Riot coverage

Re: “Rioting, rebuilding, reforming” [Volume 10, Issue 6, or bit.ly/3hsl0M8]

I just want to thank you for the article you wrote in the La Mesa Courier regarding the protests and riots. It was articulate, thorough and objective. The interview with Sara Jacobs was likewise well written and gave us good background on her. Thank you.

— Diana Wright, La Mesa

After reading your article, there were many critical items missing, and I am curious if this was intentional, to support the BLM Socialist movement, or you do not have access to this information. I am a retired electronic engineer, ham radio operator, scanner owner and somehow I have more damning information that was omitted from your article.

The officer never singled out the citizen because of his color. He was approached for smoking in a non-smoking area! Is it your position, if a Black citizen intentionally breaks the law, should he never be approached by [law enforcement]?

The first Axon video of the confrontation discussed the citizen “smacking” the officer, and at two minutes in, the citizen confessed. The cop stated, “you smacked me” and the citizen responded, “well OK,” then changed the topic.

The citizen screamed obscenities, demanding sex from the officer, and appears to be tripping out on drugs, swearing at the top of his lungs for the camera. Is this the behavior you are encouraging at a trolley station for our grand kids, and accepted treatment of a stranger, let alone a cop?

During the protest, the LMPD building and Sheriff officers were almost continuously defending against thrown rocks, bricks and bottles, for a very long time! You failed to comment on the Bearcat being tagged and taking huge rocks thrown at it, with officers inside!

LMPD declared it an unlawful assembly, yet nobody budged. Then a protester speaking to the TV cameras threw her bottle at the Sheriff’s guarding the LMPD station, on real time TV camera, and was tagged by a beanbag! Beanbag guns are far from accurate! So it’s accepted to throw bottles of water at cops?

After dark, law enforcement was overwhelmed, far outnumbered. Alarms were going off during the looting, but law enforcement could not get there. Citizen heroes were protecting some of the local business, including Sprouts! Though the rioters challenged the locals, claiming to be armed, one of the citizens responded they had a legal concealed carry, and the rioters waved off! Sprouts should give that local carrots for life! Caught on camera, one protestor got in the face of a sheriff officer, and yelled at him, “You have to obey the rules, we don’t!”

After dark, the rioters started a fire in the LMPD station sally port trying to burn down the station, emulating Minneapolis. The cops could see the fire, but couldn’t get there immediately because of the heavy crowds. Eventually they were able to gather enough officers assembled to get to the sally port, and extinguish the fire. However, in the meanwhile, the crowd torched the fire truck in front of the station! The rioters climbed on top of the VFW hall. It was reported the rioters attempted to start a fire on the VFW roof. Eventually a team of officers made it there, and found the rioters failed.

There should be more discussion of the looters arrested, not just the guy throwing Molotov cocktails, to discourage others arsonists!

— Dennis Dauben, La Mesa