", In the video you can hear the supervisor say, "You should be grateful that we're being as diligent as we are to look out for the street, that's all we do.". Based on this belief, Sgt. We do not need to prove to police that we deserve to be at our clothing store way past business hours.. ", Others responded with different views, saying that officers were just doing their job. The incident was recorded by Yema Khalifs wife and business partner Hawi Awash from inside their clothing store Yema on Main Street around 1 a.m. Friday. Reach him at 415-435-2652, on Twitter at @thearknewspaper and on Facebook at fb.me/thearknewspaper. The neighbor, Ken Simpson, lives in his Main Street apartment part-time and said hes also accustomed to hearing noise from patrons and employees of downtown restaurants late at night, but the yelling that woke him up about 1:15 a.m. Aug. 21 sounded like it was escalating quickly. Belvedere City Manager Craig Middleton said one of the officers who was acting in a backup role is employed with Belvedere Police Department. In it, the officers, who first note that Khalif is in the store at 1 a.m., past the typical 9 p.m. shut-down time for activity on the street, can be heard repeatedly demanding that Khalif prove his ownership of the business, either by showing identification or putting his key in the shops door. Blasi] believes it would be difficult to continue being effective as a police officer in Tiburon. In 2004, Blasi was one of the deputies involved in a wrongful death lawsuit after a 47-year-old man named Cary Grime was arrested and hogtied in Novato. Tiburon police officers are trained and held to the highest standards of conduct. The couple say they had received a large shipment of merchandise and that they and a visiting friend and business associate had been restocking the store to prepare for the weekend shortly before a patrol officer knocked on the door and questioned why they were there. I do not have any intention of removing them at this time, Cronin said. Blasi also receives a monthly pension of $3,224 for his time as a sheriffs deputy, said Jeff Wickham, the county pension board administrator. Khalif, who designs most of the companys clothing, grew up in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Blasi] believes it would be difficult to continue being effective as a police officer in Tiburon. He previously worked at The San Francisco Chronicle as a Bay Area news editor and the Oakland Tribune as a senior news editor. Khalif started the brand with his wife when they were in college. Criminal-law experts and civil-liberties organizations say there is no requirement to produce identification even when detained unless youre operating a motor vehicle, which requires state-issued certification, or you have been arrested or booked for a crime. D, Tiburon, CA 94920 | 415-435-2652 | Privacy Policy| Designed by Kevin Hessel. Body cam and cell phone footage shows the altercation as it unfolds. Thats when we knew he had already called for back up. A Black. Nearly all the comments expressed outrage with Tiburon police with calls to hold the officers accountable. A video depicting Tiburon police officers in heated exchange with the owner of the towns only Black-owned business while working late in his downtown shop has sparked outrage in the community. Awash, however, said this is not the first negative interaction with Tiburon police; she said shes been stopped more than five times by another officer. Sept. 10, 2020 1:17 AM PT. Yema Protest Speech following the incident at his storefront on August 29th. Its unfortunate but I think good will come of this, Awash said. Really? Even after the supervisor walked away, the officer who first approached the store said, "Can you put the key in the door please?". Tiburon police sergeant resigns amid racial, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Alameda County DAs new policy will reduce prison sentences through widespread elimination of sentencing enhancements, Tiburon police sergeant resigns amid racial profiling claims, Letters: Plethora of problems | Creating AL | Provenance of woke | Teen girls | Public bank. If they had just proved it was their business then that wouldve been it.. ", The business owner tells ABC7 News, "I did feel racially profiled. After the video of the incident was posted on Yemas Instagram and went viral, discussion caught like wildfire across social media platforms. Khalif said when it became clear the officer wasnt understanding him, he asked the officer to call his supervisor. Everything I was saying fell on deaf ears.. D, Tiburon, CA 94920 |. Japanese Americans won redress for World War II interment camps, now they fight for Black reparations, Civil rights activist Roslyn Pope dies; her Appeal for Human Rights helped launch campaign of boycotts, sit-ins, Letters: Stone is wrong | Unnecessarily complex | Everymans EV | Coaching equity | No infrastructure. Marin City Matters member Paul Austin said Blasis resignation is a step in the right direction, but there is more work to be done starting from the top down. Ste. The investigation needs to go further than just this incident at Yema, said Adjani, a friend of the store owners. Kevin Hessel is The Arks executive editor. After it was over I was shaking, Awash said. Reporter Hannah Weikel covers the city of Belvedere, as well as crime, courts and public safety issues on the Tiburon Peninsula. Tiburon Police Chief Michael J. Cronin announced on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, that he will retire, effective Sept. 13. