The Vallejo Sun

As Vallejo’s city government pushes to give the Vallejo Police Department a new headquarters on the city’s waterfront, community members have questioned why the controversial police department, known for killing 19 people since 2010 and marking on-duty shootings by bending the tips of their badges, deserves such a prime piece of real estate. The conflict over the new headquarters echoes past fights as Vallejo’s waterfront has a long history of protest, dating back to work stoppages by Black sailors after the nearby Port Chicago explosion during World War II.

Even as protests against the police killing of Sean Monterrosa swelled in Vallejo in 2020, then-City Manager Greg Nyhoff moved forward with plans to place the police headquarters either at a former office building on the waterfront or the main library blocks away. In the face of community opposition and astronomical cost estimates, the city has steadfastly refused to consider other options.

Guest: Javier Arbona-Homar, assistant professor at the University of California Davis in American studies and design.

-----------

Vallejo’s waterfront along Mare Island Way is a popular destination for family friendly activities with its wide paved path, grassy areas for gatherings and activities, and plenty of space to cast a line into the water. But the area also holds a rich history as a space where people have exercised their First Amendment rights. That included protests following the police killing of Sean Monterrosa in the summer of 2020… including loud ones with a police helicopter overhead…

Woman: Not one more!

Crowd: Note one more!

That’s also included quieter demonstrations involving the younger relatives of people impacted by police violence.

Young boy: Justice for my uncle, Mario Romero [applause]

Even further back, Vallejo’s waterfront was also home to work stoppages by Black sailors in a highly segregated Navy during World War II.

Park Ranger: What happened here, July 17, 1944, is little known to most Americans, and almost forgotten in history. We now look back on this day as an early event in the civil rights movement.

As UC Davis researchers recently noted, Vallejo’s waterfront has been one of many landscapes for Black resistance against police violence. 

Javier Arbona-Homar: Not to mention that it was also the setting for various uprisings and sometimes smaller or sometimes kind of larger so-called riots, where Black sailors found themselves fighting in the streets of Vallejo against white residents and white shore patrol. 

It’s also where Vallejo’s historically white police department wants to relocate its headquarters. It’s a move many local residents say the department doesn’t deserve, considering its history of violence… 

Colin Eaton: "I’ll fuck you up."

…civil rights abuses… 

David McLaughlin: "Stop fighting and get on the ground."

…and overall costs to local taxpayers.

KPIX: The lawsuits accuse police of racial profiling, excessive force and other misconduct…

I’m Brian Krans. I’m a reporter and producer with the Vallejo Sun. In this episode, we’re going to take a look back at the historical significance of Vallejo’s waterfront in the struggle for racial and social justice, and how the Vallejo Police Department’s quest for a new waterfront headquarters fits into that history.

It’s now been a year since veteran journalists John Glidden, Scott Morris and Brian Krans launched the Vallejo Sun. The three discuss their biggest stories, from dogged city hall coverage to deaths in Project Roomkey and local law enforcement ties to extremist right-wing militias. Since the launch of the Vallejo Sun on Sept. 15, 2021, the three reporters have published approximately 300 stories, ranging from breaking news dispatches to in-depth investigations, and seven podcast episodes, each providing a detailed examination of a crucial issue in Vallejo and Solano County. The Sun exclusively covered court hearings that gave the most detailed accounting to date of the Vallejo Police Department’s badge bending scandal and investigated dysfunction in Vallejo’s Project RoomKey program, leading the city of Vallejo to finally acknowledge that six people died.

