Lodi police: September protest aims to be peaceful

Police chief, protest organizers seek to reassure community

Lodi Police Chief Sierra Brucia said a protest and march planned for Sept. 5 is expected to be non-violent, as described by organizers of the event.

“We have been working to contact the organizers of each of the different groups planning on protesting or demonstrating on the fifth so we can coordinate with them to ensure that all of our needs are met,” Brucia stated in a social media post created late Thursday. “Similar protests have been occurring in Lodi for the past four months on numerous topics, and to date all have been peaceful and resulted in no damage to property. We see no reason this protest should be any different.”

Brucia’s statement comes nearly two weeks after an event protesting police brutality and racial injustice made its way through Downtown Lodi, along Lodi Avenue and up Crescent Avenue to Emerson Park.

The Aug. 15 protest, organized by local grassroots organization Progressive Unity, included participation from Sacramentobased Empact Org.

Video of the protest made the rounds on social media the following week, which captured Empact Org founder Leia Schenk stopping protesters in front of a Crescent Avenue home displaying a Blue Lives Matter flag in its front yard.

In the video, Schenk uses a bullhorn to tell protesters the flag was “pure racism,” and calls out the homeowner for displaying the banner underneath the Stars and Stripes.

Some Lodi residents saw Schenk’s actions, and those of protesters, as a threat to the homeowner. Other residents and witnesses said some who participated in the Aug. 15 event brandished baseball bats and threatened those who did not agree with the protest’s message.

On Thursday, Schenk said she did not see her own actions or those who marched with her that weekend as threatening. She was invited by Progressive Unity, who told her there had been some racial issues happening in Lodi, she said.

“Prior to us coming, anti-protesters were already there, against us coming out,” Schenk said. “I never knew there was opposition until we got there.”

Schenk said she always brings a security team to events because anti-protesters have shown aggression toward her and other participants in the past.

Empact has been invited to similar protests in Placerville, Auburn and other cities in the Sacramento area and Northern California, where Schenk has encountered aggressive opposition in the past, she said.

In Lodi, one of the members of Schenk’s security team was struck by a passing vehicle, but police did not cite or arrest the driver, she said.

Earlier this week, Lodi Police Sgt. Steve Maynard said those at the protest were striking the ground with the bats and leaning over into vehicles’ right of way to make it appear they had been struck by passing cars.

Schenk added she did not target the house on Crescent Avenue during the protest.

“There was a home in a neighborhood with the Blue Lives Matter flag,” she said. “It was along the way, and I didn’t target that house. We try to keep everything we do educational. I stayed on the street, didn’t step on their property. I used that home as an educational moment.”

After her speech outside the home, Schenk said a car pulled up near the crowd very quickly, a woman got out and approached. The two women didn’t speak, but Schenk said they shook hands and the protest moved on.

The homeowner never came out to confront the crowd, but if she had, Schenk said, she would have been more than happy to speak with her.

“We go into places like Lodi because there are people there who want to have a conversation about (police brutality and racial injustice), but there is no one who wants to have that conversation,” Schenk said. “We don’t want to hurt people. That’s not our intention. The thing in front of that house I wanted to use as a teachable moment, and I think it could have been more teachable for her.”

Lodi police have contacted Schenk about the Sept. 5 event, and she would like that protest to remain peaceful as well, she said.

The Sept. 5 event is a “Defund the Lodi PD” protest, starting at 10 a.m. at American Legion Park.

“The police department is fully prepared for any contingency that might arise during the protest,” Brucia said in his social media post. “We fully expect everyone to comply with the law and to allow each participant their right to peaceably assemble. Our priorities will be to ensure everyone’s constitutional rights are afforded to them, that the public and our officers remain safe, that there is no property damage or loss of life, and that the city is returned to normal operations as quickly and safely as possible.”

Lodians who commented on Brucia’s post said

they appreciate the way the police department had handled prior protests, while some were skeptical the Sept. 5 event would remain peaceful.

For the past two weeks, Lodi residents commenting on the social media pages of both Empact Org and Progressive Unity have stated that efforts to bring awareness to social and racial injustice had been working well until the Aug. 15 protest.

While protests that took place this summer were organized by local residents in a grassroots effort, other events such as the Peace Walk and a Martin Luther King Jr. remembrance have long been hosted by the Lodi-based Breakthrough Project.

Vice president Nancy Martinez said the organization supports the protests that have been held in Lodi and their message, it doesn’t favor the escalation that has occurred.

“A lot of us kind of feel like we’ve missed the boat,” she said. “We probably should have done something like this a while ago. But right now, even if we put on our MLK event, we’re in that COVID-19 group that is supposed to stay home. We’d like to see our community free of bigotry and racism, but we’d like to do it in a way that advocates and educates.”

One of the most effective ways Breakthrough Project has reached residents is through the essay and art competitions held in conjunction with the

Martin Luther King Jr. and spring Scholarship Exhibit events, Martinez said.

“It gets to a wider base of people, particularly when a student participates and family members are involved,” she said. “Then the whole family understands the message we’re trying to convey, and they’re exposed to our philosophy.”

While the Aug. 15 protest caused tensions to rise and the planned Sept. 5 event has some worried, most Lodians who commented on Brucia’s post were confident the police department would ensure the safety of all involved.

“I have the utmost faith that Lodi PD will keep our streets safe,” Norm Davis commented. “There’s a lot of dynamics in play here. Lodi has good people here and Lodi PD does a great job. I think we just back up our PD and pray these protesters keep it peaceful.”

Brandon Morgan commented that the more people fear potential violence at protests, the less they listen to the message protesters are trying to send.

“Across the country, these protests have been primarily peaceful, except for when police, or those emboldened by police have engaged in abusive and deadly tactics to silence protests,” he said. “Maybe instead, we listen. Just listen. Hear the laments of the people who are fearing for their lives at the hands of injustice.”