Official Statement on NNO Incident

Below is my official statement on the incident that transpired at National Night Out on August 6:

I had hoped not to make a public statement about the events at National Night out on Tuesday, both out of respect for the hosts and those involved, and also because I want to keep focus on the critical issues facing Vallejo. Unfortunately, after a surge of attention and inquiries for comment, I feel it necessary to clarify the sequence of events and provide a single definitive statement on the incident, after which I intend to restore focus to the issues facing Vallejo and our movement for change.

On Tuesday evening, I attended the National Night Out event in Vallejo Heights and was posing for a photo with 10 other people. As my husband was snapping the picture, former Councilmember Katy Miessner, a member of my opponent, Pippin Dew’s, campaign team, walked into the frame and stood directly in front of me, pushing back into me to block me from the photo. When others in the group asked Miessner to move, she physically and verbally assaulted me and those who were intervening to assist. My husband, who had his camera on for the photo, began filming when she became physical, and when she saw him, she struck him in the face and swore at him, which is what was captured on film and reported in the media.

I am grateful to the hosts and neighbors in Vallejo Heights for their support and swift deescalation of the situation.

I do not wish to shame or place more unwanted attention on Ms. Miessner, and we have no intention of filing a report or pressing charges at this time. However, I want to make one thing 100% clear. There was no aggression or violence displayed by anyone else involved. There was no threat, no fight, and many witnesses. There were several victims of the assault. I have no patience or tolerance for victim blaming, and neither should anyone else.

The responses from the other side have misrepresented the situation and invited attempts to defend and justify political violence. This needs to be corrected, and the Dew campaign needs to take accountability for what transpired. Vallejoans deserve better.  

My husband and I met in the Peace Corps. I believe deeply that love is a stronger emotion than hate, and unity is stronger than division. Let’s build community together, stand up to bullies, and reject the politics of hate and divisiveness in Vallejo once and for all.

Although this particular outburst of political violence was an isolated incident, the hateful rhetoric is unfortunately not. It’s unfortunate how normalized this behavior has become in our city by those we elect to lead us. Vallejo suffers from a lack of accountability by those at the top, and I know from my conversations with voters that everybody is fed up with it. We must come together and reject all forms of political violence, bullying, and intimidation tactics.