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VOLUME 149, ISSUE 13 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2026
Indivisible Yolo hosts ‘ICE Out For Good’ event The organization held a memorial and march following the death of Minneapolis resident Renee Good and concerns over ICE practices BY MICHELLE BEKHTEL city@theaggie.org The community members in Davis gathered in Central Park on Jan. 10 for “ICE Out For Good,” a memorial and protest organized by Indivisible Yolo, an organization dedicated to social justice and community support. This event followed the death of Minneapolis resident Renee Good, an American citizen killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this month. Indivisible Yolo described the gathering as part of a national weekend of action. “This killing is part of a broader pattern of unchecked violence, impunity, and abuse carried out by federal immigration enforcement agencies against members of our communities,” the Indivisible Yolo website reads. The organizers also urged attendees to wear black and bring flowers for a memorial, with the goal being to “make visible the human cost of ICE’s actions,”
Demonstrators march through Central Park in Davis, Calif. on Jan. 10, 2026 to protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the recent murder of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minn. (Jenna Lee / Aggie) according to their website. The event opened with a speaker from Indivisible Yolo addressing Good’s death. “That’s what you were doing — standing up for your fellow human being, and the government killed you for it, and now they are lying about who you are. We won’t let them lie to the world about who you were,” the speaker said. Following the speaker, a moment of silence for Good was held. After the silence,
community member Maya Sanchez read the names of 32 people who died in ICE custody in 2025. Pastor Daniel Smith of the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation urged the crowd to think about the meaning of care. “It’s short and compact, but it does a lot of work,” Smith said. “To care means that you invest yourself in what you do. We probably have those folks in our lives that we just don’t talk
to anymore, friends or family. Just think of what that does to families, to communities, to a nation as a whole. To care means that you invest yourself in what you do.” Smith also criticized national leadership and drew past parallels. “When the government can turn its guns on its citizens and kill them and then justify the violence, that is when you’ve crossed over into fascism,” Smith said.
He also reiterated that communities have a responsibility to push back when they believe government actions threaten public safety or civil rights, emphasizing that Davis should not be complacent. “We can say as residents in Davis: Stay the hell out of our community,” Smith said. A letter from Representative Mike Thompson, read aloud by Luca Moredy, the field representative covering Lake
County, echoed concerns about federal enforcement. “It’s clear that the president and his administration are inciting this chaos to scare immigrants, silence dissent from Americans, and distract from the president’s disastrous record,” Thompson’s letter reads. Thompson’s letter also called for the resignation of Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security. “ICE is not making our country safer, and I demand she step down and get ICE out of Minneapolis,” Thompson’s letter reads. After the speakers, attendees marched around the park’s perimeter, chanting “ICE off our streets” and “No justice, no peace.” Participants left flowers, notes and other items at a memorial for Good. More information on Indivisible Yolo’s work and future events can be found on their website, indivisibleyolo. org/getinvolved.
Investigation into American Paul Allen Perez convicted in the murder Studies assistant professor’s social media post concludes of his five children in Assistant Professor Jemma DeCristo was suspended after making a post threatening “Zionist Yolo County
Perez was found guilty in a series of murders spanning from 1992 to 2001
Superior Court of Yolo County in Woodland, Calif. (Sacha Chickering / Aggie) BY KATYA OKS city@theaggie.org On Jan. 6, 63-year-old Paul Allen Perez was convicted of killing at least five of his infant children by a Yolo County Jury. This conviction comes after multiple decades following the crimes and six years after his initial arrest. Perez’s murders spanned from 1992 to 2001 and occurred across Northern and Central California. The victims — several of whom share the same name — include Kato Allen Perez, born in 1992; Mika Alena Perez, born in 1995; Nikko Lee Perez, born in 1996; Nikko Lee Perez, born in 1997; and Kato Krow Perez, born in 2001. Each victim was a few months old at the time of their murder. Of all the victims, only the remains of Nikko Lee born 1996 were found near Woodland, submerged in a cooler. The DNA found identified Perez as the father and linked him to the murders. California Attorney General
Rob Bonta issued a statement concerning the conviction of Perez. “With this conviction, justice was served for these horrific crimes,” Bonta said. “I am incredibly proud of the work our Bureau of Forensic Services put into this case, which provided a pathway to justice. I’m also grateful to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office and all of our law enforcement partners for their dedication to finding justice for these children.” Perez’s charges make him eligible for either a life sentence without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, which is still being discussed, but no one is currently being put to death by the state of California. In March 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order instituting a moratorium on the death penalty, which is defined as a temporary prohibition of a certain act. On Jan. 5, Jeff Reisig, the Yolo County district attorney,
discussed in a statement at a news conference how new technological advancements in DNA identification allowed for the cold case to be reopened and for Perez to be convicted. “Today, we are here because — as seen in other cases from around the nation — the science and power of DNA has shown that monsters and killers cannot hide forever any longer,” Reisig said. David Robbins, the deputy district attorney of Yolo County, described the conviction and its implications. “This case was a sobering and stark reminder about the dangers of domestic violence, not only to significant others, but to any children in those homes,” Robbins said. “While justice was delayed, it was not denied, and today’s verdict is proof of that.” Perez’s sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on April 6, 2026, where he faces the possibility of life in prison without parole.
