SANTA CRUZ — A light, misty rain fell over Santa Cruz Sunday afternoon as hundreds gathered in the downtown area to honor the life and pray for the recovery of a prominent local activist who set himself on fire in front of City Hall less than two weeks prior.
Thairie Ritchie, a well known Santa Cruz community organizer, reportedly self-immolated Jan. 20 atop the Black Lives Matter mural on Center Street in downtown Santa Cruz, only a few yards from the city’s power center. According to police scanner recordings from that day, first responders around the 5 p.m. hour were at the corner of Locust and Center streets in response to a “male who set himself on fire.” The response was triggered only a few hours after the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march had finished inside the neighboring Civic Auditorium and President Donald Trump had taken his oath of office for the second time in Washington.
Ritchie’s family, friends and acquaintances quietly poured into the open-air patio of Bike Church Santa Cruz on Sunday, the second day of Black History Month, with many carrying flowers as they embraced one another with tears in their eyes. The smell of incense and burning sage was carried by the crisp winter air as the sun set behind a gray curtain of clouds that covered the more than 300 people that had assembled to collectively process the incident.
Inside space had been cleared to set up a vigil for Ritchie, 29, with photos, candles and seating along with cookies and other snacks. Pens and paper were passed around for visitors to write private notes that many hope he will soon read as his recovery begins.
Ayo Banjo, a friend of Ritchie and the designated media contact for the event, said that Ritchie was awake Sunday and recovering in an intensive care unit. He said “a lot” of Ritchie’s body was covered in burns but declined to share a percentage, adding that the recovery process is estimated to take about six months.
“He (Ritchie) means a lot to us because he was all about community and everybody here from all different walks of life, all different races, all different genders, all different places, come together because we celebrate his representation,” said Banjo. “He is the example of what I think makes America, America. The ability to bring everyone together around issues that are beyond us and bigger than us. And I think that message has to be communicated.”
Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker confirmed to the Sentinel that Santa Cruz fire and police teams responded Jan. 20 to an individual on Center Street who was actively on fire. He said the fire was quickly extinguished and the individual was transported to medical care.
“This was a tragic incident and our hearts go out to those impacted,” wrote Huffaker in an emailed statement. “We recognize this was a traumatic event and that the community is grieving. The City is supportive of the community holding space, grieving, and supporting one another through this challenging time.”
Ritchie’s motivations for the self-immolation remained unclear Sunday, though there was some speculation swirling about a letter or series of letters Ritchie had left behind, as reported by Lookout Santa Cruz, which was first to share news of the incident.
Asked if the city was in possession of a letter authored by Ritchie, Huffaker appeared not to respond directly, writing: “Our intent has always been to respect confidentiality, familial requests for privacy, and legal restrictions placed on the City’s ability to respond. We remain committed to transparency and compassionate communication and will continue to support our community.”
When asked again about the possible existence of letters, Huffaker stressed that any potential answers to why the self-immolation occurred can only come from the individual, their family or their community, and the city will not speculate. In addition to the city acting within constraints of state and local privacy and information sharing code, Huffaker also said the police department’s standard practice is to return any property taken as evidence to the rightful owner, and this case was no exception.
“I understand that there are members of the community and the media that believe the City is withholding evidence,” wrote Huffaker, “but I want to make clear that the City has shared everything that it can under the law.”
Friends and fellow local activists, for their part, insist that there is a message behind Ritchie’s actions even if his words are yet to emerge. This includes Abi Mustapha, founding member of the Equity Collab and a local artist who helped lead the effort to create the Black Lives Matter street mural in Santa Cruz in 2020.
“While his story is not necessarily mine to tell, one thing I can say with certainty is he was sending a message very publicly and purposefully,” Mustapha wrote in a recent social media post. “By keeping it quiet we take away his power. He took this action out loud. It is not for anyone to silence it. While I don’t advocate for this action I honor his statement.”
Instances of self-immolation amid moments of political strife have occurred since at least the 1960s. One of the more well-known incidents came in 1963 when Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death in Saigon in protest of the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. The extreme, often deadly protest tactic was observed as recently as February of last year when 25-year-old Air Force airman Aaron Bushnell died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, saying in a livestream of the event that he “will no longer be complicit in genocide.”
After convening at the bike church courtyard, Sunday’s vigil-goers eventually moved onto the street for a half-mile march to City Hall where another vigil and street closure was planned after permits had been approved by the city, according to Huffaker. Participants held bouquets of bright flowers and roses as night fell and the leader of the march shouted call and response chants that included Ritchie’s name, “Black Lives Matter” and “Free, free Palestine.”
Hundreds of bouquets were eventually placed atop the Black Lives Matter mural painted in bright yellow letters, alongside candles and more photos of Ritchie. Organizers set up a microphone and loudspeaker so that some of Ritchie’s oldest and closet friends could reflect on the moment and the way Ritchie had given them inspiration over the years.
“I want to keep pushing his message forward and keep fighting for what he was fighting for,” said Marissa Molina, who has known Ritchie since he was 14 years old. “I don’t want us to lose that hope of change.”
Molina, overwhelmed with emotion, played a brief tribute for Ritchie on a Native American flute to an enraptured crowd.
Isaac Collins, a Santa Cruz-based musician and poet that goes by the artist name “Lyrical I,” read a poem he wrote for Ritchie called “How many?” He told the Sentinel that, for him, the experience had been a reminder of the need to make mental health services more widely available to the local Black community.
“How many more of us are going to keep being silent and pretend that mental health of men of color don’t matter when it has to be addressed more than ever,” Collins said, reciting his poem. “How many more marches, protests, speeches do we have to make to sacrifice for our freedom? Our right to exist and our cities that will hide away from the real issues that we are facing right now.”
Huffaker said that Santa Cruz police had concluded that the act was not criminal in nature, and no further investigative action had been taken since Jan. 22. He said the city’s process of information sharing was made within a privacy and legal framework based on state law.
“The City never intended to diminish the gravity of the situation,” he wrote.
If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.