Awash characterized the conversation as positive. In 1999 the department moved into its current location at 1155 Tiburon Blvd. About 5 minutes into the footage, Blasi arrives on the scene, though Khalif notes that a third officer has also arrived a Belvedere patrol officer who is off screen but can be seen through the window in the separate video taken from inside the store and posted by Khalif to social media. Critics of the officers handling of the incident note that Blasi did not de-escalate the encounter on his arrival. Criminal-law experts and civil-liberties organizations say there is no requirement to produce identification even when detained unless youre operating a motor vehicle, which requires state-issued certification, or you have been arrested or booked for a crime. Blasi and two other officers then leave. After Floyds death and ahead of a peaceful June 2 protest in Marin City, Cronin sparked outrage among the community after he issued a statement warning residents to be wary should the demonstration become violent or lead to looting on the Tiburon Peninsula neither of which happened. DeSantis coming to CA as new poll shows him leading Trump, Ice flies off SUV, smashing windshield: 'You could kill somebody'. Their pictures are even on the store's walls. It was fear. TIBURON, Calif. (KGO) -- On Thursday night, a four-hour, heated virtual community meeting took place over an incident that happened in the small North Bay city of Tiburon, California. Is it your store? Khalif was also a speaker at the 2018 Belvedere-Tiburon Librarys Pop-Up 94920 series. Accountability for our actions is something that everyone should want, doubly so from public servants whose job is to keep us safe, wrote Nate Lee, a Tiburon resident. Please enter valid email address to continue. A Tiburon police sergeant has resigned following a confrontation with a Black merchant that critics say stemmed from racial profiling. ", The business owner tells ABC7 News, "I did feel racially profiled. Blasi then can be heard asking Khalif why he is bringing race into the conversation. Maegan Hall, the female officer at the center of the scandal, has been fired, city officials said. Khalif described seeing a lone police officer circle the block a number of times before stopping his patrol vehicle and knocking on the storefront door. D, Tiburon, CA 94920 |. The couple say they had received a large shipment of merchandise and that they and a visiting friend and business associate had been restocking the store to prepare for the weekend shortly before a patrol officer knocked on the door and questioned why they were there. Laurie Nilsen is the Emergency Services Coordinator for both towns. Khalif, an immigrant from Kenya, refused, arguing that police officers should know the business owners in the community. The store was well-lighted, and police reports show no alarm had sounded and no one had otherwise reported suspicious activity. After the panel interviews, I met with each finalist for approximately 45 minutes to an hour, and then each finalist had the opportunity to tour the police station.. That seemed to satisfy the officers, and they promptly left without the proof they had demanded for roughly 10 minutes. The officers repeatedly asserted, however, that Khalif was required to show identification, but California does not have a stop-and-identify statue. There's video of the interaction and an investigation underway. TIBURON, Calif. - A Tiburon couple who own a clothing store is accusing police of racially profiling them. This is around 1AM. After Khalif asks four times what happens next if he acknowledges it is, Blasi says Khalif should be grateful that the officers are looking out for his shop. Tiburons Hank Easom was locally renowned sailor, After earthquakes, Tiburon resident seeks aid for native Turkey, Six vying for interim seat on Tiburon Town Council, Former mayor and longtime volunteer named Belvedere Citizen of the Year, Study details threat of water from below in combatting sea rise, Residents sound off, urge action at Belvedere coyote forum, Angel Island ferry to be states first all-electric short-run ferry, Angel Island honored for effort to turn historic hospital into museum, 2022 The Ark, AMMI Publishing Co. Inc. | 1550 Tiburon Blvd. Grime, 47, was placed in a hobbling device, binding his handcuffs to ankle restraints behind his back. Where people know me? Ste. Blasi offered, and the town has accepted, his voluntary resignation." Cronin's announcement comes one week after Sgt. The couple was working late with a friend and business associate from Washington, D.C., Awash said, adding that its not uncommon for them to work late into the night setting up displays and doing inventory. His tone not very like-able. In a later interview, Simpson said he was concerned by the way the three officers were surrounding Khalif. At one point, 465 members of the public were virtually attending the forum and, in addition to the speakers, we received 79 items of written correspondence.. I do not have any intention of removing them at this time, Cronin said. Despite resigning, Blasi will cooperate with an independent investigation led by a lawyer the town retained, Chanis said. What is it that theyre fearing?. