Peaceful rallies with hundreds of Tri-Citians marred by looters at Kennewick stores

Hundreds of Tri-Citians turned out for three different protests over the weekend, most calling out systemic racism and demanding justice.

But the organized peaceful demonstrations in Pasco and Richland spilled over into vandalism and looting at some Kennewick stores late Sunday. One teen was arrested.

Another protest was announced on Facebook for late Monday morning outside Kennewick City Hall. Extra officers were called in, and city employees working inside the West Sixth Avenue building were either sent home or to another location “out of an abundance of caution,” said police Lt. Aaron Clem.

More than a half hour after the scheduled start, no one was there, he said.

However, social media posts Monday afternoon show less than a dozen did gather during the lunch hour in front of the police station, across from city hall, holding signs like “Xenophobia kills” and “F--- Nazi sympathy.”

“We encourage civil protesting, peaceful protesting. It’s our right as Americans. It’s uniquely American to do that,” Clem told the Tri-City Herald. “We just want people to safely and peacefully do that, without damaging property ... and putting peoples’ health and safety at risk.”

The protests follow the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis after being taken into police custody.

But they also highlighted the recent killings of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.

Protesters rallied Saturday in Richland and Sunday in Pasco for an end to racial violence and nationwide changes to protect black and brown communities.

They carried Black Lives Matter signs, chanted and even got down on the ground with their hands behind their backs, as if being arrested.

“This has been going on, but this feels like a time things are actually going to change and people are going to speak up,” said Bill Leeks, 28.

“Ending racism shouldn’t be a Republican or liberal thing,” said a 19-year-old Kennewick man named Wyatt, who identified himself as a conservative. “We’re all Americans.”

Larry Riggs, 48, and his 10-year-old son, Jordan, stood together with their homemade signs that read, “Please don’t kill my son,” and “Please don’t kill my daddy.”

“We wanted to create something that could be related to but not speak hate,” said Larry Riggs. “We’re Americans, not African-Americans. You can’t brainwash this family into thinking we have another home.”

Part of the Court Street group then marched Sunday to the police station in downtown Pasco.

Later Sunday night, a smaller group showed up at the Burlington store in Kennewick.

Some people could be seen shooting off fireworks, as others tried to force their way into the Canal Drive store.

A Kennewick teen was arrested for allegedly breaking out several store windows during the protest, just east of the Columbia Center mall.

Videos posted by citizens on social media show several people rushing into the closed Burlington once the doors were busted open.

It is not known how much merchandise was taken before Kennewick police arrived. Sirens can be heard on the short videos while most people were gathered in the front parking lot.

Clem said he believes no property was taken from the business.

In addition to Burlington, Plato’s Closet and Bank of the West also were vandalized, and two Kennewick patrol cars had minor damage.

“I think it’s important to note that we had several protests over the weekend and they were all peaceful. Very well handled,” said Clem. “The only one that was a concern was the one out (in west Kennewick), scheduled to be in the Columbia Center parking lot at night, and that was portrayed as a riot or planned riot.”

He added that up to this point, “everything in daylight hours has been great. ... The only reason to schedule for hours of darkness is if you’re planning to do something potentially illegal or potentially destructive that you don’t want to be identified doing it.”

David F. Hernandez, 19, is the only person who was detained Sunday by Kennewick police.

He is in the Benton County jail on suspicion of second-degree burglary and second-degree malicious mischief, both felonies. He also has investigative holds for obstructing a public servant and a municipal code violation, rioting.

Nationwide unrest

A wave of civil unrest has swept the country since Floyd’s death. A white police officer was videotaped kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes while Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and pleaded for help.

Curfews have been imposed in at least 40 cities — though many of them were broken — and National Guard members have been activated in more than two dozen states, including in the Seattle area, and Washington, D.C.

Clem said the Kennewick department knew in advance that a protest or riot was planned Sunday night outside the mall.

A crowd started to gather at 11 p.m. at North Columbia Center Boulevard and Canal.

Kennewick officers were waiting nearby, along with Richland police, Benton County sheriff’s deputies and Washington State Patrol troopers, he said.

“The crowd was quickly becoming unruly and began throwing objects at patrol vehicles and businesses in the area,” Clem said in a news release. “The crowd also stated setting off fireworks in the air and at businesses.”

Hernandez was identified as someone who’d been breaking store windows, and officers came upon him running away from Burlington, said Clem.

The teen refused to stop, so police reportedly shocked him with a Taser and took him into custody.

Hernandez was checked out by medical staff before being taken to jail.

Clem noted that shortly after Hernandez’s arrest, the crowd began to disburse into smaller groups.

No officers were hurt.

Monday morning, police remained parked at some of the business parking lots and used orange cones to close off the mall entrances.

Clem said the Kennewick department already has additional staff on duty because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, police administrators are making plans and contingencies for more demonstrations, he said, “not necessarily to make sure that we have people available for the protests, but more just in case something happens like what happened at Burlington Coat Factory.”

Kennewick police are asking anyone with video footage of the vandalism and looting as it was happening to contact them at 509-628-0333.

‘We have your back’

Also Monday, a Tri-Cities Latino advocacy group wrote a letter to Pasco Police Chief Ken Roske saying “the men and women in blue in Pasco are appreciated and supported.”

The letter from Consejo Latino, signed by board members Felix Vargas and Leo Perales, said they recognize that once again local officers are on the front lines in dealing with the aftermath of an officer-involved death, though this one is far away in Minnesota.

The two men and the organization worked at length with the Pasco department following the February 2015 death of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, who was shot by three officers after throwing large rocks at police and passing cars.

They described Pasco as a model for other cities in Washington and nationwide, and said constructive reform in the department has brought about more respect for human dignity and the recruitment of minorities and women into the force.

“We know you will be respectful of peaceful, law-abiding protesters who seek dialogue and assurances that wrongful use of lethal force by our police will not happen,” Vargas and Perales wrote. “We now have a new police manual, extensive training, a more diverse police force and a proactive community engagement policy.”

“Our police force also now has full national accreditation as a professional, courteous force, which sets it apart from others,” they continued. “It is because of these credentials that we can say: We have your back.”

In a separate letter to the media, Consejo Latino said it joins with millions of Americans in demanding justice for Floyd’s brutal death.

Nothing less should be accepted than criminal charges against responsible members of the Minneapolis police department, trial, conviction and sentencing.

“We should also recognize that communities of color have borne a disproportionate amount of abuse and violence at the hands of police officers, whose job is to enforce laws while protecting and serving all members of a community,” the group said. “This situation remains a matter of local and national concern.”

Consejo Latino said Americans have a right to protest Floyd’s death, but the group denounced the current widespread violence around the country that is perpetrated in his name because it is “a disservice to Mr. Floyd and distracts from achieving the justice that we seek.”

This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 10:19 AM.