Man Who Bear-Sprayed Protestors in Santa Monica Sentenced for Role in Jan. 6
Riot: Report
His Sentence Ranks Among the Longest Issued to Defendants for Roles in the Capitol Insurrection
David Nicholas Dempsey, a 37-yearold man with a history of political violence including a 2019 incident where he used bear spray against peaceful protesters at the Santa Monica Pier, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday for his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to several reports.
His sentence ranks among the longest issued to defendants for their roles in the Capitol insurrection, according to the Associated Press.
Prosecutors described Dempsey as one of the most violent rioters, detailing his aggressive actions during the attack. He was seen stomping on police officers’ heads and using flagpoles, metal crutches, and pieces of furniture as makeshift weapons. Dempsey reportedly climbed on other rioters, using them as “human scaffolding” to reach officers guarding a tunnel entrance. His attacks injured multiple police officers, including a Metropolitan Police Department detective and a sergeant, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Dempsey pleaded guilty in January to two counts of assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon. In a statement before his sentencing, he called his actions “reprehensible” and apologized to the officers he assaulted. “You were performing your duties, and I responded with hostility and violence,” he stated, as reported by Patch.com.
His sentencing comes nearly five years after Dempsey was charged with
spraying bear repellent on a crowd of political protesters at the Santa Monica Pier.
On Oct. 19, 2019, officers working the Pier observed a fight between two groups of protestors. One of the protestors, later identified as David Dempsy, dispersed a canister of bear repellent into the crowd, affecting numerous protestors and noninvolved pier patrons. As seen in a YouTube video, Dempsey was wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.
Trump supporters and anti-Trump protestors exchanged insults for around 10 minutes, according to the Los Angeles Times, before shoving one another and yelling obscenities. That’s when Dempsey pulled out the bear repellent, video showed.
Police cornered Dempsey soon after the incident and detained him near the police substation on the Pier.
In addition to using bear spray against peaceful protesters at the Santa Monica Pier, Dempsey’s extensive criminal record includes multiple charges of
burglary, theft, and assault. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher characterized him as “political violence personified.”, according to Patch.com Since the January 6 attack, over 1,488 individuals have been charged with crimes related to the Capitol breach, with nearly 550 facing assault charges against law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing, and the case has drawn attention amid discussions of potential pardons for rioters by former President Trump.
North America’s Biggest Dog Festival to Return to Santa Monica
Attendees
Can Participate in a 100-Foot Pool Party, Dog Races, a Foam Party for Pups and a Dog Surfing Wave
Machine
The Day of the Dog, North America’s largest festival dedicated to dogs, is returning to Main Street in Santa Monica on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 12pm to 5pm. This free event will benefit the Just Love Animals Society, a nonprofit focused on community outreach and animal welfare.
The festival is expected to attract over
10,000 attendees and features more than 100 exhibitors showcasing the latest dog products and trends, according to a release from organizers. Attendees can participate in a variety of canine-themed activities, including a 100-foot pool party, dog races, a foam party for pups, and a dog surfing wave machine.
“We’re the biggest cultural movement honoring today’s modern-day family,” said festival co-producer Leo Powell in the release. “With pet ownership rising by more than 40% since the pandemic, Santa Monica is the perfect location for our festival.”
Among the highlights is the “Size Does Matter” parade of wiener dogs, which will feature special guest judges, as well as interactive activities such as a superhero-themed photo booth and various pop-up photo studios. For those looking to pamper their pets, food vendors will offer dog-friendly options, including a Puppuccino Bar and brunch for dogs.
The Day of the Dog will take place on two full city blocks of Main Street, where streets will be closed for the event. Public parking is available at
Sunset Park Retail Center Sells for $3.9M
The Retail Center Is Strategically Located Near Santa Monica College and Virginia Avenue Park
Lee & Associates Investment Services
Group has announced the off-market sale of a multi-tenant retail center located at 1302-1308 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica for $3.9 million. The transaction, which was completed by Senior Vice President Jesse Muñoz, involved the buyer, Pico 1302 Investors Inc.
The seller, 1302 Pico Blvd Associates LLC, was represented by Gabe Kadosh of Colliers International.
Situated at the corner of Pico Boulevard and Euclid Street in the Sunset Park neighborhood, the property, built in 1962, occupies a 13,007 squarefoot lot that includes a single-story retail building spanning 7,276 square feet and 12 surface parking spaces. The retail center is strategically located near Santa Monica College and Virginia Avenue Park, enhancing its appeal.
“The purchase of this prime asset in a high barrier-to-entry market aligns with my client’s long-term investment strategy,” Muñoz said. The property is currently 61% occupied, with potential
for increased revenue and future redevelopment options due to the city’s recent Housing Element update.
