhelming number of police suddenly in my downtown. I feared they were going to take over our city. The helicopter continued to circle above and there were police cars with flashing lights and fire trucks all around.
About 50 young anarchists, dressed in black, entered the downtown and were directed to Lytton Plaza, where they calmly sat for the next two hours.
I asked one of the policemen to direct me to an officer in charge, showing him my press badge, including one from the Sheriff’s Office.
“Lady, get back behind that line,” he told me.
“But I need to talk to your leader to see why there are so many of you out here,” I replied.
“Get back or I will have you arrested,” he yelled, as he raised his rifle.
I walked over to the anarchists. They looked frightened.
“We are here to protest corporation policies and the Iraq War,” one told me.
He seemed all of 19.
Overreaction to an anarchist peaceful assembly? It certainly was, but our police chief wanted to ensure the town was safe. It was, thanks to the mob of police or the frightened anarchists.
Someone told me later the overtime for police cost about $1 million, but no one made an issue of that. What was the big problem for me is how quickly and quietly our city could turn into a police state. Since most residents stayed home, few knew what happened.
When I saw the police in full gear go after the peaceful protesters at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., on June 1 to clear the area so President Trump could hold up a Bible for a photo op, thoughts of what happened here on June 25 all those years ago came racing back to me. Except this time, in D.C., there was also a video of these rows of armed troops showing they suddenly ran into the demonstrators, batons held high in hand, while tear gas and flash bangs exploded.
It happened there.
Abuses of force by Palo Alto officers
The second incident in Palo Alto occurred in July 2019. Police agent Thomas DeStefano allegedly “violently attacked” Julio Arevalo outside a donut shop. The police have not yet released the tape of that incident, as they are supposed to by California law.
DeStefano had been previously accused of breaking a man’s arm in a 2013 traffic stop. The city settled that suit for $250,000.
There are a series of other “incidents,” such as one last November when Gustavo Alvarez was violently arrested by a Palo Alto police officer and it was recorded on a home surveillance system. Alvarez’s head was slammed onto the hood of a car, and the officer, Sgt. Wayne Benitez, mocked him for being gay. Alvarez and his attorneys received a $572,500 cash settlement from the city. Benitez has retired with a pension of $9,866.41 per month for life. City Manager Ed Shikada would not say whether Benitez retired or was fired.
So yes, we have some trouble right here in River City.
One other problem that disturbs me is the increasing lack of transparency in this city in providing information or videos on cases involving the police.
The council is now discussing police reform, and at this past Monday’s meeting, it asked the staff to return with a plan for improving police policies, reviewing its hiring practices and launching a new initiative to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the city.
This should be a City Council job. Both Mayor Adrian Fine and Shikada declared Palo Alto should be proactive and transparent, but neither provided any details. If staff draws up the plan, the “staff” probably includes Shikada, the police chief and the city attorney, who, presumably, all like things the way they are now.
My reaction? Our transparency over police issues is becoming more opaque every day, in a very disturbing way. Two years ago, police incidents were immediately sent to a police-auditing firm in southern California that did a wonderful job of investigating any incident and reporting back to the council and the public.
But this past year the council agreed to a change proposed by Shikada and City Attorney Molly Stump to let the city’s HR department handle internal personnel disputes and incidents, instead of the police auditor. And once something goes to HR, it becomes a personnel matter that the public will know little, if anything, about.
So what’s going to happen in our city? Will this issue softly go away, or will there be real reforms? Or can it happen here?
Diana Diamond is a longtime Palo Alto journalist, editor and author of the blog “An Alternative View,” which can be found here. You can email her at DianaLDiamond@gmail.com.
About 26 years ago I was standing at the corner of Emerson and Hamilton waiting to cross the street. I saw a limo stop at the light waiting to make a right turn. I saw a group of about 7-8 people one of them opened up the limo door and offers the rest of them to get in the limo. The limo driver jumped out and came around the back of the car yelling “Get out of my car! What do you think you are doing ?!” He then had a short conversation with one of the group and went back to the drivers seat. I noticed two individuals in the group staying away from the group at the back door of the car. Then I witnessed one of the group hanging in the passenger window yelling at the driver. Pointing his finger very forcefully at the driver.
Then the driver drove off.
I recognized the group as all Palo Alto Cops. I also called the police and reported the incident. For a few weeks afterwards I was harassed by uniformed cops when ever I was downtown. I also ran into the two cops that had stepped aside. They were rookies. I asked them what they were doing? They said “ Did you see us involved? “ I said no but I also did not see you stopping the other cops!!
I believe this made the paper.
Even Palo Alto cops can be bad Cops don’t fool yourselves!
@Todd
I’m not sure your concern is? Is it the group of 7-8 people and limo driver interaction? Or is the interaction you had with the group of 7-8 people afterwards?
From a quick read, it seems like a misunderstanding between the limo driver and the group, that you witnessed and decided to report to the police.
*Every* police department needs independent, objective oversight. Every police department needs a process through which bad cops can be fired. Yes, Palo Alto is much better than many cities– but, that is NOT an argument against oversight. We can do better.
How is this “an alternative view”? This sounds like the same anti-police talk heard on most mainstream news outlets right now.
Of course abusive police should be weeded out. And, there should be a differentiation between a bad cop and a misguided cop.
As long as the police at a protest don’t attack anybody if it’s peaceful, I don’t care if there are many. It’s the job of the police department to protect its citizens. In 2005 I was returning from PF Changs.with my mother and we decided to take a quick ride downtown. We drove right into a freaking anarchist riot. People throwing things at cars and screaming at cops and general chaos. Yeah, I will not accept that as OK. So many spoiled brats wearing their Doc Martens holding on to their $1000 iPhones and clutching Kate Spade purses. We got stopped by the Creamery and there was a lone officer frantically trying to move traffic and keep the peace. My mom went into afib she was so scared. I told him let us go or it won’t be good. Not for my mom, not for the next protester that blocked my car. The officer let us leave the area. He managed to protect more than just us by allowing that.
The headline for this article is misleading. It’s just more of the same regurgitated swill we read all the time in the Bay Area. I clicked hoping to read some refreshing commentary on another way things could be handled and instead it’s the same old put it all on the cops routine.