On Monday night in Fairfield, California, looters found a new and outrageous way to break in and loot a store: they rammed a forklift truck through the entrance of a Best Buy at the Solano Town Center.
Police stated the vandals were not local, that construction work on the mall property was ongoing and the vandals used that equipment. Lt. Jausiah Jacobsen, who said one arrest had been made, stated, “We were able to get a lot of license plates and log those and it’s clear to us that these were all people who came from outside of town to take advantage of Fairfield,” as ABC7 News reported.
Jacobsen continued, “These people were clearly here to cause havoc and terrorize, they were here to loot and damage. That’s what their intent was and what they were doing.”
Some local residents spoke to ABC7 about their grief at the destruction. Cesar Gomez tearfully told ABC7, “I’ve got my broom and dustbin. This is my town. I was born and raised here.”
David Barnum of Dixon added, “It’s just insane. I can’t believe that’s happening so close to my house. It feels honestly like this should be somewhere else. This should be, dare I say, Los Angeles or…It’s not rural out here but it’s not packed urban like the crazy places you see on TV.”
Barnum said, “Unfortunately I do think we have a few more days of it. I thought it was going to end the first day and I went to UC Davis yesterday and saw all the destruction there and it’s just going to keep on happening for awhile until someone figures out — someone decides — this needs to stop. I don’t know what’s going to tell them that they should.”
Fairfield lies halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento; it is the home of Travis Air Force base and has a population of roughly 110,000 people.
On Monday, California governor Gavin Newson stated:
And if leaders are going to meet, not just this moment, but the moments in front of us, we better start listening. We better start hearing people. We better own up to our own responsibility, on accountability that led to this moment. Society becomes how we behave. We are our behaviors. Each and every one of us as an obligation to do more and better. And folks in my position, more still. I get that. I own that, but leaders can be found everywhere. Leadership is not just some fancy title. We are desperate for leadership in this country. Desperate for leadership in the State of California, desperate for leadership in communities, large and small. Leaders can be found anywhere. You don’t have to be something to do something to soften the edges.
He added, “To those that want to exploit this moment, that want to flame the violence and fear, we hear you as well, but we don’t have the same sensitivities as it relates to those that are trying to exercise their voice from a place of hurt and pain. When you try to cause pain on others, when you’re out there to exploit conditions, not advance the cause of justice, that is not serving the greater good. And we need to also call that out. The looting, the violence, the threats against fellow human beings, that has no place in this state and in this nation.”
Video of forklift below: