A South County case of ‘mask rage’ turned racist and violent. Why are police so quiet about it?

It’s the worst incident of “mask rage” in our county since the start of the pandemic: A bank employee apparently was beaten up the evening of Sept. 3 in a racist attack outside the Grover Beach Wells Fargo after he asked a customer to put on a mask.

The victim, who asked us not to use his name, said the customer waited around for a couple of hours and then ambushed him in the parking lot, striking him multiple times and using anti-Latino slurs. That makes this a hate crime.

“It’s cowardly as far as I’m concerned,” the victim told a Tribune reporter. “That’d be like me waiting outside of the pizza parlor for the manager because he messed up my pizza. ...”

We aren’t going to speculate on what went through the suspect’s head.

Nor are we going to use this single incident to brand all anti-maskers as deranged and prone to violence, though it does nothing for our collective mental health when people have a conniption fit because they — or their children — are asked to put a small piece of cloth over their face.

While there have been several nasty confrontations here over masks — a few caught on video, others passed around by word-of-mouth — to our knowledge, none has escalated to this level of violence, at least not in San Luis Obispo County.

Another hate crime report in the South County

We can’t say the same about racial hate crimes, however.

Usually they’re in the form of racist or anti-Semitic graffiti or messages, but the Grover Beach assault marks the second time this year that a violent hate crime was reported in the South County.

Last April, four white men attacked a Black man in front of a busy restaurant just a couple of blocks up from the Pismo Beach Pier. Earlier, a member of the group had made a crack about the victim’s “kinky hair.”

In that instance, we learned about the crime only because someone who had been with the victim that day wrote about it in a letter to the editor.

“I’ve planned to move to SLO for years but am now repulsed by this incident. Tell me if this is an isolated incident or do the Proud Boys now reside in Pismo Beach?” the letter said in part.

Had it not been for that letter, the beating may never have been made public.

The same thing could have occurred in the recent Grover Beach case.

The police did not release any information to the media; we learned of it only when the victim’s wife sent an email to The Tribune, seeking information about the case.

“Please help us!” she wrote. “Can you inquire with the Grover Beach Police Department to see if they have any new information? This violent, hateful, racist person is still out there. He could be hurting more people.”

Grover Beach is a community that cares deeply about social justice, and it has the most racially diverse Police Department in the county.

But the optics here are concerning.

Not only did the public not know about the assault at Wells Fargo, the mayor hadn’t heard about it either.

“That would have been something I would have liked to have known about earlier,” Mayor Jeff Lee said Thursday.

News release would have been ‘premature’

Police Chief John Peters told Tribune reporter Kaytlyn Leslie that it would have been premature to issue a news release right away.

“Our detectives are following up on some leads currently, so we will see if those pan out,” the chief wrote in an email. “If necessary, we may post an image on social media of the suspect if we are not able to positively identify them in the near future.”

Peters also said it was important to “protect the integrity of the investigation so we can get a successful prosecution.”

City Manager Matthew Bronson reiterated that message.

“This is an active investigation and the Police Department has worked diligently on this sensitive case in responding to the incident, gathering evidence from the scene, interviewing the victim, and following up on leads to the suspect’s identity and other pertinent information in this case,” Bronson wrote in an email.

“We have been in contact with the victim and we will continue to work with the victim to obtain or provide updated information as needed. The Police Department has not done a press release yet as we want to protect the integrity of this sensitive investigation to identify the suspect.”

No one wants to jeopardize the case, but police departments have to be aware that information is going to get out, one way or another, and it’s far better to stay ahead of the story than to appear to be hiding something.

There already are too many people who deny that racism exists here in San Luis Obispo County. Keeping incidents like this quiet only feeds that denial.

We wonder, too, if this had been a shooting or a stabbing, would police still have kept it quiet?

Also, it’s not like Grover Beach police are shy about releasing surveillance images of crimes. In April, they posted multiple photos about a burglary at Diamond Adult World and then thanked the public when the publicity led to identification of the suspect and recovery of the stolen goods.

Why not do the same here and find out who this person is sooner rather than later?

Is it to shield the city from the bad press of a racist assault? Because that’s what it looks like.

On that note, RACE Matters SLO County issued a heartfelt statement following the Pismo Beach attack that bears repeating:

“Hateful incidents directed at people of color are not surprising in our county. Sadly, they happen all too often. What is shocking and disappointing, however, is the lack of urgency and relative silence following the attack in Pismo Beach. It is further proof that acts of bigotry targeting black and brown people should be seen as a danger and should be treated as such.”

Unlike the incident in Pismo Beach, this time witnesses did intervene, including a coworker of the victim who saw the attack and had the presence of mind to call police. While police weren’t able to catch the suspect — as of Thursday night there had been no arrest — the phone call may well have prevented the situation from escalating.

Following the attack, the victim was treated for his injuries and is now back home “decompressing,” he told reporter Kaytlyn Leslie.

“It’s sad but, you know, there’s a mask mandate and folks are taking it a bit too far,” he said. “They’re getting a bit too serious. So, you have to be careful.”

Grover Beach police are taking this case seriously, and we’re glad to hear it.

But transparency is important as well, and to that end, we urge the Grover Beach Police Department — and every other law enforcement agency, for that matter — to keep its citizens informed in a timely manner.