Commentary: Fresno police show racism in the arrest of City Council President Arias

On May 12, City Council President Miguel Arias called the Fresno Police Department for help when a group of known hostile, racist agitators came to his home and began harassing him. When the police arrived, instead of assisting Arias, they facilitated the mob in undertaking a “citizen’s arrest.” Arias was charged with three counts of battery for pushing the agitators from the doorstep of his home. Inside, his young children were taking their afternoon nap.

The police officers’ actions reflect a long history of institutionalized racism within policing and illustrate the ways police officers continue to fortify white supremacy through state-sanctioned violence. Make no mistake: The FPD’s response to Council President Arias is connected to their use of lethal force against unarmed boys and men of color. These connections run deep.

Modern American policing can be traced to the slave patrols of the American South. These patrols enforced slavery laws. Later, during Reconstruction, they were given the power to administer ‘black codes’ that were used to incarcerate African Americans and to force them into penal labor — slavery by another name. Over time, police actions have evolved, but the logic of power has not. From Jim Crow to the civil rights movements, the “drug war,” and the constant stream of videos of officers beating and shooting unarmed people of color, policing has remained about the control of brown and black communities.

The use of “citizen’s arrests” extends law enforcement’s power to control communities of color while framing that violence as a public service. Georgia police invoked “citizen’s arrest” when justifying their failure to even detain, let alone arrest, two white men who hunted and murdered Ahmaud Arbery, a young black man out for a jog. The district attorney argued that the two men had legal grounds to chase Arbery, and that they shot him in self-defense.

Law enforcement’s encouragement of private actors to use a “citizen’s arrest” raises legal questions: Are citizen arrests official government acts subject to constitutional restrictions like the Fourth Amendment? Actions by citizens can potentially be classified as official government acts depending on the level of the government’s involvement in the citizen’s decision-making, and depending on whether the private actor’s purpose was to assist law enforcement rather than further their own ends. If police encourage a private actor to use a citizen’s arrest, and if that individual’s motive is in fact to assist in law enforcement, a court may consider the arrest an official government act.

By their own admission, the FPD were the ones who suggested that the racist agitators make a citizen’s arrest. In addition to raising legal questions, this legitimized the agitators’ invocation of law enforcement authority to criminalize a man of color while simultaneously framing the criminalization of Arias as a decision made by the public rather than one made by police, therefore allowing FPD to evade responsibility.

Evidence of that lack of accountability was on clear display earlier this year. A leaked video showed a FPD officer shoot an unarmed boy of color in the back of the head while he was running away. He posed no threat; the boy had not been charged with any crime. Chief (Jerry) Dyer, as well as two other reviewing agencies, asserted that the officer’s use of lethal force was justified; the officer, Chief Dyer contended, did nothing wrong.

The ultimate effect of racialized responses to crisis is this: people of color cannot reasonably rely on law enforcement to protect them. City Council President Arias sought FPD’s protection from harassers. Instead, he was cited for battery. His status as a community leader made no difference to the officers at the scene.

FPD has responded similarly to other calls for help by non-white residents. In February 2020, the FPD handcuffed and detained a 16-year-old autistic non-white youth whose family had called 911 to get help when he was having a seizure. In 2015, Fresno police officers arrived at a scene where Freddy Centeno, a non-white Fresno resident, was in the middle of a mental health crisis. It took them less than 10 seconds to shoot and kill Mr. Centeno.

As much as FPD asserts that the department seeks to utilize a “community policing” model that provides accountability to communities of color and earns their trust, they have proven yet again that they do not deserve that trust.

This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 10:41 AM.