Ian Rogers of Napa and Jarrod Copeland of Vallejo were arrested and charged with plotting to blow up the Democrats Sacramento headquarters in 2021. Investigators seized 49 guns and several pipe bombs from Rogers and more guns from Copeland. Prosecutors alleged that the two were specifically motivated to violence by President Donald Trump’s election loss, the lie that the election was stolen, and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. They belonged to a radical right wing ideology called the Three Percenters, which was founded in 2008 by militia leader Mike Vanderboegh in reaction to the election of President Barack Obama. The loosely-affiliated movement has many different groups under different names. Rogers and Copeland belonged to the Three Percent United Patriots or 3UP, a national group founded by Mike Morris in Colorado that organized and recruited on Facebook and conducted rogue border patrols in Arizona. Prior to his arrest, Rogers had numerous contacts with law enforcement, including a domestic violence arrest he was not prosecuted for. Some Solano County Sheriff’s deputies have displayed support for the Three Percenter movement online, including Daniel “Cully” Pratt, the brother of actor Chris Pratt, Sgt. Roy Stockton, also a Vacaville city councilmember, and Deputy Dale Matsuoka, the department’s homeless outreach coordinator. Sheriff Tom Ferrara said that before Jan. 6, he had never heard of Three Percenters. Guests: Shane Bauer, a reporter who went undercover with 3UP in 2016 for Mother Jones, and Kurt Braddock, a fellow in the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University.

Vallejo Police Det. Jarrett Tonn shot Sean Monterrosa in the back of the head on June 2, 2020, amid wide-scale looting following the police murder of George Floyd in Mineapolis. Since then, Tonn’s been fired — and soon likely rehired — and the California Attorney General is still deciding whether he’ll face criminal charges. At the same time, Sean’s sisters, Michelle and Ashley, are trying to avoid burning out while fighting for justice for Sean and on behalf of the dozens of other families impacted by police killings in Vallejo. 

EPISODE:

[scanner traffic]

In the early morning hours of June 2nd 2020… caravans of burglars continued to break into businesses all over Solano County… stealing what they could… trying to get guns, pot, cash and prescription medications. 

As police officers from across the area scattered throughout the city to respond to the roving thefts… 

SCANNER: If anybody passes that, we’re coming from Concord.

…Vallejo Police Detective Jarrett Tonn… badge number 673 and a member of the department's SWAT team… was scared. 

He’d heard ANTIFA was coming to town.

TONN: And there had also been some online social media chatter about specifically those people and Antifa actually, coming into Vallejo to, to do violence and cause harm.  

Shortly after midnight… Tonn and two other detectives witnessed a group of people breaking into the Walgreens on Redwood Street. Captain Lee Horton… badge number 5-43… told them to drive into the parking lot… as he went around the back… hoping to box in the looters. 

As the detectives drove in… Horton warned over the radio… that the suspects could have weapons.

HORTON: Wearing all black. It looks like they’re armed. Possibly armed.

Horton would later tell internal investigators… he broadcasted out that the subjects were possibly armed… because one of them had something in his hand.

HORTON: I saw some kind of object in his hand but I couldn't identify what it was.

That person was 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa… a first generation San Francisco native…and the son of Argentinian immigrants. A carpenter by trade… Sean had a roofing hammer tucked into the pocket of his hoodie. Video surveillance footage released by Vallejo police shows him trying to break into a locked cabinet in the Walgreens pharmacy… just minutes before he was killed. 

SCANNER: Shots fired. Suspect down. 

DISPATCHER: Copy. Shots fired, suspect down on Redwood. 

Tonn… who had already been involved in three shootings since joining Vallejo police in 2014…  was sitting in the middle of the backseat of an unmarked pickup truck. Before it had even come to a full stop… he fired his high-powered rifle five times through the truck’s windshield… hitting Monterrosa once in the back of the head…  killing him instantly.

TONN: Hey, he pointed a gun at us. 

TONN 2: Hey, he tried to pull a gun out on you know, pointed a gun at us. 

Despite finding out that the suspected gun was actually a hammer… Vallejo internal affairs investigator… Detective Kevin Rose… badge number 680… let Tonn run with the idea that he found himself in immediate danger. 

ROSE: Do you feel like you had any other options? 

TONN: No, none whatsoever.

ROSE: Were the suspects immediate actions prior to your firing your weapon indicative of any other action to you?

TONN: The only thing and again, this is why I say, now that I know after the fact I'm 100% baffled of what could have happened. Everything he did at that time, and still my mind that was the actions of someone who is going to take you know, you know, attack us and try to kill us… 

[fade under]

Sean’s death came in the middle of international protests over the police murder of George Floyd… which happend just a week earlier. Sean’s killing thrust his older sister Michelle… and younger sister Ashley… first into a panicked rush for answers… and now a years-long quest for justice… that they’re still figuring out how to sustain. 

