Trump flag on apparent cage found in front of community leader’s Soledad home
SOLEDAD, Calif. (KION) UPDATED 07/21/20 3:52 p.m. Community leaders want more action from the Sheriff’s Office and say this kind of behavior won’t be tolerated. Now, the Chavez family hopes to find positive ways to move forward from this incident.
Members of the Chavez family stood together in front of Soledad City Hall to denounce what they call a hateful display in Monterey County. People held up signs saying “only love in our neighborhood.”
Mayor Pro Tempore Alejandro Chavez said it was no coincidence the cage-like structure was placed in front of their home last week, an image community leaders said is symbolic of the harsh treatment of immigrant children. He believes it was intended to harass his family.
The Sheriff’s Office said the wooden structure is an animal create and that a dispute between neighbors had been ongoing.
Chavez acknowledged during the news conference there were parking issues there in the days leading up to the incident, but the family said the
sheriff’s office didn’t contact them before making statements.
Now, the Chavez family wants to turn this situation into an opportunity for
positive change.
“We are converting this discriminatory and hateful act against our family
into an opportunity for us to advance discourse around tolerance and
acceptance,” Erica Padilla-Chavez said.
The family is encouraging people to donate to the Community Foundation for Monterey County’s Tolerance and Acceptance Fund which was created to promote cultural, religious and political understanding and respect.
The Chavez family also created lawn signs to spread a positive message.
LULAC told KION they’ll be contacting the Sheriff’s Office to find
ways to address the issue.
We reached out to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office Tuesday and they said no formal report has been filed.
UPDATED 07/21/20 10:30 a.m.:
Community leaders and the Chavez family plan to address the incident last week where a Trump flag on a wooden structure was placed in front of Hartnell College Governing Board Member Erica Padilla-Chavez and Soledad Mayor Pro Tempore Alejandro Chavez's home.
In a release to news media the Chavez family, local League of United Latin American Citizens President Chris Barrera and community members plan to stand together to "denounce hate in Monterey County" near Soledad City Hall at 11:00 a.m.
In a previous statement, Padilla-Chavez said the structure looked like a cage and called the incident harassment.
KION's Elisha Machado is headed there and will have a report tonight on KION News at 5:00 p.m. with how the Chavez family is responding to the incident.
PREVIOUS STORY 07/15/20:
A community leader is speaking out on social media after she says a neighbor placed a cage wrapped in a Trump flag in front of her home in Soledad.
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office confirms that the vehicle associated with it belongs to one of its employees.
In a public Facebook post, Erica Padilla-Chavez, who is a Hartnell College Governing Board member, said she discovered the cage Wednesday morning. Pictures show it on a trailer parked in a residential neighborhood.
"So harassing people of color is becoming a real thing now. There’s this neighbor in our neighborhood (of course which is 90% Latino) who demonstrates anti-latino sentiments. His nonverbal harassment has been escalating as of late," she said in the post.
She wrote that this may have something to do with her family's activist work in the community.
"The purpose of the cage? To harass our Latino families and in particular my family. He knows we are advocates for social justice. We all know that the images of our latino children in cages has been something many of us have found deplorable," she said in the post.
Padilla-Chavez is the wife of Soledad Mayor Pro Tempore Alejandro Chavez.
We reached out to Padilla-Chavez and her husband about the incident but they have not responded to our requests for comment yet.
Soledad residents are divided on the issue. Some told KION the display sends a bad message, but others said the individual has First Amendment rights.
“Because they’re being racist to the community. Here we have a lot of Mexicans, we have a lot of Mexican residents,” Soledad resident Denise Valdes said.
“Everybody has their own right to put whatever flag they choose,” said Soledad resident Frances Sigala, who didn't find the display to be offensive. “There’s a man here who has a Mexican flag, an American flag, if somebody wants to put a Trump flag–I have a Biden flag. I haven’t put it out, but you, know, it’s America. We have a right.”
In a social media post, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office said the vehicle belongs to an employee and is legally parked, but said it appears to be part of an ongoing dispute between neighbors. The crate or cage-like structure on the trailer is used for transporting livestock, according to investigators.
“We went through and looked at and found out that the box that's in the trailer, that everyone is talking about, is used to transport livestock in support of 4H activities,” Chief Deputy John Thornburg told KION News. “As far as political displays, there’s nothing–we’re trying to figure out everything that went on. Employees–as long as they’re not on county property, wearing county uniforms–have their own political views.”
Soledad's Chief Damon Wasson said they’ve been called to the neighborhood multiple times for parking related issues. He also said there is a feud between neighbors there.
Soledad Police said no official police report has been filed with them yet.
The sheriff's office said the investigation is ongoing. Thornburg told KION they haven't gotten a complaint in writing but have received some calls and are looking into the Facebook post.
The sheriff's office says they are investigating this incident.
