H.B. vigil seeking ‘accountability from police’ draws mixed reactions

A vigil Friday night in Huntington Beach that organizers said was intended to pay respects to victims of police violence drew mixed reactions from local residents, with some calling it a positive step toward unity and others concerned about the event’s timing and location.

The demonstration, led by the Anaheim-based Law Enforcement Accountability Network, attracted about 200 people to the Huntington Beach Pier.

“We are just looking for transparent accountability from police,” said Monica Curca, a spokeswoman for LEAN, which was started by Theresa Smith, whose son Caesar Cruz was fatally shot by Anaheim police in 2009.

Many at the vigil lit candles and named people killed in encounters with police, including Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two African American men recently shot and killed by officers in Minnesota and Louisiana, respectively.

However, some observers questioned why the event was happening the day after five officers were shot and killed by a sniper in Dallas, apparently as retaliation for the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police around the country.

A dispute arose when the name of the shooter, Micah Xavier Johnson – who was killed by police following the slayings – was written on the ground in chalk alongside the names of those the vigil sought to honor.

Local author Chris Epting, a former Huntington Beach Independent columnist, questioned why the name was written there and confronted Curca.

“Right away they went into damage-control mode and said it was an accident,” Epting said after the vigil. “Each person came over with a different story about why the name had been written.”

Curca maintained that the writing was an accident.

“The person who wrote the name was just an attendee,” she said. The names of people listed as victims of police violence were on a website, she said, which the person then wrote on the ground in chalk. Johnson’s name was on the website.

“She wrote the name but maybe she didn’t see the news. It was an awful mistake. We apologized. She apologized,” Curca said.

Cindy Holthouser, who has lived in Huntington Beach for 45 years and also questioned why Johnson’s name was written, said she believes the incident could have been avoided had the vigil been planned for a later date.

“This whole vigil was not planned well, if you ask me, but I am glad that nothing bad happened,” she said. “Had it been a vigil for the fallen officers, then that would be OK, but for these people to just pick H.B., I think it was in poor taste. We stand by our [Huntington Beach Police Department], and I’m not saying they are all saints, but I myself have never had a problem with HBPD, so this vigil should not have happened in our city so soon.”

Curca, who lives in Garden Grove, said Huntington Beach was chosen as the event’s location so attendees could throw red-colored sand into the ocean from the pier to symbolize the lives lost.

Victor Valladares, who last year co-founded Oak View Comunidad, an activist group in the predominantly Latino neighborhood, said he believes Huntington Beach was an appropriate location for the vigil.

“I feel our city ... is an excellent location for love, unity and peace,” said Valladares, who helped Curca on Friday. “The reason I got involved was because LEAN knows we organize in H.B. They knew [that] a few weeks prior to the vigil hosted by them on Friday, there was the Orlando vigil that began in H.B. ... They figured to reach out to me since the march started in Oak View.”

Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy said the department spoke with organizers before and during Friday’s event and had extra units on duty in case the vigil turned violent.

“There certainly were concerns, especially after the events in Dallas and the number of protests in other cities,” Handy said. “We didn’t have any real issues with it at all. We were just there to keep the peace. We also protected their right to protest.”

Curca said the event had a larger turnout than she expected, which she called proof that people are coming together against racism and police violence.

“I think the tide is turning against racism,” she said.

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Brittany Woolsey, brittany.woolsey@latimes.com

Twitter: @BrittanyWoolsey