Bay Briefing: Vallejo’s history — and present — of deadly police shootings
Good morning, Bay Area. It’s Thursday, June 4, and the coronavirus pandemic has changed what California’s national parks will look like this summer. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
‘He should be here. He should be alive.’
The man fatally shot by Vallejo police as the city erupted in chaos earlier this week was kneeling outside a Walgreens and not carrying a firearm when an officer opened fire — sending five bullets through his own windshield.
Sean Monterrosa, 22, of San Francisco died after the shooting at around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, but police did not tell the public the man was killed — or disclose the circumstances — until Wednesday at a news conference outside City Hall, a day after calling in 50 troops from the National Guard. The shooting is now under investigation by the Vallejo police and the Solano County district attorney’s office.
Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams said the officer believed he saw the butt of a handgun poking out near Monterrosa’s waist, and opened fire “due to this perceived threat.” But “investigations later revealed” it was a hammer, Williams said.
Civil rights attorney John Burris, who is representing Monterrosa’s family, said he was “troubled” by the shooting.
“Notwithstanding what he’s accused of doing, you don’t kill people because they’re looters,” he said.
Read more from reporter Megan Cassidy.
Willie McCoy, Ronell Foster and Eric Reason: In one of the Bay Area’s most racially diverse cities — Vallejo’s victims of police violence are often black or brown. Since 2010, more than 40 Vallejo police officers have been involved in at least one shooting, and 14 have participated in multiple shootings. To understand why the protests are necessary, look no further than Vallejo, Otis R. Taylor Jr. writes.
Wednesday protests
On the sixth day of region-wide demonstrations against police violence, thousands of San Franciscans marched in a Mission District in a youth-led protest. In Oakland, thousands gathered at City Hall for a curfew-defying sit-in that hours later morphed into a smaller dance party in the street.
Read more here and follow live updates here.
More:
• San Francisco ends nightly curfew.
• Minneapolis prosecutors charge three more officers in George Floyd's death.
• Scott Ostler’s suggestions for how sports stars, teams and fans can take real action.
• Kaiser health care workers in East Bay stage walkout, take a knee in support of protesters.
• Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson attend Oakland protest led by Juan Toscano-Anderson.
Hardest-hit
The pandemic has ravaged California’s economy, but it’s hit the state’s poorest the hardest. Among those with a family income of $40,000 or less, 47% have seen job losses and 63% cutbacks in hours, according to a poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.
But despite the economic effects, the poll found a majority of Californians support a slow approach to reopening the state, even among those hit hardest by job losses. John Wildermuth reports in more detail on the poll’s findings here.
How to close the state budget gap: California would delay deepest cuts under Legislature’s alternative to Newsom plan.
Looming hospital issue: California hospitals’ revenue plummeted by more than a third in the first four months of the pandemic as costs to care for coronavirus patients rose, a shocking financial blow that threatens to raise health care prices, according to a recent report.
Parks plan
From Lassen to Yosemite, California’s national parks are resuming operations with limited visitor services and sparse accommodations because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Realize if you want to have your once-in-a-lifetime park trip, you may want to do it another year,” says Kristen Brengel, from the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent park advocacy group.
Kurtis Alexander reports on what changes to expect if you do go.
Around the Bay
• Wage theft lawsuit ends: Burma Superstar workers awarded $1.3 million in class-action settlement.
• Cause under investigation: Grass fire breaks out in Suisun City, homes and a wildlife center burn.
• 9-0 decision from state commission: High-ranking California state judge facing removal amid sexual harassment allegations.
• Will Bay Area’s private schools survive the coronavirus pandemic? One has already closed.
• February breach: S.F. pension data breach may have exposed city retirees’ bank, tax information.
• At least one in every county: California Gov. Newsom orders counties to add in-person voting centers, to be open for three days before the November election.
• Helicopter made contact with power line: Victims identified in fatal PG&E contractor helicopter crash in Fairfield.
• ‘Its toxicity is not limited to weeds’: Federal court in SF tells EPA to revoke approval of widely used herbicide
The follow-up
During breaking news events, there’s often just enough time to quickly report on what’s happening, not the why. But reporters are always interested in the second question.
BART closed nine stations on Sunday night while looters ransacked shopping malls throughout the Bay Area. Agency staff said they looked at threats of violent activity or sightings of looters in considering which stations to shut down.
But the closures caught some city officials by surprise, so why did BART close these particular stations during protests? Rachel Swan found a range of reasons.
Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown and sent to readers’ email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact Brown at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com.
