Marinscope
Outrage escalated in Marin over a plea resolution that has reduced charges against five people who trespassed on St. Raphael’s Catholic Church to tear down and deface the statue of a Catholic saint in 2020.
About 100 people made their displeasure known when they took to the streets on Tuesday (May 30) in front of the church in San Rafael. Some carried signs that read “Why, Lori, Why?” and “End Catholic Hate.”
The ‘Serra Five’ were allowed to plead down from felony charges to misdemeanor charges in return for a public apology and restitution. The Catholic Church, the victim in the case, did not sign off on the deal and the Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, blasted Marin District Attorney Lori Frugoli for treating Catholics as if they didn’t matter. Marin County Superior Judge Geoffrey Howard approved the deal.
It was unknown at press time whether the judge was aware of the fact that victim in this case was a not a willing participant in the outcome.
The ‘Serra Five’ were arrested after the statue honoring the 18th century Catholic Saint Juniperro Serra was destroyed during a planned Columbus Day protest on Oct. 12, 2020. They are: Ines Shiam Gardilcic, 40; Victoria Eva Montanopena, 29; Melissa Aguilar, 36; Mayorgi Nadeska Delgadillo, 36; and Moira Cribben Van de Walker, 25.
D.A. Frugoli said the plea deal was “just” and “fair” because the five participated in the Restorative Justice Process and aside from the public apology and the restitution, the five will be required to complete 50 hours each in volunteer work.
The amount that each will have to pay in restitution has not been determined.
People in the protest on Tuesday ridiculed the Restorative Justice Process. They called it a “joke that is no longer funny.”
In a press release announcing the deal, Frugoli said: “It is the District Attorney’s Office’s goal to achieve a fair result on all cases, and I strongly believe justice was served on this one. While this issue has raised emotions because of the sensitivities around religion, community boundaries, and historic inequities, the fact is that a resolution through accountability has been reached through restorative justice and that is a victory for this community.”
Archbishop Cordileone strongly disagreed. In a letter to Frugoli he said: “We are promised justice and equal treatment, only to have our legitimate concerns dismissed, and we ourselves treated as unworthy of consideration….You (D.A. Frugoli) say that the decision to reduce the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor was due in part to the defendants’ ‘active participation’ in the restorative justice process. Did you hear what I said in our previous conversation? The Archdiocese was shut out of the conversation, and the mediator was treating the perpetrators as if they were the victims. To consider their participation in the “RJ process” as a motivation for lessening the crime, when we were kept at arms’ length, is a direct insult to the victims of this crime, and only rubs the salt more deeply into our wounds.”
The apologies from the “Serra Five” have not been made public.
For those of use who zoomed into each and every court hearing and attended the latest in-person hearings over the past two and a half years, it was apparent that Judge Howard was more than happy to wash his hands of this whole business. . I believe he and the DA’s office would have accepted any resolution the defense offered. It was also apparent defense was running the show and running rings around the DA.
This is absurd!
Where is all the outrage for the people whose land was stolen, who were enslaved & killed, by the Catholic church?
You sound like one of the people that were tearing it down.
Land was not stolen, grow up.
This is ridiculous. This is exactly why California is going downhill so fast and people do not want to live here anymore. Good people are being ignored for domestic terrorists and extremists.
People cannot simply walk down the street in downtown San Rafael safely.
I have been threatened three times that a homeless person is going to kill me, I’ll because I asked him to leave my property. Nothing was done, and the person was never trespassed, even though I demanded it.
When the local officials decide to take back the community from these thugs, extremists, and domestic terrorists… them California might start having a chance once again. Until then, we are going to continue to make national news, and be part of the laughingstock of California.
It’s the democrats way of creating a secular global society