Tensions from a protest in Yucaipa more than a week ago at which demonstrators demanding justice for George Floyd were met with men carrying rifles spilled over into City Hall on Monday night, June 8.
Numerous speakers demanded the City Council denounce racism, protect all residents and called for the resignation of Councilman Bobby Duncan, who joined several men with rifles standing outside businesses and along rooftops in an effort to protect stores and restaurants from property damage.
Duncan responded, saying he did in fact bring a shotgun with him to the Monday, June 1, protest and stayed in front of a store on Yucaipa Boulevard for four hours, while protesters chanted and held signs across the street.
“I felt it was my constitutional right to be there,” he said at the meeting. “I don’t regret anything I did. I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, June 2, the Yucaipa Police Department said it was aware of pictures on social media of armed men at businesses and on rooftops and reminded them that it was against the law to carry a loaded firearm in public.
to investigate and the subjects were not there.
We have been made aware of photos circulating online, depicting business owners on rooftops and on their property with weapons. We have reached out to our business owners and residents in an attempt to inform and educate them, as— Yucaipa Police (@YucaipaPD) June 3, 2020
Also a fight broke out at the Arco station but no one pressed charges, the tweets explained. There were no reports of looting or property damage. Protests in Yucaipa the following days went off without incident.
Duncan, and other business owners, said there were telephone threats made to the Kopper Kettle Kafe that day and they came out to guard the popular restaurant and other businesses. Some speakers at the meeting said the restaurant’s initials — “KKK” — may be perceived by others as a reference to the Ku Klux Klan, but they said there is no such connection.
Many at the meeting said those who protected businesses were there to intimidate protesters, some who were people of color, and that these mostly white men have since formed social media groups that constitute armed militias.
Yucaipa businessman Eric Welsh told the Council he was there to defend stores and the Kopper Kettle.
“It has nothing to do with race, religion or politics: it is about protecting businesses,” he said, adding that Yucaipa Strong has 6,000 members on Facebook.
Arianna Huhn, assistant professor of anthropology at Cal State San Bernardino, has called for Duncan to be censured or for him to resign. She’s also asking the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office to investigate further.
“We need you to call for a change in the status quo,” Huhn asked the City Council. “To denounce racism and white supremacy.”
Gina Porter, a 15-year Yucaipa resident, said the pictures of armed men at the protest she saw on social media made her feel unsafe. She wanted Duncan to be fined or arrested.
“I am a white, heterosexual, Christian female and I am terrified by what happened here last week,” she said. “You cannot allow armed vigilantes to terrorize our streets under the guise of protecting our businesses.”
Yet supporters of Duncan, who had posted anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant social media last year, said he did the right thing at the June 1 protest. Others who were with him justified their presence.
“Some people believe myself and others were presenting a show of too much force last Monday night,” Larry Turner said. “I disagree. We were willing to stand our ground to protect our community from domestic enemies.”
A change.org petition signed by 4,384 people as of Tuesday afternoon, June 9, said the armed men violated gun laws and that the police did not take action against them. The petition, as well as a letter to Mayor David Avila, signed by 487 people, criticized the mayor’s video response as vague and weak.
The signers wrote that the lack of a strong denunciation of racism and of armed men in public streets casts Yucaipa as “friendly to white supremacist groups.”Yucaipa resident Derrick Rose asked that Avila condemn racism and make a public statement that the protesters had no intention to damage property. He also asked for a plan to fight racism.
The protests, like thousands happening across the country, were prompted by the death of Floyd, an African-American, on May 25, after Minneapolis police arrested and handcuffed him on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli. Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes, an incident captured on video, while Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe and eventually lost consciousness. Chauvin has been fired from the department and, on May 29, was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Linda Roberts-Ross, a local attorney, asked the mayor to conduct a forum on race relations “where people can get together in town and talk about these issues.”
Avila, in a video posted on Instagram, said: “None of us liked what happened the evening of June 1, when people went across the street to demonstrators and attacked them … that is not acceptable.”
But pro-Black Lives Matter residents said he needed to do more.
Avila said he has asked local ministers to organize a candlelight vigil tentatively set for 8 p.m. Thursday, June 11, at the Yucaipa Community Park amphitheater.
“We will all get together and thank our God for the blessings we have and pray we can be reunited again and become one community,” he said.