MICHELLE: Fuck the police, fuck the police, fuck the pigs, took my brother, too. And I don’t want anyone to go through what we went through. Enough is enough… 

ASHLEY: We just buried our brother yesterday… 

The Monterrosa sisters vowed to be the last family to have a loved one killed by the Vallejo Police Department. Officers there have shot and killed 18 people since 2010. 

As of this recording… current Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams… the first Black man to hold the seat… has managed to keep his officers from killing anyone for the last two years… something the department hasn’t been able to do for decades. 

But following the killing of Sean Monterrosa…  something different happened.

KQED’s THE BAY:  Ericka Cruz Guevarra: Vallejo police chief Shawny Williams has served a notice of intent to fire officer Jarrett Taan who shot and killed 22 year old Sean Monterosa in June of last year. 

Sukey Lewis: This is a really big step for the city in terms of being able to point to something to show you know civilians who have been criticizing the police department and the accountability process that look we're firing moving to fire this officer who you know was involved in this very high profile controversial shooting.

In December… Jarett Tonn became the first Vallejo police officer in at least 20 years to lose his job… directly related to killing someone on-duty. It was one of several reforms Michelle and Ashley are happy to see finally happening within the Vallejo Police Department. 

MICHELLE: We've seen progress and it took a lot for us to step back and kind of analyze the wins the many victories and wins we've had in between, obviously, the Attorney General taking on the case was huge too, Tonn being fired is huge. 

That was until last Friday… when sources confirmed to the Vallejo Sun that Jarrett Tonn is likely to get his job back… because a mandatory review hearing for law enforcement officers facing discipline… overturned his termination for use of force violations. 

While the Monterrosa family was upset about Tonn returning to the Vallejo Police Department… they still await to hear whether he’ll be charged with a crime. 

MICHELLE: There's a lot of little things playing but I don't think the outcomes are any different, or demands are still always the same… the California DOJ can bring, go arrest him and bring those charges forward. 

State Attorney General Rob Bonta agreed to investigate Monterrosa’s killing… but only after his predecessor… Xavier Becerra… and Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams… both refused.

BONTA: Jobs have easy parts and they have hard parts and it’s really important that we do all the parts of our jobs. Sometimes a specific issue or case has a lot of public interest and public scrutiny, we must still do our job in those cases.

The shooting remains a political issue in the hotly contested Solano County DA’s race. Abrams' opponent… Chief Deputy DA Sharon Henry… says Abrams abdicated her responsibility.

HENRY: Officer involved shootings, those decisions should be made by the local district attorney. If a shooting happens in Solano County, the decision should be made by the Solano County DA.

My name is Brian Krans. I’m a reporter with the Vallejo Sun. In this episode… we’re going to look back on the Vallejo police killing of Sean Monterrosa two years later… 

ONE YEAR RALLY: Song: “...Sean Monterrosa…”

We’re also going to cover why the police killing is still a major political issue at the county and state level… and hear from the Monterrosa sisters about their fight for justice… while grieving in public… and still trying to find some semblance of normalcy in their lives.

ASHLEY: We can scream and bleed and do whatever we can and sometimes they just won't even listen. And it’s like we're screaming at a brick wall. Sometimes that's what it feels. Yeah. 

MICHELLE: It's just a lot and you know, the system expects families to keep going, keep trying to like, find normality after all, all of this, and it's hard for everyone. Everyone interprets trauma differently. But it's just fucked up [laughs]. Yeah

INTRO

In this episode, we’re going to look at how policing and protests have helped shape the rich music scene in Vallejo, and how video shoots, like the one for Vice, have been targets for police scrutiny and  how officers target rap music. Still, some of those officers are avid fans of hip-hop or even rappers themselves. 

Vallejo has a long line of famous musical acts calling it home at some point in their lives… from Sly and the Family Stone to H.E.R. to Mac Dre to E-40. 

For the last two decades, some members of the Vallejo Police Department have bent the tips of the badges belonging to officers after they shot at someone while on duty. While the city promised to investigate, it has kept the findings of a third-party investigation under wraps. Now, a public defender is calling those officers to testify about the tradition, including a particularly violent former lieutenant who claims to have started it all.