Risking lives for the ’gram

There’s a little influencer in us all, but most have better judgement

Each New Year’s Eve, we all expect to see crowds of people dancing and drinking in celebration when we check our social media. As we know, 2020 wasn’t a typical year. For once, the coolest thing you could have done to ring in the new year was just stay home. Cheers with your roommates, kiss your partner at midnight, cry with your cat. Whatever. Just do it at home.

But when your entire identity is driven by ego, that is unfathomable. It would be like performing a good deed without documenting it, or driving a used Honda. No, staying home isn’t required for those who see themselves as above the rules of common decency. Count the hundreds who attended a NYE bash at a Granite Bay mansion among these elite.

Hundreds gathered during for a New Year’s Eve party last week, flouting stay-at-home orders.

Screenshots of the pandemic party started circulating on social media Jan. 2, largely because of a tweet from Sacramento news anchor Lina Washington. Her father, Robert Washington, died of complications from coronavirus in June. She’s been vocal in urging people to stay home and take the virus seriously, and critical of those who don’t. She tweeted her own selfie from New Year’s Eve: a picture of her crying at home. Her father would have turned 69 on Jan. 1, and this was the first year she couldn’t call him at midnight to wish him a happy birthday.

The greater Sacramento region is currently under a stay-at-home order to try to stop the spread of the virus and reduce the strain on local intensive care units. This region includes Sacramento County and Placer County, where the party took place. According to California’s COVID-19 dashboard, the state has seen nearly 2.5 million cases that have resulted in over 27,000 deaths.

There have been 70,677 cases of COVID-19 in Sacramento County as of Jan. 6, resulting in 917 deaths. Placer County, a more rural region, has seen 14,723 positive cases and 132 deaths.

Jenica Lara sees the patients behind the numbers every day. She’s a medical assistant and phlebotomist at a local urgent care clinic who said the past year has been exhausting.

“It’s around the clock with this pandemic,” she said. “Some of my coworkers are working six days a week, almost 12-hour shifts.”

Her clinic admits patients based on COVID symptoms and they sometimes start the day with 60 appointments. That’s before walk-ins begin arriving. When Lara heard about the large "influencer" party in Granite Bay, she checked out an Instagram page called @peopleofsacramento_scams. The page has an extensive series of screenshots from the party, which took place at a mansion previously owned by comedian Eddie Murphy.

“Seeing that they had this huge party, it was very upsetting,” Lara said. “Why isn’t this being taken seriously?”

If you attended a party during a pandemic, flouting social pressure and a stay-at-home order, you would think you’d try to keep it offline. But the need to be seen runs deep in this crowd. Many people posted videos and photos of the night on their public Instagram pages. One attendee posted public pictures and called it an epic night in the caption, using #WellConnected #SacramentoBoss and #EddieMurphysOldHouse, among other hashtags. A video uploaded to YouTube chronicled the night in the blandest possible way, taking us from the car ride to Eddie Murphy’s mansion to the security gate at Eddie Murphy’s mansion to right in front of Eddie Murphy’s mansion to behind one of the bars in Eddie Murphy’s mansion. The narrator tries to hype up every room he walks into from behind the camera, and occasionally someone mentions that they’re in Eddie Murphy’s mansion. Only one person can be seen wearing a mask. The video, titled “Team NSX & Exotic New Year party at Eddie Murphy old mansion …” has since been set to private. At least we have this meme:

Meme credit: @andylikedthis

There was one attendee who wanted to distance himself from the party. Zayn Silmi is a public figure, CEO and philanthropist according to the bio on his Instagram, which has over 52,000 followers. He founded The People of Sacramento, an Instagram blog that was initially similar to Humans of New York. It profiles people and businesses in Sacramento and has over 104,000 followers. When word began to spread that Silmi attended the party, people spoke up on the most recent TPOS post. It happened to feature a large mural with four health care workers, all in masks. The words, “You are appreciated and the world thanks you,” ended the caption.

An Instagram post from The People of Sacramento, which was deleted within days of the Granite Bay mansion party.

I was one of the people who spoke up in the comments, to ask whether those who run TPOS were at the party. The response left some people with more questions.

It was a mansion party, so how could he expect it to be small? Did he think it was right to sell TPOS masks and then go to a New Year’s Eve party? Did he open his flagship store on R Street in the days after the party, which would have put customers at risk?

It frustrated Lara, the medical assistant, to see that the latest TPOS post was a tribute to health care workers. She said her clinic sees about 40 positive cases a day and often has to turn patients away.

“Why do you say you support health care workers but plan and throw these huge parties?” she said of Silmi. “You need to walk it like you talk it and stay home.”

