Black Lives Matter protesters call for slashing Kennewick police budget and banning militias

Amber Rodriguez is hoping for some sweeping changes to how policing is done in Kennewick.

The organizer of two Black Lives Matter protests in Kennewick is looking to shift half the police department budget to social services, ban citizen militia groups and create a city commission for Black, Latino, immigrant and refugee voices.

Those are just some of the demands she unveiled during a protest Friday outside Kennewick City Hall. About 50 people gathered there for a six-hour protest aimed at bringing an end to police brutality and racial injustice.

On Saturday, at least 1,000 protesters lined Columbia Center Boulevard near Target, waving signs at passing cars and chanting.

“We’re not here with guns We’re here with peace and love,” said Jaime Torres, founder of Jaime & the Justice League.

He said they want to turn the positive energy of the protests into dialogues with the city officials.

“Enough was enough decades ago,” he said referring to racism and police brutality.

“We want to bring awareness to the Tri-Cities. We all live here. We’re all part of this,” he said.

They’ve already had initial conversations with Kennewick and Pasco police leaders, though he gave no specific changes they’d like to see.

However, many on Saturday called for diverting money from police departments into social services.

Friday’s peaceful demonstration kicked off a third weekend of protests in the Tri-Cities that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. His death in police custody has spurred calls to re-examine policing across the country and even worldwide.

The first thing Rodriguez wants is to cut half of the police department budget and use it for social services, such as mental health facilities, homeless facilities and counseling services.

The police are being called on to do all of these services, she said, and it shouldn’t be part of their jobs.

“They’re not counselors. They’re not therapists. That’s not their job,” she said. “We need to help them by being on the side of prevention.”

Kennewick Police Department’s biennial budget is $48 million, about third of the city’s $166 million operating budget.

She also said the city needs a committee to help people of color work with city council members.

“People of color, who are grieving and looking at the trauma associated with how this happens to brown skin or black skin, we’re also being called on by city councils to say what can we do to fix this,” she said.

Many also were wanting the regional Special Investigations Unit to wrap up its investigation into the shooting death of Gordon Whitaker. The West Richland man was shot in February as he was being detained by Kennewick officers on Fruitland Drive.

Protesters also are pushing for Kennewick police to get body cameras, believing they could eliminate questions about officer credibility.

They also want the city to make citizen militia groups illegal.

Rodriguez believes those types of groups can’t help but be racist.

Last week, she stood side by side with Defend the Tri founder Dylan Tafoya at a joint news conference organized by Kennewick Chief Ken Hohenberg. The groups vowed to work to keep protests peaceful.

On Friday, she lumped Tafoya’s group in with a splinter organization, called Defend the Tri Always, as the kind of groups that should not be allowed to operate in the city.

Tafoya has denounced the other group, and said he just wants to protect businesses from looters and vandals.

Having their voices heard

For several of Friday’s protesters, the event was a chance to say there is a problem with how people of color are treated.

“We need to all come together and be a voice for the community if we want to see change happen,” said Ryan Yonel of Richland. “I’d like to see people acknowledging there is a problem, and not trying to deny it.”

That’s the first step to making changes, he said. Yonel wants people to understand that racism and discrimination still exist even in the Tri-Cities and Yakima Valley.

Yonel’s little brother was walking out of a gas station in Sunnyside when police tackled and handcuffed him because he fit a suspect description.

“He had done nothing wrong. They didn’t apologize to him or anything. Once they realized they had the wrong person they just took them off and went on their way,” he said.

“It’s kind of hypocritical when they say that all lives matter because then we would matter as well,” said Yonel’s friend, Lookency Haak of Richland.

His wife, Claudia Haak, said she joined the protest because they were expecting their first child and she wants a better world for her baby.

Nicole Gutierrez and Matt Peterson were in the area visiting when they heard about the protest. She grew up in Kennewick, and as a Latina, had racist slurs yelled at her during track competitions.

“It’s important to take a stand,” she said.

This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 7:13 PM.