Letter: Mayor’s incendiary rhetoric is detrimental in racially charged society
To the editor,
–Just recently, San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon emailed her supporters accusing District Attorney, Dan Dow, of singling out three black men for criminal charges who participated in the Black Lives Matter protest in July in SLO. She stated that these men were charged despite “their peaceful participation” in the protest. She accused Dan Dow of using this as an “intimidation tactic” as a means of “telling our community members that they must be silent or be subject to arrest.” Are we to assume then that Ms. Harmon was at the event and personally witnessed the behavior of these men from the beginning of the protest to the end? How else could she state her knowledge of their innocence?
According to the article that appeared in the paper on Oct. 20, 2020, six additional people were recently charged and no mention was made of the innocence of the other three. And it is a matter of record that the protest was not entirely peaceful. Property was damaged, community members were intimidated, and a police officer was assaulted and injured. We all agree that the color of your skin should not make one more likely to be arrested or charged. However, I hope that we can also agree that the color of your skin does not make you immune from such possibilities. Her incendiary rhetoric is so detrimental in this racially charged environment – and so unjustified. I seriously doubt that her accusations are founded on first-hand knowledge and should be viewed as opinions only until evidence arises to support those accusations.
As Dan Dow communicated in his official response to the criticisms of Ms. Harmon, “It is the duty of the district attorney’s office to thoroughly review every investigation to determine if the evidence proves that a crime was committed.” Such duties are performed by his office “without regard to individual characteristics such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin or political viewpoint.” To my knowledge, the integrity of Dan Dow and his office has been a matter of record for many years. He was elected in 2014 and reelected in 2018 which testifies to the confidence this county has in him. Ms. Harmon should not assume the role of judge and jury – and should refrain from making such unfounded accusations for any reason, political or otherwise. She demeans the office in which she serves and undermines the system of justice that has served us well in this community.
Trine Marlen
Paso Robles
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