Two state lawmakers condemned the move to shut down several San Jose highway off-ramps over Cinco de Mayo weekend, calling it a racist move to target one group of people.
Ten ramps into downtown were shut down between Friday night and early Monday morning. State Senator Dave Cortese and state Assembly Member Ash Kalra issued concerns about those closures and issued a joint statement questioning whether the move, at its core, was racist.
"We have concerns that it's more about targeting the community that celebrates Cinco de Mayo, much of which is of course the Latino community," Kalra said. "We just need explanations as to what the reasoning is, who's making the decisions and why those decisions are being made."
Police said the closures were done solely to protect public safety and that it's something they've done the past 15 years.
"By limiting the number of cars coming into the areas where people ordinarily gather up, we have found that not only have we reduced crime during Cinco de Mayo, but we've also reduced the number of arrests that we have to make, the number of tickets that we issue and the amount of enforcement action," Assistant San Jose police Chief Paul Joseph said.
Joseph said it's a strategy used at other events, like a marathon.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said he agrees the decision was based on public safety but said more should have been done to let people know about the closures.
"I think that the department and CHP and Caltrans together can do a better job of communicating with residents and making very clear what the plan is, why it’s the plan," Mahan said.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Police said they arrested 115 people and seized six firearms during Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