journalists” in October 2023
RACHEL TRAN campus@theaggie.org A UC Davis assistant professor has returned from suspension following a now-concluded university investigation into her social media conduct. Jemma DeCristo, a member of the Department of American Studies, was suspended from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, after making an allegedly threatening post toward Jewish and Israeli students on social media. On Oct. 10, 2023, three days after the Oct. 7 attack, DeCristo publicly posted on X: “one group of ppl we have easy access to in the US is all these zionist journalists who spread propaganda & misinformation. they have houses w addresses, kids in school. they can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.” The post also included a knife emoji, an axe emoji and three blood tear emojis. The statement was soon condemned by Chancellor Gary May, and UC Davis later tasked former UCD School of Law Dean Kevin Johnson and Ellen London of London & Stout P.C. to investigate the matter. Investigators recognized that the spread of the post, which DeCristo said was meant to be seen only by a close group of friends, was amplified by rightwing outlets, according to their report issued in 2024 that was shared with The California Aggie. However, the investigators also acknowledged that, despite this original intent, the post caused “widespread fear, hurt and anxiety” and that in doing so, DeCristo had violated the University’s Ethical Principles. “We carefully considered the fact that [DeCristo] was targeted by the right-wing media, that she did not intend for this post to be read by anyone outside of her social circle and that her social circle would have understood it to be satire,” the investigation report reads. “However because of the nature of the post, and because of the widespread fear, hurt and anxiety that it caused, we found [DeCristo’s] conduct was not justified by the University’s Ethical Principles, and that some discipline is warranted.” Interviewees and other campus community members raised issues, largely over concerns of antisemitism as
George Hart Hall, home to the Department of American Studies at UC Davis. (Christian Cendejas / Aggie) well as Islamophobia, according to the investigation report. There were at least 300 email complaints sent to the University over the incident. The classified investigation was released after a publicrecords request by the Chronicle of Higher Education. DeCristo’s name, as well as other identifiers and some sections of the investigation, were redacted. In his Notice of Discipline to DeCristo, May said that she had failed to reckon with the consequences of her statement, and that he would suspend her for one quarter against the recommendations of investigators and a Hearing Panel. “[The Hearing Panel] found that your ‘lack of intent to cause harm and the terrible real-world consequences already experienced’ mitigated against a financial punishment,” May said. “In this one area, I respectfully disagree. While I recognize and regret that you also experienced significant personal consequences because of your actions, I noted with deep concern that both the investigators and the Hearing Panel found that you failed to acknowledge the deep pain and significant disruption you had caused others in the University community.” May also noted that the effects of DeCristo’s post directly affected students and student organizations. “Student witnesses detailed how your post compounded their suffering and impacted their lives during an already unsettling period,” May said. “They described student organizations hiring extra security and individual students avoiding campus, leaving town, or purchasing a weapon because they felt unsafe.”
Two staff members cited the impacts of DeCristo’s actions as a reason for them resigning from their positions, according to May’s notice. Other faculty members expressed some concern over the effect of punishing DeCristo on academic freedom, per the investigation. On top of the one quarter suspension, May has placed a Letter of Censure in DeCristo’s file. “The Panel reasonably concluded that you had failed to meet the standard for faculty members to be ‘effective teachers and scholars’ who recognize their ‘responsibilities within their institution,’” May’s letter reads. “Particularly where students were among those who suffered as a result of your actions, your glaring lack of insight into the harm you caused is in direct conflict with your obligation to protect and preserve conditions hospitable to student learning.” Investigators interviewed DeCristo twice; the report noted that she did not think her Oct. 10 post would be perceived as antisemetic and “made clear that she sees antisemitism and antiZionism as distinct concepts, and she believes other scholars do too.” DeCristo also told investigators in February 2024 that she was not willing to issue an apology at the time, considering every time the issue came up in the media, she would receive more threats. DeCristo made her Oct. 10 post a parody of an article in Zionist journal Israel Hayom, titled “Enough with proportionality: It’s time to take radical steps,” calling for the abduction of senior Hamas officials and their families, according to the report. AMERICANSTUDIES on 9