‘Strong possibility of violence’: Documents shed some light on Cal Poly Humboldt protests, police response

In what could be the largest show of police force in Arcata for a generation, documents shared by the Appeal and published this week shed some light on the plan to break up the occupation of Siemens Hall on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus with hundreds of police. The protests began at Siemens Hall on April 22 and lasted into May.

In the plan and emails, officials said they expected violence from protesters and requested hundreds of officers to restore law and order on campus.

“The ongoing demonstration continues to have an anti-law enforcement and anti-government focus. Remaining demonstrators have shown a strong commitment to their pro-Palestinian and anti-law enforcement ideology, and there is a strong possibility of violence against responding officers,” Ryan Derby, manager of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services, wrote in an April 27 email that was included in the documents. Derby requested a total of 250 law enforcement officers for April 29 and April 30, where about 30 people were arrested en mass, mostly sitting in a circle with linked arms on the quad.

The draft plan, prepared by Peter Cress, then-interim police chief for Cal Poly Humboldt, outlines out various objectives, logistics and representatives involved. It had five goals, one of which is “where possible, protecting the rights, safety and health of students and employees while eliminating the threat of domestic violent extremism and criminal behavior.”

Supposed threats of violence stem from the events of April 22, in which police and protesters were injured. Video reporting by Ryan Hudson of Redheaded Blackbelt showed a line of police and protesters hitting each other — police with batons and shields and one protester using an empty plastic water cooler bottle to hit back, something that became a symbol of resistance against police dismantling university encampments across the country. The university called police to drive out the sit-in in Siemens Hall, which hosts administrator offices.

Multiple protesters told the Times-Standard during the occupation that barricading the hall came as a response to police. The occupation was shaped with anti-police imagery and chants, as police across the country had arrested protesters on college campuses condemning America’s financial support of the Israeli military amid the war in Gaza.

The Appeal also found a request to loop in the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, which provides intelligence for anti-crime and anti-terrorism efforts.

Derby and incident commander Cress were unable to comment Friday, but Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal spoke to the Times-Standard about the documents. Honsal, who noted he was not the incident commander of the operation, explained that NCRIC may have provided intelligence, like what’s happening at other campuses across the country and state. He estimated in total, 25-30 agencies were involved.

He also said that some of the documents were accidentally sent by HCSO to The Appeal.

“The government code allows us to restrict certain documents for various reasons, and some of the documents they received were documents that we shouldn’t have disclosed,” he said when reached by phone Friday. He said he’s taking responsibility for allowing the Cal Poly Incident action plan to be released in this fashion, which he said they asked the Appeal later not to publish. Normally more information would have been redacted, he said.

While Humboldt County and Cal Poly Humboldt have a tradition of nonviolent protests, the materials included a training slideshow Derby prepared in 2020 detailing tactics used by “Violent Opportunists,” which includes a smattering of examples, including protests from 2019-2020 in Hong Kong pushing back against a bill that would allow China to arrest voices of political dissent in Hong Kong and Black Lives Matter protests in the United States. Police who arrived were prepared for violence, however the arrests on campus went over without reported injuries.

Campus groups like the University’s Senate and Humboldt’s California Faculty Association have pushed back on the idea that law enforcement was needed to end the encampment at all.

“The occupation of Siemens Hall was violent from the beginning,” Aileen Yoo, a spokesperson for Cal Poly Humboldt, said in an email. “Police were attempting to enforce a lawful order, arrest those who were assaulting officers, and clear the building. Several people who were protesting and police officers were injured.”

Derby’s email notes the university would pay for lodging, fuel and food for the personnel, with staging at the Blue Lake Rancheria. Yoo said in the email the campus is still getting a full picture of the financial impact when asked how much of the cost to the university stems from paying for the operation versus damage.

“What we know so far is that the financial impact will be more than $3 million, which includes $1.8 million in physical damage to the campus, emergency operations and law enforcement resources, and the loss of revenue. It’s important to keep in mind this number is not final,” she wrote.

Honsal said the university would end up paying for a portion of the law enforcement response and Cal OES would pay for a portion.

Sage Alexander can be reached at 707-441-0504.