On top of her day job, she volunteered as a street medic during the George Floyd protests in Portland, the Bay Area and here in Sacramento. She also volunteered during this week’s demonstrations at the Capitol.

“I had followed The People of Sacramento page for a while because I was born and raised in Sacramento,” she said. “People have hometown pride. … You (TPOS) have a following so you’re responsible for the things you do.”

Many people agreed, and they had somewhere to turn — the callout account, @peopleofsacramento_scams. The account’s author posted dozens of photos from the party in a series of stories. One collection includes a photo of Silmi inside the mansion with three other men in the days leading up to the party, with the implication that he helped plan it.

Silmi has said nobody affiliated with TPOS planned the party. But the page chronicles more than just the party. The author, Andrea Cunningham, questions Silmi’s business practices. This included a R Street Shelter, a non-profit, boutique adoption center he opened last February under The People of Sacramento’s brand. At the time, Cunningham and others wondered whether what he was doing was puppy flipping — taking the best-looking animals from local shelters and charging people higher fees for the “exclusive” adoption experience. Silmi said in an email that the project dissolved due to the pandemic and the executive director moving out of state.

I planned to ask Silmi more about the party, the pet adoption project and whether he planned to quarantine and get tested. On Monday, he cancelled our scheduled interview, citing mental exhaustion. It's understandable; a social media pile-on never feels good, unless it's a pile-on of likes. The peopleofsacramento_scams page following has ballooned to nearly 6,000, with double that amount viewing the stories.

In lieu of an interview, Silmi released a statement that reads in part:

“On New Years Eve [sic], I demonstrated poor judgment and a lack of empathy for my community by attending a large gathering. I first want to apologize to those that have had family members affected by COVID-19. I acknowledge that just one irresponsible choice puts countless others at risk, and in doing so myself, I am truly sorry. My actions are contradictory to what I aspire for myself and my brand, and there are no excuses for my poor decision. ... Our community deserves better, and I will do better.”

Last July, Silmi was featured as one of Sacramento’s “Emerging Leaders” in Comstock’s Magazine. He was recognized as a young professional who has “made a difference during this COVID-19 pandemic.”

Now Sacramentans are questioning whether his commitment to the city is genuine or just a brand-booster. In December, TPOS posted a video of Silmi and crew delivering care packages to Sacramento residents experiencing homelessness. That rubbed some people the wrong way, including myself. The video had the glossy feel of a commercial and included shots of the “Home is Sacramento” jackets TPOS is known for. A few people pointed out that the video was in poor taste. It has since been removed from The People of Sacramento’s page.

While Silmi spent the week doing damage control, some people who attended the COVID castle party have doubled down on their decision to attend. By Jan. 3, one partygoer announced on her social media that she thought she’d contracted the virus at the party. She posted an image of a thermometer that recorded a temperature of 101 degrees. After TPOS_scams page posted the image with the woman’s Instagram handle, she removed her two posts about feeling sick. On her Facebook page, the woman has decried the news media’s “negativity” around the party and said, “It was soooo much fun I’d definitely do it all over again.”

From the 'gram of a NYE party attendee. This post has since been removed.

It’s tempting to share her identity here, but anyone interested won’t have to do much searching to find it. Another call-out account, @goodpeopleofsacramento, has an extensive list of the Instagram handles of attendees.

The debacle has had many Sacramentans glued to their phones, eager for the latest development. I’ve been stuck to my screen, too. The updates I’ve reported on Twitter have gotten my page more attention. While walking my dog, I’d pull out my phone every few minutes. Did my tweet get more likes? Any more followers? My puppy would pull, almost sending my phone out of my hand and onto the ground. I’d put it away in my back pocket. A few blocks later, I’d pull it out again.

That side that craves the validation social media offers lives in most of us. We may not be as blatant about it as the partygoers, but we too want people to think we’re attractive, smart, witty or talented.

However, most of us also have the good sense to stay at home during a pandemic to protect our community. And when held accountable for selfish behavior, I like to think most of us wouldn’t turn to defense mechanisms. A common thread among the people being called out for attending the party is that they’re exhibiting bully behavior. Cunningham, who runs the scams account, is being threatened with lawsuits. I’ve been called a hater for asking questions about the party, and was told to “go fuck myself” by one woman I reached out to for comment.

This “epic night” will have epic consequences. These consequences won’t just affect the attendees, but the entire community that’s been put at greater risk because of their actions. To care about your community is to know that the world extends beyond your ego and your brand. It’s to be earnest and do your best to own your mistakes, as hard as that may be. To care about the people of Sacramento means to stay home during a pandemic.