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  2020-06-02

  Solano County Sheriffs Department mandates lock-down over protests

  My county was given stay-at-home orders as peaceful day-time protesting was infiltrated by looters and violence at night. I listened to the police scanner as reports of our stores being looted and burned down came in. Several stores including Walmart, CVS, Best Buy, BevMo and MiMi's Cafe were damaged and looted. There were not enough police to cover the unrest. Once the looters moved to another building the police had to abandon the newly secured building, leaving it again open for looting. The unrest lasted until sunrise. I got no sleep that night. We were worried the looting would find its way into residential streets. The next day the national guard came in. My town is no longer small. We have become one of the most affordable cities to live in the San Francisco Bay Area and we have grown so fast, but the small town feeling still lingers in its older residents like me. We have never had the National Guard here. The next morning my family packed our car up with cleaning supplies and drove to Old Town to see if there was anything we could help clean up. Luckily only larger businesses were targeted. People were so angered by the looting and were very vocal about it. I was afraid that night but I understand the looting. The looters were not there because of the George Floyd, they were there because of opportunity and generational poverty. People who have opportunity don't loot. This was kids like my students. Kids who the system works against every single day. If they could get away with a few pair of new shoes to sell and get ahead why not? I'm not mad. These systems are strong. Companies like Walmart profit off of the labor an poverty of their employees every single day. I'm not mad that they were targeted.