Jacob Jalil, managing member of Pico 1302 Investors, expressed confidence in the acquisition, stating, “We believe this transaction is a good entrance into the Santa Monica market for us, as we intend to expand our portfolio in the more moderate areas of Santa Monica.” A personal training facility, The Study, occupies a significant portion of the property.
Golda Zahra to perform Liu in concert gala performance of Turandot
Walt Disney Hall with Dream Orchestra Adds Golda Zahra to the Ticket
By Susan Payne
After a remarkable sold out performance at Santa Monica’s Broad Stage, award-winning soprano Golda Zahra will debut the role of Liu in Turandot at the Walt Disney Concert Hall this August.
Celebrating 100 years of Giacomo Puccini, this gala production with Dream Orchestra led by renowned conductor Maestro Daniel Suk will feature 200 performers, top soloists, Opera Choir of Los Angeles and the Han Opera Conservatory of Music, led by Chinese opera star, soprano Yanwen Han, who are traveling from China for this performance.
“Liu is one of the protagonists of the show, so I’m really excited for this concert version of Turandot,” Golda said. “I’m really looking forward to the collaboration of the many different artists and cultures sharing a love for opera.”
Golda Zahra has been hailed as “a promising young opera singer” by The Los Angeles Times, a “rising star of the opera world” by The Hollywood Times and a rising star of her generation. She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including The Southwest Symphony, Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, and LA Opera under the baton of James Conlon. She was also a recipient of the prestigious Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Award.
As a high school student, Golda performed at the Walt Disney Hall where she earned the Spotlight, so this upcoming performance in downtown Los Angeles is another full circle moment for her. Although she lives in Italy and has studied opera overseas since graduation, Golda said coming home to sing has been a dream come true.
“Being able to sing at the Walt Disney Hall again is a true homecoming for me. I’ve learned so much over the last 10 years since my first time at the hall — I’m a completely different person and different sing so I’m excited to share my love for opera once again in Los
Angeles,” Golda said.
As a younger artist, one of Golda’s dreams is to make opera loveable for younger generations.
“To sing with other colleagues my age, especially with some from another country is amazing because it shows how powerful music is and how much it could bring people together,” Golda said. “It warms my heart to be able to see this come to fruition at the beginning of my career, I would love to have more collaborations like this in the future.”
The upcoming concert gala production of Puccini’s Turandot with Dream Orchestra led by Maestro Daniel Suk will be held August 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA Music Center at 111 S. Grand Ave.
Tickets can be purchased at DreamOrchestra.org or MusicCenter. org. For more information on the rising star Golda Zahra, visit GoldaZahra.com.
“I’m so grateful to my audience and the people of Los Angeles who have welcomed me back, how kind and enthusiastic they are, their enthusiasm and energy gives me energy, love and positivity that I can give right back to them. I’m so happy and grateful for the opportunity to share my love for opera a second time.”
FILM REVIEW
SING SING
BEHIND
THE SCREEN
By Kathryn Whitney Boole
Sing Sing is a unique docudrama that cracks open a world unfamiliar to most of the audience. The film is based on the Rehabilitation Through the Arts Program (RTA) at the maximum-security Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Most of the ensemble in the movie are former RTA members. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Fest in 2023 and won the Audience Award at the SXSW Film Fest 2024.
The style here is not a beginning-toend thread but rather a window into the transformation of hardened incarcerated men, breaking down layers of pain to reveal the vulnerability underneath. You will also see a sense of “family” develop in these men in prison that takes the place of the camaraderie that they would have with their friends “outside.” Not a lot of movies that take place entirely in a prison setting, so this is a world that audiences are seldom drawn into, and Sing Sing is based on reality. It is enlightening to see the transformative power of art in such a restricted setting. Director Greg Kwedar co-wrote the screenplay with Clint Bentley and decided to shoot on film rather than digital to give the movie a gritty texture. The development of the story is haphazard, but the show is driven by the exuberance of the prisoneractors, most of whom have been locked up for years. The theatrical exercise unleashes emotions, psychology, and communications that have been are stifled.
