Investigation Into California Capitol Violence Yields No Arrests So Far

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – It has been five days since the violent protest at the Capitol, and there still have been no arrests.

With than 100 police officers between from the Sacramento Police Department and the California Highway Patrol standing by at the Capitol for Sunday's rally, citizens are concerned about why there haven't been any arrests made.

A rally exercising freedom of speech quickly turned into violent acts of hate on Sunday, and to many,  it appeared police were standing back.

"People don't get how volatile these situations are, we are holding a line to avoid spilling the violence into the streets, businesses and neighborhoods", says Sacramento Police Sergeant Bryce Heinlein.

It's one of Sacramento PD's tactics during riots, according to Sgt. Heinlein.

He says it's not to be confused with complacency -- it's an approach to keeping the violence contained.

Sgt. Heinlein says Sacramento police did intervene and help victims who were injured.

So far, no arrests have been made by Sacramento police or the California Highway Patrol, after ten people were injured and five stabbed.

Sgt. Heinlein says "we were only there to assist CHP until they request for us to step in, and to my knowledge we did not receive additional requests."

In addition, Heinlein says the most challenging part of the investigation is that many of the suspects were wearing masks, and cannot easily be identified.

Sacramento police are now combing through surveillance video and witness accounts to look for suspects.

Sgt. Heinlein says they are investigating one of the attacks that happened in their jurisdiction -- the victims from the other two attacks were not willing to give a statement.

Both Sacramento police and the California Highway Patrol are considering a city ordinance to make it illegal for people to wear masks during protests and rallies.

There was an emergency ordinance put in place a few years ago during a rally at the Capitol, but now both agencies are hoping to make it permanent.