One week earlier, at almost the identical time of day, sheriff's Deputy Erick Gelhaus shot and killed Lopez on a sidewalk in southwest Santa Rosa. The teen was carrying an airsoft gun, which shoots plastic BBs. Police said the deputy mistook the gun for an AK-47 assault rifle.
Protesters said criminal charges should be levied against the deputy.
"This officer should be prosecuted for murder," said John Burris, one of the Oakland attorneys who negotiated a $1.5 million settlement for the family of Oscar Grant, the man killed in a 2009 shooting by a BART police officer.
Burris said the deputies approached Lopez incorrectly, leading to his death.
"To tell him to put the gun down was confusing, because he did not have a gun," he told the crowd at a rally outside the Sheriff's Office. "Clearly this is murder."
The death has prompted almost daily vigils and protests. Tuesday's demonstration was advertised on social media and fliers posted in Spanish and English around Santa Rosa.
An odd disquiet permeated the city's heart around lunchtime as some businesses closed amid fears of an outbreak of violence. A TV news helicopter circled high overhead, joined by the sheriff's helicopter, Henry-1.
Rochelle Rutherford brought her son, Alex Cordero, a junior at Elsie Allen High. She'd given him permission to miss school for the march. She also brought her 3-year-old son, Darrian Rutherford, who rode in a red wagon painted with the message, "Justice for Andy."
"It's unbelievable the amount of grief I feel, and it's not even my child," Rutherford said of Lopez.
Demonstrators initially set off on the sidewalk and observed pedestrian signals as they began the 2?-mile route from Old Courthouse Square to the Sheriff's Office. But by the time they reached Fifth Street a block away, the crowd had spilled onto Mendocino Avenue. Organizers attempted to keep people out of harm's way from oncoming traffic, assisted by Santa Rosa police officers on motorcycles.
There was very little obvious police presence anywhere along the route.
That was not the case at the county administration complex, where a contingent of CHP officers and sheriff's deputies awaited marchers.
Law enforcement agencies from around the Bay Area — including Lake, Napa, Marin and Solano counties — sent personnel to help manage the crowd. All nonessential Sheriff's Office staff were told to leave the building at noon.
Sheriff Steve Freitas said he was grateful the protesters were largely peaceful, although his office had planned for a large event with the possibility for vandalism and violence.
"There was no damage and most importantly no injuries, so we are very, very thankful for that," Freitas said late Tuesday.
Still, some protesters threw water bottles and spit at deputies, the sheriff said. Freitas said he instructed deputies to show restraint "unless people get injured or unless they storm the Sheriff's Office and break windows."
Former county Supervisor Ernie Carpenter, who participated in the protest, was critical of county officials for "shutting the door" to county business Tuesday. And he had harsh words for Freitas.
"It's not a coincidence that black and brown people are getting killed. The sheriff needs to do better recruiting — we don't need war veterans shooting everything that moves," Carpenter said, referring to the deputy who fired the fatal shots, who is a military veteran.
Santa Rosa school board member Laura Gonzalez also was critical of officials after she took the microphone at the rally, saying some leaders had incorrectly portrayed Tuesday's event as one led by outside groups and one that might put students in danger.
Santa Rosa City Schools issued automatic phone calls, emails and fliers Monday warning parents that students would need parent participation to attend the march.
"I'm really disappointed in our so-called leaders who did a lot of fear mongering," Gonzalez said.
But board member Jenni Klose, who met with Sonoma County Supervisors Shirlee Zane and Efren Carrillo, as well as other leaders Sunday night to work on a strategy for Tuesday, defended the district's efforts to keep students in class.
"I don't think it's fear mongering to encourage families to accompany their kids to a protest and I don't think it's fear mongering for us to maintain the message that we maintain every day that it's good to be in school," Klose said.
On Tuesday, as it did for students at a previous demonstration on Friday, the school district provided buses to transport students back to Elsie Allen High School after the rally. Superintendent Socorro Shiels, who was present for Tuesday's march, said the two buses were meant to keep kids safe and were not an endorsement of the event.
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