District attorney calls for patience on charges against SLO protest organizer Tianna Arata
District Attorney Dan Dow issued an unusual statement Friday night urging patience as his office waits for investigation results before considering whether to formally bring charges against protest organizer Tianna Arata and another demonstrator who were arrested following a march Tuesday in San Luis Obispo.
“I know that many in our community are very interested in this situation,” Dow wrote. “At this time, I would like to respectfully ask all who are concerned to please be patient and allow us to complete our duty in a fair, thoughtful, and thorough manner. Our obligation is to be objective and to not make charging decisions on the basis of public opinion.”
The arrests came after an anti-racism march in SLO that was motivated in part by comments Sheriff Ian Parkinson made to a North County Tea Party earlier this month, in which he said he didn’t believe systemic racism existed in San Luis Obispo County.
Arata was arrested by police at Mitchell Park as she packed up to leave, moments after the 20-year-old San Luis Obispo resident led a protest that included a blockade of traffic on Highway 101 and two altercations with drivers.
During her arrest, video shows another protester, Elias Bautista, apparently kicking a police officer in the groin.
Arata was arrested on suspicion of participating in a riot, unlawful assembly, conspiracy, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest, even though she can be heard on video yelling “I am not resisting” as she is taken into custody.
Bautista was arrested on suspicion of assault on a police officer.
Dow said it was “premature” for the DA’s Office to make a decision on charges while the cases were still being investigated by police.
“Once law enforcement agencies have concluded their investigation(s), they will likely refer the case(s) to our office for review,” he said. “Only at that time will we be able to conduct our independent evaluation of the evidence and make a factual determination of whether criminal charges should be filed in court.”
He went on to conclude, “It would be inappropriate and counterproductive for this office to provide an opinion at this time based on social media posts or media reports that may or may not be borne out by the evidence (facts) gathered in the pending investigation(s). We will carefully and thoroughly examine all of the evidence submitted before making any final determination.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 7:10 PM.
