Officials: No arrests in plaza protest
Crews work to remove graffiti in Eureka area
A protest on Monday in Arcata against police brutality sparked by the killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis last week attracted around 400 people, according to Arcata Police Chief Brian Ahearn who said it was a day to “let the people speak.”
“I was very proud to see people from across the county converge in Arcata,” Ahearn said. “Their message was heard loud and clear by this police chief.”
No arrests were made and no damage was reported in Arcata during and following Monday’s protest, one of hundreds seen around the nation in the days following the fatal arrest of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been arrested and charged with manslaughter and third-degree murder.
Three other officers involved in the arrest remain free, a point of frustration for protesters across the nation. Mass assemblies in numerous cities have at times seen varying degrees of rioting and looting, resulting in arrests and use of non-lethal projectiles and riot control tactics by police locally and nationwide.
On Monday in Arcata, Ahern said his department let the people take the lead and “police themselves.”
“Look at what happens when you give people a chance to police themselves,” Ahearn said. “We have to give people room and a safe space to protest and demonstrate. …They clearly had a mission, and any sort of violence was not a part of that mission.”
Cleanup efforts
Over the weekend protests in Eureka saw several officers assaulted, several buildings tagged with graffiti and a few Eureka Police Department vehicles vandalized. Three arrests were reported by local law enforcement agencies Sunday. Additionally, Eureka police used non-lethal pepper balls to establish control at one point.
No vandalism as a result of Monday’s protest in Eureka has been reported to the EPD, and no arrests were made Monday.
Several local government officials lent a hand in cleaning up graffiti Sunday.
Eureka councilwomen Natalie Arroyo and Leslie Castellano and county supervisor Mike Wilson cleaned up graffiti on four buildings.
“I wanted to help support the ongoing beautification efforts of the city, and help care for its well being,” Castellano said. “I think it’s important to note that the graffiti looks to have been done by just a couple people, I don’t want a few actions to overshadow a very important issue such as the fight against systemic racism.”
Dana Porter of Porter and Son’s Painting has, along with his crew, been working nearly non-stop since Monday to remove graffiti from the Humboldt County courthouse, US Bank and other buildings tagged with various messages including “FTP,” an acronym for explicit anti-police sentiment.
“I don’t like to see it. I don’t like explaining to my 10-yearold what FTP stands for,” Porter said. “We just wanted to get it done. My father is 80 years old, he taught shop at Eureka High to hundreds of kids and founded this company in 1973. He doesn’t like to see it. …I think we should all be stepping up to the plate in any way we can.”
Porter said he and his father Ron Porter’s company is spending a few thousand dollars a day to clean the graffiti, not including the cost of what such a contract would go for.
“All these officers here in the county are good people, they would all rip the shirt off their
back for you,” Dana Porter said.
“We won’t let that happen to our town,” Ron Porter added.
While cleaning graffiti off the Humboldt Builder’s Exchange building Tuesday on Fifth and M Street in Eureka,
one of Porter’s employees, who is on a work visa, had his sweatshirt and wallet stolen from the worksite.
“That wallet had his paperwork — his work visa, not to mention his money and credit cards. He just wants it back, it’s not right.”
Dana Porter said PPG Paints is donating all the paint needed for the graffiti removal.
So far, the crew has cleaned up several defaced walls of the courthouse, the Builder’s Exchange building and US Bank. On Tuesday night, Dana Porter plans to lead a crew in the removal of graffiti another building on Fifth Street.
“I started working at 5:30 a.m. and I’ll finish up around 10 or 11:00 p.m. tonight.”