Brentwood home where effigy of Joe Biden had been hung draws second protest

BRENTWOOD – For a second day in a row, a crowd gathered outside a Garin Ranch neighborhood home to protest a display that included a noose-hung effigy of Joe Biden.

The protest protest Friday night focused on the racial implications of the noose as well as the Contra Costa County district attorney’s decision not to file charges against the person responsible for the display, Eric Harvey.

After demonstrating in front of the Brentwood Police Department, the group of at least 50 protesters marched to the home on Craig Court, where they were met by officers in riot gear.

Officers at one point pushed the protesters back several feet. Fearing tear gas would be used, some protesters left the area, but many remained, chanting “hands up, don’t shoot.”

“The city says it doesn’t have enough money for police officers, yet here they are, defending white nationalists!” shouted one protester, Adriana, who declined to give her last name. “This is a waste of taxpayer money.”

One person was arrested and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility in Dublin on a charge of battery. The suspect, described only as a male adult, hit an officer with a stick, said Lt. Walter O’Grodnick, adding that the officer was not seriously injured.

“At some point during the protest, there were objects thrown at officers, but no one was seriously injured,” O’Grodnick said.

Harvey removed the effigy Thursday after speaking with officers.

“I had a dummy from Halloween that was hanging by a noose, so I made a cardboard sign and put it around its neck that said ‘Sleepy Joe, cheater’ and I hung it from my second-story roof,” Harvey said in a video of him taking down the effigy.

Protesters on Friday said the district attorney’s refusal to press charges against Harvey was the latest signal from law enforcement that it “doesn’t care about people of color.”

The police department said it consulted with the district attorney’s office about the display and was told in part that “offensive expression is protected under the First Amendment.”

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Author: Shomik Mukherjee, Jason Green

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