Proud Boys’ appearance at toy drive roils Placerville

A photo of Proud Boys at a Placerville holiday toy drive prompted the city’s police department to publicly distance itself from the group — and the mayor to suggest the historic town may soon change its “Hangtown” logo.

The Marine Corps Toys for Tots event in the Sierra foothills city on Saturday was intended as a drive- through collection, in line with social distancing guidelines.

Near the end of the drive, a group of about 25 men showed up and posed for a photo near a police car. One was dressed as Santa Claus, and most of the others wore sweatshir ts with the words “Hangtown Proud Boys” and an image of a noose. In the photo, many flashed a hand sign that has become associated with white supremacists.

“To be clear, neither the City of Placerville nor the

Placerville Police Department invited, associated with or supports this organization,” said a Facebook post Monday on the police department’s website that was signed by the police chief and the city manager.

It went on to say: “We have not authority to disallow anyone from taking a photograph” of or near a police vehicle.

The post did not mention Proud Boys by name, but Placer v ille’s mayor did, and he denounced the group more vehemently.

“Proud Boys, we don’t want you in Placerville,” Mayor Michael Saragosa said in an interview with Sacramento TV station KOVR.

A man who claimed to be president of Placerville Proud Boys — but did not want to give his name — responded: “Good luck with that. Most of the community supports us one way or another.”

A crowd of demonstrators outside City Hall on Tuesday evening waved posters showing the Proud Boys’ Toys for Tots photo with the words “This is not us!!”

“We need to hear our leaders stand up and say this is not OK in our community,” Heidi Mayerhofer of the Placerville Downtown A ssociation told KOVR. Some of the demonstrators said the police’s statement on the matter should have been more strongly worded.

T he uproar is likely to accelerate a move to change the city’s official seal, which includes an image of a noose — a reference to the city’s Gold Rush name, Hangtown, and its reputation for vigilante justice.

The issue came before the City Council in July, but a vote on the matter was delayed until next year.

On Tuesday, Saragosa told the Sacramento Bee: “We’re gonna have this conversation on the city logo and the noose.”