Despite the riots lasting for days, the police are portrayed as suppressing the riot violence and protecting Filipinos from the rioters.  Multiple reports in Evening Pajaronian describe police officers’ actions during the riots to be helpful, sometimes even looking down on the police for acting charitably towards Filipinos being targeted by mob violence.

Published on January 20, 1930 in Evening Pajaronian, this article reports on multiple altercations between whites and Filipinos in which police intervened. [click here to view enlarged version]

 

On January 20, 1930, Evening Pajaronian published a report detailing several fights between white and Filipino people. On the afternoon of January 19, 1930, several groups of young white men went out to the Palm Beach Dance Hall and tried to enter the resort, but were held back from entry by “deputies, hired to guard the place.” Later, on the same day, a fight broke out between whites and Filipinos again, with the paper reporting that a Filipino man allegedly threw a rock at a white person, cutting him on the leg. This led to white people congregating and cornering Filipinos into a house where Filipinos were armed with knives “and the tides of the battle turned,” implying that the Filipinos defending themselves from the mob had gained the upper hand. However, “hostilities were brought to a close by the arrival of the police.” 

The same article detailed  a fight between Filipino and white people that escalated quickly to  a mob of about 100 white men driving several Filipinos across the Pajaro River Bridge into the neighboring town of Pajaro. According to the newspaper, the fight started because several Filipinos, who remain nameless, cornered three white boys and “asked if they wanted trouble.” The three white boys then began to spread word throughout Watsonville that “Filipinos were on a warpath,” pronouncing the need to violently assemble The article credits an Officer Cole as the man who “broke into the mob and managed to restore peace,” showing how the paper portrays the actions of one policeman successful in quelling tensions between the two groups.  

The report brings up Palm Beach Dance Hall, where allegedly “three deputy sheriffs are said to be retained to protect the place from adventurous white youth and also to prevent any sociable row that may arise among the dancers over the smiles of the fair American dancing girls.”  The police take on two perceived roles at the hall: one that protects patrons, mostly Filipinos, from the mobs, and the other protecting the employed women who were paid to dance with patrons. Contradictions in the narrative here become apparent as Filipinos are not only in need of protection, but they also become subjects of surveillance. The police thus serve as heroes, quelling these “adventurous” rioters while also keeping an eye on the Filipino man.

 

Published on January 22, 1930 in Evening Pajaronian, this report deals with a mob that approached the Palm Beach Dance Hall in search of Filipinos. [click here to view enlarged version]

 

Another report published in Evening Pajaronian on January 22, 1930 describes the police positively. At around 11 p.m., a mob of around 400 attempted to storm the Palm Beach Dance Hall following rumors of a mass meeting of Filipinos at the hall. The mob, reportedly filled with white youth, started on Beach Road, headed towards the dance hall, and began to fire shots after leaving city limits. People in the dance hall, including the owners and people living there were armed with “sawed-off shotguns and gas bombs” to prevent the mob from breaking into the premises. Several small shotgun shells were fired into the mob by the proprietors; two youths were hit by these shots, one in the cheek and the other in the hand. 

The paper reports that both the county and state officers were quick to arrive at the dance hall and “prevented further bloodshed,” dispersing the mob and transporting Filipinos to safety in the city. The paper writes, “The crowd hated to have the police spoil a Roman holiday and showed their displeasure by shouting ‘Goo-goo lovers’ at the officers.” The term “goo-goo” was a Philippine-American War-era derogatory term used against Filipino combatants and civilians to dehumanize them. This not only added to the narrative that the police were the saviors, but it pitted police officers against the rioters, emphasizing the aggression of the rioters to the police officers and creating a martyr-like image for them as they too suffered verbal assaults from rioters.

 

Published on January 24, 1930 in Evening Pajaronian, this is a report published after the murder of Fermin Tobera in which civilian vigilante units and police officers are credited for quelling riots. [click here to view enlarged version]

 

After the murder of Tobera, police officers and citizen vigilante groups were credited for bringing peace back to Watsonville. A newspaper article, published on January 24, 1930, lauded white volunteer citizen vigilante forces in helping police officers quell any additional uprisings. The article includes a statement from citizens and citizen associations condemning the actions of rioters and pledging to put a stop to any forms of aggression. The citizen groups assured police that they “and the people of the community are behind them without limit.” The paper uplifted the idea that police were protectors of peace and had the support of Watsonville residents to reinstate peace, yet the formation of these vigilante groups occurred only after the murder of Tobera. This contradicted the narrative that rioters had created around police by calling them “goo-goo lovers,” instead only uplifting the idea that they were protectors of the peace and had the support of Watsonville residents to reinstate peace. The murder of Tobera spurred the formation of these citizen deputy groups and there was likely no citizen support before Tobera was shot. 

The paper does not delve deeply into how the volunteer groups kept peace, but notes that pool halls, which were often frequented by Filipinos, were to be closed by 6 p.m. The city put in place curfews for certain places of businesses often frequented by Filipinos as a means of protection, but also surveillance as these curfews were most likely executed by white vigilante forces working and the police. Once again, Filipinos remain nameless and faceless in comparison to police who are credited with names and titles for bringing an end to the riots. This contributed to the narrative of scandal and the idea that the  boys and men who were rioting in the city, were in fact just rough-housing and having a little bit of fun after dark. The lack of Filipino voices  throughout Evening Pajaronian’s narration of the race riots constructs them as passive victims. The police are portrayed as protectors of  supposedly helpless Filipinos  and heroes who brought peace to the “turbulent town” of Watsonville.

 

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