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. As the recorded interaction passes the 5-minute mark, a neighbor farther down Main Street came out onto his balcony and yelled at the officers that Khalif was the owner of the store. The pension benefit was split because of a divorce. Just seconds later, the interaction ended abruptly when a neighbor who lives farther down Main Street yelled from his balcony to confirm Khalif was the owner. VIDEO: Man fired after blocking Latino man from entering his own apartment building in SF. Your email address will not be published. Kevin Hessel is The Arks executive editor. He doesn't believe that would have happened if he was white. It looked like they were harassing him and I thought, This has gone on for several minutes. It just felt like it was going to progress into something ugly., Khalif called the fact that the situation was diffused by a white neighbor yelling down to vouch for him the icing on the cake., A Black man cannot be in this space in this particular hour and say, Im OK, no need to be talking to you, move along. Tiburon Town Manager Greg Chanis announced the resignation in a newsletter saying [Sgt. The shop owners filed a $2 million claim against the town. "We're trying to build a brand with a big heart," said Khalif. The video, which has amassed nearly 64,000 views on YEMAs Instagram page, sparked public outrage prompting a protest in Tiburon attended by over 200 people in support of Khalif and the Black Lives Matter movement. Khalif then told the officers that they are are exercising unnecessary caution because there are three Black people in the store, according to the video. The off-camera speaker presumably makes reference to the June 2020 fatal police shooting of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, who was shot after allegedly grabbing a police officer's Taser, following a . ", Others responded with different views, saying that officers were just doing their job. After Floyds death and ahead of a peaceful June 2 protest in Marin City, Cronin sparked outrage among the community after he issued a statement warning residents to be wary should the demonstration become violent or lead to looting on the Tiburon Peninsula neither of which happened. We saw him drive around the block like 3 times. Yema's wife says the officer had his hand on his gun. A Tiburon police sergeant was found dead at the department's headquarters of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, the agency said Tuesday. He was among 17 applicants for the position. Thats all we want to know, Blasi says. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith were fired on Jan. 20 after an administrative investigation found they had violated department policy on the. In 2004, Blasi was one of the deputies involved in a wrongful death lawsuit after a 47-year-old man named Cary Grime was arrested and hogtied in Novato. Michael Blasi was the supervising officer on Aug. 21 during the incident at Yema, a clothing store on Main Street. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California hasn't followed: What should you do? 49K views 2 years ago Tiburon has released footage from a police officer's body-worn camera of a controversial Friday night confrontation between police and a Black business owner who was. In 1999 the department moved into its current location at 1155 Tiburon Blvd. We do not need to prove why we need to exist, Khalif said. As the town of Tiburon deals with a controversy involving the Police Department and a Black-owned business, Police Chief Michael Cronin announced on Tuesday that he will retire, according to the Marin Independent Journal. I have been stopped for taking a walk to my house. I think of all of the very late nights I have worked in those offices and never once did the police come by to see who was there as I sat at my desk clearly visible in the window, she wrote in an citizen complaint to Cronin that was shared with The Ark. Henry Ty McGowan, Detective Seneca Shields and. Awash characterized the conversation as positive. I opened the door for him then he proceeded to tell me his purpose for knocking on our door was to check what we were doing at the store that late. Khalif said he was racially profiled in February while searching for business license documents in his car in the Town Hall parking lot. Footage of the incident on August 21st can be seen on YEMAs Instagram (@Yemacalif). Henry Ty McGowan. "He and I have been discussing the timing of his retirement for some time, but he only recently chose the date that corresponds with his entry into public service 54 years ago," Chanis said in the press release. Blasi] believes it would be difficult to continue being effective as a police officer in Tiburon. Theyre the ones with the guns, theyre the ones with the badge, theyre the ones with the authority, she said. Several months later, the store was named Tiburons Business of the Month. You sure? "He demands to know what we are doing at the store at 1 o'clock in the morning and he wants me to prove who I am," said Khalif in an interview with ABC7 News. "Had