Skip to main content
Press Release

Community Leaders and Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Call for Justice, Unity and Peace

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Community leaders and federal, state and local law enforcement partners join together to condemn the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and to call for justice, unity and peace,
U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, Sacramento Chief of Police Daniel Hahn, and the following community leaders announced.

Sacramento NAACP
President Betty Williams

Vallejo NAACP
President Jimmie Jackson

Madera NAACP
President Gloria Brown

Kings County, Hanford Unit, NAACP
Dr. Crystal Jackson

The 100 Black Men of Sacramento
President Richard Cornelius

MLK Celebration Committee
President Toni Greenwell

Organization of Chinese Americans Sacramento
President Jinky Dolar

Church of Scientology of Sacramento
President Mike Klagenberg

Sacramento Afghan Community
President Abdul Karim Yusufzai

West Sacramento Gurdwara
Public Relations Officer Darshan Mundy

Racial Healing Project
President Jan Merrill

Shasta County Citizens Advocating Respect
Chair Susan Morris-Wilson

Center for Interfaith Studies in America
CEO Jon Fish

Interfaith Council of Sacramento
President Edrine Ddungu
Public Relations Officer Akram Keval

Interfaith Council of Elk Grove
President Dr. Richard Shankar

Islamic Center of Vallejo
Secretary Najim Khan

Sikh Community of Fresno
Ike Grewal

Japanese American Citizens League
President Janice Luszczak

International Faith Based Coalition
Bishop Ron Allen

Sacramento Regional Coalition for Tolerance
President Susie Wong

Gethsemane Lutheran Church of Sacramento
Reverend Jason Bense

Twin Rivers Unified School District
Trustee Ramona Landeros

Greater Solomon Temple Community Church
Pastor Bishop Ron Allen

Lutheran Church of our Redeemer
Reverend Jason Bense

California Council of Churches
Policy Advocate Libby Sholes

Jewish Federation of Sacramento CEO Willie Recht
President Deborah Gonzalez

Jewish Community Relations Council Chair Bruce Pomer

Benito Juarez Association of North Sacramento
Founder Ramona Landaros

Mi Familia Vota
Calif. State Director Samuel Molina

La Raza Lawyers Foundation President Michael Terhorst

Sacramento Valley Family Federation for World Peace
Pastor Charles de Watteville

Leonard M. Friedman Bar Association
President Misha Igra

North State Relief
Secretary Joshua Cook

Interfaith Explorers
President Rachel Lyman and Reverend Dave Lyman

Yeshua Helping Hands, Inc.
Pastor Elizabeth Mass

Westminster Presbyterian Church of Sacramento
Pastor Wes Nordman

Kutchi Cultural Association
Akram Keval and Aslam Ahme

Peaceful protest is a time-honored tradition in our country that is protected by the First Amendment. The peaceful protests in Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, and around our country are addressing real and legitimate concerns about what happened to Mr. Floyd. Law enforcement supports the community’s right to peacefully protest and strives to protect this important right. But violence and destruction are not acceptable in our community nor in any other city in our country. It endangers our community, including those exercising their right to protest peacefully and those protecting that right.

“In this difficult time for our country, we stand together as one community to call for unity and peace, not division,” said U.S. Attorney Scott. “We stand together to call for justice, not violence and lawlessness. We call on our community to model peaceful protests like the one Chief Hahn and other community leaders joined in Sacramento on June 3.”

“Our mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Ragan. “The FBI respects the First Amendment right to peacefully protest and be heard. Our investigative focus is on those who sow seeds of violence and destruction. These acts interfere with the rights of protestors and harm the community.”

On June 1, U.S. Attorney Scott convened the U.S. Attorney’s Hate Crimes Task Force, including community leaders, the FBI, and local law enforcement, to hear the concerns of community leaders and to identify positive steps to take going forward. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, Sacramento Police Department, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement are committed to safeguarding the constitutionally protected right to peaceful protest and continuing to work together with our community leaders to promote justice, unity, and peace for all.

Updated June 5, 2020

Topic
Civil Rights