Wednesday, March 5
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Registration Required Below
Join us for a compelling evening with Redding resident and bestselling author Peter Houlahan as he discusses his latest true crime book, Reap the Whirlwind: Violence, Race, Justice, and the Story of Sagon Penn. Houlahan’s new work delves into the pivotal incident that forever altered how Southern California would respond to policing and communities of color.
In this special event, Houlahan will be in conversation with Tom Mellana, a seasoned journalist with a 25-year career covering major Connecticut news, including the arrest of Michael Skakel for the murder of Martha Moxley. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear two seasoned storytellers explore a case that still resonates today.
Through an engaging multimedia presentation—including maps, photos, video, and dramatic audio recordings of police radio traffic and 911 calls—Houlahan will bring this gripping story to life.
A reception and book signing will follow the discussion.
About the Book:
March 31, 1985. Two white patrol officers in search of a gang member followed a pickup truck carrying seven young Black men up a dirt driveway in the Encanto neighborhood of Southeastern San Diego. Minutes later, gunshots rang out, and the truck’s driver, Sagon Penn, fled the scene in an officer’s patrol car. The incident stunned the city. What followed would change it forever.
Penn was an idealist who believed in the power of Buddhist chants to bring about the oneness of humanity. The two police officers were rising stars in one of the most progressive police departments in the country, yet one that had suffered more officers killed in the line of duty than any other. While the facts of the case were never in dispute, what remained unresolved was what, if anything, could justify such a violent confrontation? For over two years, a determined prosecutor and a charismatic defense attorney engaged in a sensational courtroom drama that revolved around matters of mental health, racial biases, and the self-image of a once-sleepy beach town grappling with its transformation into a major metropolitan area. The Sagon Penn incident forever altered how San Diego would respond to incidents involving police and communities of color.
About Our Speakers:
Peter Houlahan is an author, freelance writer, and book review contributor. His work has appeared in CrimeReads, Police1, L.A. Magazine, Criminal Element, Hearst Newspapers, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Daily Mirror, and Southern California Newspaper Group. His first book, Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History, was released in 2019 and was a finalist for the Edgar Award, Hammett Prize, and Macavity Award. The book has been chosen as a New York Times “Summer Pick,” NPR “Favorite Book of 2019,” Wall Street Journal “Readers Pick,” Amazon “Best Book,” and Junior Library Guild “Gold Standard Selection.” Norco ‘80 has been produced as a multi-episode podcast by NPR and optioned for film. His second nonfiction book, “Reap the Whirlwind: Violence, Race, Justice and the Story of Sagon Penn” received prestigious starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist and is an Amazon “Editor’s Pick” for nonfiction. Houlahan lives and works as an emergency medical technician in Redding, Connecticut.
In his 25-year newspaper career Tom Mellana covered some of the biggest stories in recent Connecticut history, including the arrest of Michael Skakel for the murder of Martha Moxley in Greenwich. He is the former managing editor of Greenwich Time and the Stamford Advocate, and is currently an assistant managing editor at Law360. He is a member of the board of directors of the Hudson Valley Writers Center