Only two members of the cast are non-prisoner actors: Paul Raci, who plays the prison drama director, and Colman Domingo. The rest of the cast
are formerly incarcerated men who are RTA alumni. Domingo’s character, “John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield,” is a real person, and this film is based on his true story. Whitfield was an aspiring young filmmaker who loved Bruce Lee films and, in the 1980s, enrolled in New York’s High School for the Performing Arts. His life abruptly changed one night in 1988 when he was arrested for a homicide he did not commit and was sentenced to prison. There, he read, did legal research, and advocated for his own and fellow prisoners’ freedom. This movie portrays his time working with the RTA program in prison. Whitfield has written four novels and numerous plays, many of which have been produced through the RTA. Writer Brent Buell directed theatre for ten years in New York maximum security prisons and wrote Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code, the play featured in this story. Paul Raci’s character is based on Buell. Raci himself has been teaching drama to the deaf for years. A child of deaf parents, Raci starred in CODA and Sound of Metal.
Actor Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin was incarcerated for 17 years and took part in the RTA program. He plays himself, demonstrating the most extraordinary transformation. His gangster façade melts at a painfully slow pace, but when he rehearses to play “Hamlet,” he brings to the role the tragic agony that Shakespeare probably intended. Former prisoners/ RTA players Sean San Jose, Sean “DMO” Johnson, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, and others are equally compelling to watch. In the panel that discussed the film after my screening, Maclin was still guarded yet profoundly sincere in his comments about the experience.
Each person strives to make a
Rated R
105 Minutes
Released August 2nd
statement in the world they can access, whether it’s school, work, family, community of worship, sports, the criminal world or prison. This film shows that despite mistakes they have made in life, many of the prisoners continue to forge meaningful lives inside, learning, thinking, and, in this case, acting and creating. The RTA Program claims that only 3% of its performers return to prison compared to an overall 60% recidivism. Domingo describes the
transformation as “humanitarian hope.” Theatre opens the door to anyone to imagine yourself in another life, to allow your inner child to resurface, for audiences and for prisoners alike.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
They Want to Build a Wall
SMa.r.t.
Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow
Every once in a while, a topic arises that we had previously written about but doesn’t seem to go away. The Miramar condo/hotel project is such an example. With recent coastal commission approvals and no push back from the City in terms of reduction in scale, etc., and the project looming on the horizon, we thought our readers might want to revisit our opinion column from 27 April 2018, more than six years ago, and we find, with the information at hand, our opinion and observations have remained the same. Here is that column. https:// smmirror.com/2018/04/opinion-sm-r-twall-not-music-eyes/
The Wall (not music to our eyes)
The Fairmont Miramar Hotel has released its revised design concept, and, not unexpectedly, the local resident responses, per several local Facebook pages, has been one of great concern and rejection, eliciting what appears to be a couple hundred comments. The project is massive and creates a visual barrier, a wall, along 2nd Street, effectively separating itself from the adjacent neighborhood rather than transitioning in a scaled manner. In doing that, it has the feel of saying to the residents, stop; the ocean views and fresh breezes are for our
guests and wealthy condo owners, not for you. You get shadows and the wall.
What does our City’s Land Use Circulation Element (LUCE) say about this? Well, it states a primary goal is to:
“Maintain The Character Of Santa Monica While Enhancing The Lifestyle Of All Who Live Here.”
This structure is so out of scale with the “character” of our beach community as to leave one hard-pressed to believe that our Planning Commission, Architectural Review Board (ARB), and ultimately our City Council would give serious consideration to its approval. It remains to be seen what their reaction will be as it comes before them in the days ahead. Unfortunately, their track record of late for approval of inappropriate and/or over-scaled projects is not encouraging. Witness the Hines project, the Gehry Hotel and the Santa Monica College “daycare” compound on our Civic Center land, which is likely to serve precious few residents, if any. Residents were forced to petition for a referendum to stop the massive Hines development as their protestations fell on the deaf ears of City Council. This project, if approved as presented, may not be subject to referendum as the City has modified its approval process since losing Hines.
The Miramar Condo project team will argue that it is in conformance with the new Downtown Community Plan (DCP) guidelines for height and density as one of three “large” (think “spot zoned”)
sites, but by all outward appearances, it raises serious questions. Floor Area Ratio (FAR) calculations are allowed to exclude a significant number of square feet by definition, e.g., all stairs, elevators, ramps, mechanical and other peripheral areas…so it is conforming but does not describe the actual FAR. While the project lists a 2.61 FAR, in reality, it would be larger. Per resident responses, height is an issue for most. The DCP allows 130ft (plus another 16ft for mechanical equipment covering 20 percent of the roof, for a real height of 146ft). The site is in the Ocean Transition (OT) zone, and if it were not treated with
an “overlay,” it would have a maximum 50 ft height limit and would break up the 900 ft length with required wide, open, ground to sky separations. It is a very big building for our beachfront town. So, what does the LUCE have to say about scale and heights?
“It is a conservation plan that provides
for an overall reduction in building height.”
