he California National Guard sent 200 troops to San Diego County to try to prevent violence three days after arsonists and people stealing from businesses destroyed much of a suburb’s quaint downtown area.
Troops moved into La Mesa Wednesday night to protect police headquarters and major streets from possible protests about police use of force.
On Thursday, sheriff’s Lt. Ricardo Lopez said there were about 25 troops in the city of 60,000 people.
Guard trucks were parked outside city buildings but troops were not visible. Volunteers painted plywood boards on storefront windows with phrases such as “La Mesa Strong.”
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore requested the 200 troops for deployment across the region, saying they can detain suspects until police arrive, protect property and escort ambulances and fire trucks.
What began as a peaceful protest Saturday in La Mesa turned violent, with arsonists burning neighboring banks to the ground as well as an office building. Vandals smashed storefront windows for hours, stealing from some businesses.
They broke into City Hall and started a fire, which was extinguished, and attempted to burn police headquarters.
“The crowd was more than we anticipated,” Gore said. “We were outmanned. We’re not going to let that happen again.”
Tensions flared last week in La Mesa after a witness video showed a white police officer pushing a black man who was stopped for smoking on a trolley platform.
City officials released police body camera footage Wednesday while making their first extensive comments on the May 27 exchange with Amaurie Johnson, 23, who was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest and released. He was not cited for smoking.
The officer, who has been on the force for three years, has been placed on administrative leave. City officials have yet to reach conclusions about what happened and plan to issue a timetable to complete its investigation by Friday.
The incident coincided with nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis said a request for Guard support was denied Saturday because troops were busy in Los Angeles.
During Saturday’s showdown, another police officer shot a woman between the eyes with a bean bag round. Police Chief Walt Vasquez said officers are trained to aim for the torso. That incident is also being investigated internally.
The witness video shows an officer push Johnson onto a bench at the trolley platform. The man tells the officer to “shut the (expletive) up” and says he is being arrested because he’s black.
Body camera footage shows the back-and-forth continued on the drive to the police station.
The officer says, “Did I feel threatened when you put your hands on me? No, because I’m not scared of you but I’m not going to let you put your hands on me.” Johnson denied the allegation and said he was trying to get the officer’s hands off him.
La Mesa has imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. until Monday. There has been no major unrest since Saturday.
