Who is BLM activist Tianna Arata and why does she have eight charges against her?
On July 21, the San Luis Obispo Police Department arrested 20-year-old local activist Tianna Arata at the end of a five-hour Black Lives Matter protest for participation in a riot, unlawful assembly, conspiracy, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest, according to a SLOPD press release. A few videos shared by fellow protesters on social media sites showed about 15 police officers present at the time of the arrest.
Reports suggested that before the protest commenced, Arata had spoken with Police Chief Deanna Cantrell and informed that the protests would be peaceful. The protesters gathered in Mitchell Park around 4 pm and marched north towards Highway 101, stopping traffic for nearly an hour. There was reportedly a lot of tension between protesters and motorists on the road, following which the police intervened.
"Protesters damaged the hood of a passenger vehicle and smashed the rear window where a four-year-old child was in the back seat and had glass shattered on him," states the press release. It further read, "The decision to arrest Arata was made in coordination with the district attorney's office based on Arata's actions and the actions of the organized group."
Cantrell said in a statement following Arata's arrest, "The City of San Luis Obispo supports peaceful protests, but we will not support violent acts and will continue to take action to protect our community." However, her arrest was met with severe criticism and a significant number of people rallied for her bail. One of the Instagram pages called Community Roots Project, which was raising funds for Arata's bail, informed on their Instagram story that she was released the next day.
On August 6, reports stated that the San Luis Obispo Police Department was looking into the prosecutors charging Arata with five felonies and three misdemeanors, related to her July 21 arrest. The district attorney's office confirmed that they had received reports from the police departments against Arata and another protester Elias Bautista, who was also arrested on the night of the protest. The court proceedings for the case have been scheduled for September 10.
Commenting on the same, Arata’s attorney Fisher said in a statement, "We've had an investigator hard at work, and what’s he’s gathered is something that (district attorney) office would want to consider before making a filing decision," but refused to reveal the details of the collected information, which will be presented before the district attorney’s office.
Meanwhile, Arata’s supporters have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for her legal cost. The page has successfully collected over $30,000 of which $10,000 will be used to bail other social justice activists to the campaign. The brief for the campaign which asserts that Arata was only involved in a peaceful protest, states "The San Luis Obispo police department has targeted her, throwing her whatever charges they could possibly get away with."
"Tianna has been set up by the justice system. Our system has failed once again. These 5 charges can ruin her life! The district attorney Dan Dow will not drop these charges. His email is [email redacted].ca.us if you would like to contact him. Tianna is in need of funds for representation. Anything helps. Please help out so that we don't fail Tianna. She is still young and has a great future ahead of her. Don't let these police officers take away her future," it added.
Another petition has been started on Change.org, demanding the district attorney "not pursue any charges against Tianna Arata", which has received around 39,000 signatures, with 50,000 set as the goal.