Hmmmm. Maybe there is some confusion about how to reduce heights, but I think it generally comes from lowering the height rather than raising it. And if this project receives approval, along with the Gehry Hotel anchoring the mid-point of our Ocean Avenue, we will be hearing most assuredly from other developers that they too want their piece of the sky. We see noted in the City crafted DCP that “the Clock Tower is 196 ft”, and the 300ft tall 100 Wilshire building is highlighted, etc., seemingly showing precedents for developers to use to justify asking for maximum heights. The Miramar Condos/commercial building starts along Wilshire and is 600ft long along 2nd Street and then, without a break, another 300 ft along California Avenue, replacing the existing classic one story bungalows currently there. In essence a 900’+ building on its side.
“The LUCE Framework introduces the requirement that new development must contribute to, not detract from,
the community. Each future project must exhibit extraordinary community benefits as well as compatibility in scale, setting, and transitions to residential neighborhoods.”
The most common comments about the proposed Miramar are that it belongs in “Miami Beach,” that it is typical of “corporate” and high-end tourist resort areas, that it is “way too big,” “out of scale,” will be a “traffic disaster,” and brings nothing to our residents quality of life. One concession or “benefit” noted is that the design opens up and exposes the landmarked Moreton Bay Fig Tree. As desirable as that may be one has to question the value of that as justification for a project so out of scale to our community. What are the other “extraordinary community benefits” to the residents if the Miramar Condos are allowed to be built? There are some residential units to be built off-site, and some are said to be “affordable,” that somewhat dubious So Called Affordable Housing (SCAH). But once again a jobs/ housing imbalance is created as the
number of units that a hotel worker can afford is likely to not even be close to the number of employees a massive project like this will generate. So, “Einstein’s” definition proves itself true (though he never really said it!): “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the
This project is designed for high-end condo buyers and the tourist trade and provides virtually nothing to enhance the lifestyle or life experience of the existing residents. Developers can build for that demographic if built to the allowed standards of the zoning codes, but if they receive bonuses in the form of increased heights and density it should benefit the residents. The DCP was shaped to give away this site, the Gehry site, and the 4th/5th and Arizona site to developers, not to enhance the residents’ lifestyle, or to reduce heights, or to be scaled as the LUCE states, to “reflect the identity, values, and vision of this singular beach community.” This project does not do that.
So our conclusion six years ago,
framed in the above column, “This structure is so out of scale with the “character” of our beach community as to leave one hard-pressed to believe that our Planning Commission, Architectural Review Board (ARB), and ultimately our City Council, would give serious consideration to its approval.” was not prescient, as it has received those approvals and no doubt building permit documents are being prepared.
Bob Taylor, AIA for SMa.r.t. Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow
Samuel Tolkin Architect & Planning Commissioner, Thane Roberts, Architect, Mario Fonda-Bonardi AIA, Robert H. Taylor AIA, Architect, Dan Jansenson, Architect & Building and Fire-Life Safety Commission, Michael Jolly, AIR-CRE Marie Standing. Jack Hillbrand AIA
For previous articles, see www. santamonicaarch.wordpress.com/writing
Olympic Gold Medalist on Why Santa Monica Is “The Place to Train”
The Sport’s TwoPlayer Format Was Established in Santa Monica in 1930
As the 2024 Paris Olympic Games spotlighted beach volleyball, three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings emphasized Santa Monica’s pivotal role in the sport’s history.
“Not only is Santa Monica the birthplace of modern beach volleyball, it was the place to train,” said Walsh Jennings in an interview with Santa Monica Travel & Tourism while enjoying the games in Paris. “The sand is deep, and the competition is amazing. The Santa Monica lifestyle is beachy, natural, and active — everything my sport represents and something I always aspired to.”
The sport’s two-player format was
established in Santa Monica in 1930, although the city’s love for beach volleyball dates back even further. Permanent beach volleyball nets were first installed in the early 1920s, and by 1924, Santa Monica was already hosting inter-club competitions that attracted both casual players and serious athletes, as detailed in a release by Santa Monica Travel & Tourism.
Today, Santa Monica boasts 3.5 miles of sandy beaches that are a renowned destination for outdoor enthusiasts. The city features numerous beach volleyball courts and clubs, including the popular Annenberg Community Beach House, which remains a vibrant hub for players of all skill levels.
“Santa Monica has always been a pinnacle in my life,” Walsh Jennings added. “Not only is it amazing for beach volleyball, with their 3.5 miles of white sand and attractions like Pacific Park,
but as a mother who enjoys an active lifestyle and wants to give my kids the experiences I had, visiting Santa Monica is a no-brainer. The sand is beautiful, the beaches are wonderful, and there’s so much for them to do.”