that white neighbor not said anything that night, maybe Yema wouldn't be here with us today and I would let that sink in for a minute," Hawi Awash told ABC 7 News. Your email address will not be published. Community members pointed out Cronin had only issued a warning for the protest in Marin City, which is 61 percent non-white, including 38 percent Black, and had issued no such warnings for similar peaceful protests in other nearby predominantly white communities, including Mill Valley. Khalif posted the video to Instagram. A Black. The video circulating on social media was recorded on Khalifs friends cellphone from inside the store and was posted to Yemas Instagram account, where it has been viewed nearly 45,000 times, and to its Facebook page, where it has been shared nearly 1,000 times, each garnering hundreds of comments. ", Khalif: "I do not have to show you nothing. The people in the store included co-owners Yema Khalif and Hawai Awash, the only Black store owners in town. Fredericks said Cronin is planning a department-wide racial-bias training for late next month, which has been in the works since the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis in May, which led to widespread protests and mounting calls to end racial injustice and police brutality. I confirmed that I am the business owner, but they wanted me to prove it. We all want this to resolve in a positive way, she said, noting she hopes the incident sparks conversation about police reform and real policing that uses empathy to police our community.. The Tiburon Police Department has 12 sworn officers and four other employees, plus volunteer and reserve officers. CNN Pittsburgh has moved to fire five police officers after an internal investigation into the October death of a man involved in the suspected theft of a bicycle, officials said Wednesday. Yema Khalif and Hawi Awash, owners of the Yema clothing shop. TIBURON, Calif. (KGO) -- A Black business owner is speaking out after Tiburon police demanded proof he was the store's owner. Khalif, a resident for nearly 10 years, says hes been stopped while walking home and had to prove that he lives in Tiburon. One of several discussion threads on Nextdoor.com had racked up 234 comments by the Arks press deadline. Monaghans collaborative approach and demonstrated commitment to creating meaningful community engagement really set him apart from other candidates, Chanis said. The couple met at Dominican University of California in San Rafael. Thats all we want to know, Blasi says. It just felt like it was going to progress into something ugly., Khalif called the fact that the situation was diffused by a white neighbor yelling down to vouch for him the icing on the cake., A Black man cannot be in this space in this particular hour and say, Im OK, no need to be talking to you, move along. A Black man can not say that, but a white man can.. TIBURON (KPIX/CBS SF) -- The police chief of the City of Tiburon is stepping down , according to a report in the Marin Independent Journa l. Chief Michael Cronin is resigning after 12 years. Khalif and Awash say they had already seen the car circle the block three to four times before it stopped outside the shop, where they say it sat for about 15 minutes before the start of the town-released body-cam footage and that they had anticipated what was about to happen next. The department also updated its use-of-force policy to align with calls to de-escalate police encounters with the public. About 6 minutes of cellphone footage of the encounter with the supervisor, Tiburon police Sgt. He also holds a masters degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. They opened the athletic apparel boutique in February. Miss Manners: I shouldn't call because the phone scares people? It was a nearby business owner who yelled to officers that Khalif owned the business, which diffused the situation. If you have a problem, you tell me . In a year marked by the killings of Black people at the hands of law enforcement, leading to protests nationwide calling for police reform, the conduct of the Tiburon officers is particularly tone . On Thursday, the city of Tiburon and city of Belvedere held a joint virtual community meeting with all sides reacting to the incident. The finalists were interviewed in person at Town Hall on Jan. 26 by Scardina, Public Works Director Steve Palmer, Community Development Director Dina Tasini and Administrative Services Director Suzanne Creekmore. We do not need to prove to police that we deserve to be at our clothing store way past business hours.. An autopsy found cocaine, alcohol, morphine, codeine and a Valium equivalent in his system, as well as signs of coronary disease that could have helped trigger heart failure, a pathologist said. CNN values your feedback 1. This isnt regular business hours, theres no customers in here. Laurie is responsible for disaster preparedness, maintenance of the Emergency Operations Center and coordination of a wide range of related activities. The Aug. 21 incident is the second time in recent months the Tiburon Police Department has come under public scrutiny for its response to racial issues in the wake of the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd and ensuing Black Lives Matter protests across the country, including several in Tiburon. If I tell you its my store, then what? Khalif asks in the video. Khalif said he wasnt particularly impressed with that statement. Awash began recording as Sgt. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? Scott Adams faces consequence culture as U.S. newspapers drop Dilbert, Rapid demise of Dilbert no surprise to some who were watching, Elon Musk tweets support for Dilbert creator Scott Adams after racist tirade. Supervisor and another cop - who had his hand on his gun, by the way, showed up almost immediately. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Scott Adams faces 'consequence culture' as U.S. newspapers drop Dilbert, Tom Cruise's 'ditching' of Suri showcased by Judd Apatow's 'co-parenting' joke, ex-Scientology exec says. I think right now everybody should get involved just because, whats going on in the country; the climate and everything. D, Tiburon, CA 94920 | 415-435-2652 | Privacy Policy| Designed by Kevin Hessel. After another shop owner yelled at police, telling them the couple did own the store, the officers left. Khalif said when it became clear the officer wasnt understanding him, he asked the officer to call his supervisor. Thank you sir, thats all I needed to know. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? Tiburon chief Cronin also resigned effective September 13, in response to the alleged racial profiling incident at YEMA. I look forward to meeting and working with the engaged community members, our town leaders, allied agencies and especially all our town employees who are committed to providing the highest levels of service to everyone who lives, works and visits the town of Tiburon, Monaghan said. In the video, Khalif is at the door of his own store talking with a Tiburon police supervisor. It was unclear why late Aug. 26 Tiburon released the extended video, in which the previously unidentified Tiburon patrol officer, Isaac Madfes, speaks his first name aloud. ORIGINAL STORY: Tiburon police demand Black business owner prove who he is, Two videos show an officer saying, "This street closes at 9 o'clock at night and there's never anybody in here. Other people defended the police actions, denying that there was any racial motivation behind the interaction and saying Khalif was in the wrong. Thank you very much, thats all I need to know, Blasi said in the video and walked away toward Tiburon Boulevard. Critics of Khalif say he was argumentative and antagonizing the officers from the start, and that he could have just showed his ID and quickly ended the incident. A key component of that training is the expectation that our officers will utilize de-escalation techniques in situations like there. Its nice to see how the community has come together, and that they are saying what they want to see going forward, Khalif said. One of our business friend was visiting us from washing DC so he came with us. Dear Abby: My wife said she doesn't like it, but it's part of my life, Harriette Cole: I don't want the neighbor's kids at my house, Ask Amy: I feel guilty for not speaking up about my co-worker's activities, Ask Amy: I'm your cabin housekeeper, and you apparently have no idea what I do. Wife of popular Wild 94.9 radio host JV says new information suggests he will not be coming back, Bay Area federal judge orders extradition of woman suspected of killing MSU student in hit-and-run, San Jose: Home raided as part of explosives and narcotics investigation. Tiburon officials have selected a San Mateo police lieutenant as the towns next police chief, filling a post that had been vacant for six months. Three former Aurora, Colo., police officers have lost a bid to get their jobs back after being fired in connection to posed photos reenacting a chokehold near the site where . Madfes, however, again asks Khalif to put the key in the door, but this time Khalif declines: Thats your supervisor, he say you walk away, walk away.. Tiburon officials say an independent investigation is now underway, which is the reason why officers were not at Thursday's meeting. His accomplishment was widely covered in the TV and print media, including in The Ark. VIDEO: Berkeley mom films confrontation with white man who ripped down Black Lives Matter signs, Jupiter and Venus appear to 'kiss' in the sky, FL Gov. The newly released body-cam footage appears to highlight this further, with clearer audio than the cellphone footage that also shows a stark contrast between Blasis demeanor and that of Madfes, who speaks calmly throughout the first half of the video while Blasi then frequently shouts over Khalif and tells him he should be grateful. Other business owners have come forward to say that on the rare occasions they work late into the night, they've never been stopped and questioned at all, while Khalif was not only interrogated, Madfes had already called for backup before he first knocked on the door. I do not have a problem, you tell me police sergeant has resigned following a confrontation with a couple! 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