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Critics also note the officers finally left without the proof they said was required for 11 minutes only when a white Main Street resident who overheard the confrontation shouted, Thats his store.. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. D, Tiburon, CA 94920 |. I can no longer sit idle and watch the (Tiburon Police Department) inhumanely treat the citizens and business owners of our town. Tiburon Mayor Alice Fredericks told the Marin IJ she was not surprised by the announcement, but it came "a few weeks earlier than expected. In another post, Blasi is asked what kind of behavior can get someone in trouble with the police, to which he responded, resisting a detention or arrest and failing to identify yourself or providing ID when directed by an officer., He also says he wouldnt recommend anyone become a police officer in todays environment, citing media and social-media scrutiny, internet armchair quarterbacks evaluating every real-time decision (and) unqualified and incompetent civilian-oversight committees that are usually someones bulls political agenda.. Meanwhile, Awash estimated she has been stopped in her car three to five times over the past year and a half by the same police officer. Blasi offered, and the town has accepted, his voluntary resignation.. Nielsen met Khalif on a movie set and later helped him move to California, where he attended Dominican University of California in San Rafael, made the deans list all four years, was his class valedictorian in 2015 and was offered a full scholarship into its MBA program, where he eventually obtained his masters. Blasi and two other officers then leave. Ultimately, I sign off on every hire for the town, Chanis said. The Aug. 21 incident is the second time in recent months the Tiburon Police Department has come under public scrutiny for its response to racial issues in the wake of the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd and ensuing Black Lives Matter protests across the country, including several in Tiburon. Fredericks said Cronin is planning a department-wide racial-bias training for late next month, which has been in the works since the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis in May, which led to widespread protests and mounting calls to end racial injustice and police brutality. , and a business friend, all of whom are Black, were at their store late at night counting inventory, according to a post on YEMAs Instagram account. Several months later, the store was named Tiburons Business of the Month. RELATED: Santa Clara University professor, her brother racially profiled by campus guards, In an emailed statement writing, "The Town is engaging the services of an outside, independent attorney to conduct an investigation of the incident involving a local business owner and Tiburon Police Officers on August 21 at 10 Main Street. Laurie can be reached at (415)789-2805. An officers observations of perceived race, sex and age are standard when reporting in to dispatchers, as well as in logs and police reports. This isnt regular business hours, theres no customers in here. The store was well-lighted, and police reports show no alarm had sounded and no one had otherwise reported suspicious activity. This is around 1AM. Yema Khalif and Hawi Awash, owners of the Yema clothing shop. Monaghan has taught administration of justice at the San Mateo Community College District. I want to know what you're doing in the store at 1 o'clock in the morning.". In response to public outcry, Blasi offered his resignation from the Tiburon Police department, which went into effect September 1. How they dont know Yema is beyond me, he said. And he wanted us to prove who we are. Then show me that its your store, said the officer. Protesters march Saturday, Jan. 28, in Memphis, Tenn., over the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police. Next time, just walk and the audio and video cut out. According to Khalif, the officer sat in his parked vehicle for about 20 minutes before approaching Khalif, asking him to identify himself, explain why they were inside the store, and informing them that backup was on the way. After a few minutes, Blasi and another officer arrived, which is when the interaction starts being recorded. In an interview Aug. 24, Fredericks called the officers behavior unacceptable, and said the Police Department is in the process of hiring an attorney to conduct an independent investigation into the incident. Grime died in a hospital two days later. I cannot lie and say Im OK. Im traumatized and my wife is traumatized.. The settlement was announced. A Tiburon police sergeant has resigned following a confrontation with a Black merchant that critics say stemmed from racial profiling. 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