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TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 2020 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

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Sheriff relents on virus order

Reversing a position that put him at odds with public officials around Sonoma County, Sheriff Mark Essick agreed Monday to stand behind local restrictions on business operations and per-sonal activities intended to curb the spread of coronavirus after a whirlwind weekend of nego-tiations that he said convinced him the county was now on the right path for-ward.

The sheriff said he and his deputies would enforce the current health order until June 8, to the limited degree that enforcement has been need-ed, with the understanding that county officials would work to-ward a more inclusive, balanced approach to reopening the econ-omy than has been the case.

“I am now confident in the process moving forward, that we’re going to move from an es-sential/non-essential stance to a risk-based approach, and that a risk-based approach will better align Sonoma County with the state guidelines,” he said.

Essick, a 26-year sheriff’s of-fice veteran, said he also under-stood “that medical decisions

Statement with county leader appears to ease rift over enforcementBy MARY CALLAHANTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

TURN TO SHERIFF » PAGE A5

MarkEssick

New data shows pandemic patterns

Health officials released a trove of new data Monday docu-menting the spread of the coro-navirus in Sonoma County, re-vealing broad information about patients’ underlying medical conditions and how the disease has spread in clusters through families and co-workers.

The data, released by coun-ty Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase, comes as hundreds of pro-testers gathered in large groups in downtown Santa Rosa for the third straight day to protest po-lice treatment of minorities.

Mase said there is no way to know if the protests that have erupted in the wake of the kill-ing of George Floyd by a Minne-apolis police officer are affecting transmission rates of the coro-navirus in Santa Rosa or other U.S. cities.

“Generally speaking it takes about two weeks to see the im-pact of anything that happens,” Mase said. “Since, I believe, the protests have just been happen-ing for the past six days or so, I’m not sure that we’d see the impact of that yet.”

Some protesters are comply-ing with public health guide-lines to wear face coverings in public and stay 6 feet apart, but others are ignoring recommen-dations designed to reduce the

By PHIL BARBERTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

TURN TO PANDEMIC » PAGE A8

SONOMA COUNTY

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd, a black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis, march on Monday evening along Armory Drive in Santa Rosa in violation of an 8 p.m. curfew declared by the city manager.

Rallies peaceful as city imposes curfew

SANTA ROSA » PROTESTS OVER GEORGE FLOYD’S KILLING

Protesters marched peace-fully in downtown Santa Rosa Monday night, de-

spite the 8 p.m. until dawn cur-few the city imposed hoping to prevent vandalism and violence that occurred during demon-strations over the weekend, as the national wave of anger and unrest over the Minneapolis kill-

ing of George Floyd last week pierced the heart of Sono-ma County.

Up to an esti-mated 400  peo-ple gathered in Old Court-house Square at 7 p.m., hold-ing a moment of silence for Floyd, a 4 6 - y e a r - o l d black man who

died when a white police offi-cer in Minneapolis held him face down on the street with a knee on the back of his neck while arresting him on May 25. The moment of silence lasted 9 minutes — one for each of the minutes officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, said Ama-ya Ramos, who helped organize the protest, the third downtown since Saturday night.

“Things aren’t changing,” said Sy’rai Mims, a 16-year-old Rancho Cotate High School stu-dent. “It’s the same headlines; it’s the same videos over and over again and we’re tired of it.”

Some good Samaritans distributed N95s masks and warned curfew violators that they were putting themselves in

Order issued as city tries to curtail looting, vandalismBy CHANTELLE LEE, AUSTIN MURPHY, LORI A. CARTER AND WILL SCHMITTTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

TURN TO CURFEW » PAGE A2

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Santa Rosa Police Chief Ray Navarro, left, and Lieutenant Jeneane Kucker kneel with protesters in a show of solidarity on Monday in Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa.

INSIDE ■Hundreds

of young people march in Santa Rosa / A3

■Governor voices support for protests, calls for peace / A6

■ President Trump calls on military to quell violence / B1

Only 10 months into his role as Santa Rosa po-lice chief, Ray Navarro has encountered a fine line: with sometimes-violent protests washing over the city the past two nights, clamp down or work with the demon-strators?

He’s chosen both.After two nights

of increasingly vio-lent demonstrations throughout mostly downtown Santa Rosa, the city declared a state of emergency and City Manager Sean Mc-Glynn imposed a three-day citywide nighttime curfew starting Monday evening.

Officers from throughout the area will patrol Santa Rosa from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. in an effort to stamp out protests before they have the chance to turn violent. Anyone out between those hours risks arrest.

But at the same time, Navarro, a 28-year vet-eran of the police department and the agency’s first Latino chief, decided it was time to show sol-idarity and sympathy with peaceful protesters.

So, in the sunny, noontime expanse of Santa Rosa’s downtown square, Navarro took a knee Monday with a large group of young people

staging a sit-in at Old Courthouse Square.

“I wanted to let them know I was supporting them,” Navarro said. “I don’t think what hap-pened in Minneapolis was right and I don’t think you’re going to find any police officer that says that was right

thing to do.”The act mirrored the gestures of demonstrators

across the nation, which has been gripped by protests over the killing of a black man, George Floyd, by a white Minneapolis police officer.

SR Police Chief Navarro joins protesters, talks peaceBy LORI A. CARTERTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

ONLINE: SEE MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF PROTESTS OVER THE KILLING OF GEORGE FLOYD AT PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

TURN TO CHIEF » PAGE A2

“I wanted to let them know we’re taking this seriously. It’s a personal thing for me. This is impacting us all.”RAY NAVARRO, Santa Rosa police chief