lauren
By Lauren Bray, edhat staff
Local protestors joined the nationwide movement to protest police brutality and injustice after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
A small group of protestors took to State Street carrying signs and candles on Friday evening. The next day, approximately 1,000 peaceful protestors gathered in Isla Vista marching from Storke Tower to Sands Beach.
The student-led protest included speakers from the “Black community who shared thoughts, frustrations and pleas for allyship, justice and safety for Black people,” reports The Daily Nexus.
On Sunday afternoon, the local Black Lives Matter group organized a peaceful protest at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse with hundreds of attendees.
All of the protests centered around the recent deaths of unarmed Black citizens who were murdered by white police officers.
On February 23 Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old Black man, was fatally shot near Brunswick, Georgia, while jogging in a neighborhood. The incident was caught on camera as two armed white men chased and confronted Arbery, ultimately killing him. One of the men was retired from the local police department.
On March 13, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers. George Floyd, an unarmed a 46-year-old Black man, was murdered by Minneapolis Police Officers on Thursday. The murder was caught on video as bystanders and Floyd pleaded with the officers to remove their knees from his back and neck. Floyd was later pronounced dead.
The culmination of these events led to nationwide protests against violence towards Black people and demanding justice for a history of police brutality. New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Philadelphia are just a few major cities where large-scale protests have been taking place. Protests have even been reported throughout the world including London and Berlin.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti originally set a curfew starting at 8:00 p.m. on for Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday and later expanded it to include the whole city. Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County law enforcement agencies sent multiple officers and vehicles to assist with the protests in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The community of Santa Barbara responded with a peaceful protest gathering at the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens on Sunday afternoon.
Lead by Simone Ruskamp and Krystle Farmer Sieghart from the local Black Lives Matter chapter, the demonstration drew nearly a thousand supporters in white t-shirts and face masks.
Numerous speakers detailed their experience as black, indigenous, and Latinx people living in Santa Barbara County and beyond. Spoken-word, poems, chants, indigenous rituals, and heartfelt speeches moved the crowd to cheers and praise.
Often the leaders honored their Black elders and invited them to speak. One elder quoted Martin Luther King, Jr., “A riot is the language of the unheard” while stating, “we gather so many times in sadness, but always with hope.”
Black Lives Matter ally Chelsea Lancaster gave an impassioned speech directed at the many white people in the crowd. “Too many of ya’ll are too quiet for too fucking long,” she said while encouraging white people to speak up at school board and city council meetings.
“All lives cannot matter until Black lives matter,” said Lancaster while leading a chant.
Ruskamp provided a detailed history of Black roots in the Santa Barbara community while stating, “I don’t need you to continue to tell me Black Lives Matter as you continue to enjoy your brunch at Sambos.” She referred to the restaurant on Cabrillo Boulevard that began in Santa Barbara in the 50’s and expanded through the nation and has long been criticized for its racist roots.
Following the speakers, the crowd took to the streets marching from Anapamu to State to Figueroa. At the intersection of Figueroa and Anacapa Streets, the Santa Barbara Police Department hung police tape with approximately twenty officers in riot gear guarding the block where the police station is located.
Protest leaders invited members of the Black community in a powerful, peaceful demonstration as they laid on the ground for eight minutes and forty-six seconds, the approximate amount of time a white officer held his knee into the neck of George Floyd.
Members of the non-Black community were asked to kneel in solidarity which led to the crowd in a chant towards Santa Barbara Police officers, asking them to join in by taking a knee. None of them did. In contrast, members of the Santa Cruz Police Department, including Chief Andy Mills, were seen taking a knee with protesters this weekend. New York Police Department officers were also seen taking a knee alongside protestors in Manhattan.
On Friday, Santa Barbara City’s Police Chief Lori Luhnow issued a statement condemning the murder of Floyd and called for all police leaders to take responsibility for their departments. However, Chief Luhnow was noticeably absent from the protest and protest leaders criticized the press release as the department did not consult with Black community members to specifically address the needs of the community.
“When you talk about restorative justice, you include the people most affected,” said Farmer Sieghart regarding the Chief’s statement.
At some point, Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo appeared from behind the barricade waving at protestors.
“This is not a photo op!” one protestor yelled.
Leaders asked the mayor why she on the other side of the barricade and not marching with her constituents.
“Are you inviting me over?” asked Murillo.
A weary crowd chimed in with thoughts and feelings towards the Mayor. Tensions began to escalate slightly as someone from the back of the crowd threw an object towards the officers.
Farmer Sieghart took the reigns and quickly condemned any form of aggression or violence. She said, “we’re seeing it all over the country now, white supremacists and white nationalists are hijacking Black organized movements. That will not happen here today. This was organized by beautiful Black women, and we come for change, institutional change.”
Murillo listened for a short while before attempting to engage with the leaders of the protest to ask for a meeting. The leaders point-blank asked, “Where have you been? This is not new,” emphasizing Murillo should have already spoken up and reached out.
Murillo continued to talk over Farmer Sieghart who retorted, “when a Black woman is speaking, you’re silent.” Murillo responded by taking off her mask saying, “when the mayor is speaking, you have to listen to me too.” Shortly thereafter Murillo relinquished and walked away from the discussion as the crowd booed. (A video of this interaction can be viewed here.)
At the conclusion of the event, the leaders thanked the crowd of all backgrounds and colors for supporting the cause and movement and encouraged everyone to continue fighting for equality. The crowd slowly dispersed while chanting “No Justice, No Peace.”
The local Black Lives Matter chapter published their demands to their Facebook Page asking for the protection and preservation of Black landmarks, transparency and accountability from local law enforcement, recognition of the Juneteenth commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation, and that the City Council adopts a resolution condemning police brutality and declares racism a public health emergency.
Not long after the event, Murillo also released a public statement on the death of George Floyd.
“Most of us can never assume to know what it’s like to walk in the shoes of Black America – members of the marginalized community are rightfully scared and angry with a range of emotions. As a Latina, I share a glimpse of the disenfranchisement commonly experienced by people of color,” said Murillo. The full statement can be read here.
In related news from the future, suicides and gun violence incidents in households went up, as did crimes using stolen guns in residential robberies. We have met the enemy, and they are us.
ERICL blames “the media,” but there is a lot of media out there with varying points of view, varying agendas, varying levels of actual facts versus opinion. Savvy consumers can get a lot of information and make their own conclusions.
I was really concerned about the anti lockdown protests by folks who had lost businesses and livelihoods and I’m equally concerned about this one – in light of this pandemic. Truly. The timing for this was really bad. I guess we wait and see now.
Maybe the entire country could take a knee all at the same time on a given date and time.
So, EL, it’s the fault of liberals and the media that cons are racist, despite all the systems put in place. What a novel concept.
10:07 I saw more adults in the rioting footage than I did “kids”. But nice try on turning it into an anti-intellectual rant. If you were to step foot on a university you’d quickly see your comment is moronic.
EricL showing he has zero understanding of Dr. King and following a racist example of defacing the man.
What do gun sales have to do with any of this?
MLK was truly inspiring. I wish he was with us now. But if rioting is the language of the unheard, what language is looting and killing? Also, I would like to point out that the more public property that is damaged, the more tax dollars (the public’s hard earned money) have to be designated to those purposes, and maybe that means less tax dollars for purposes that truly help the BLM causes. Those fancy heavily equipped police cars cost a lot of tax dollars. Seeing them and other public structures get destroyed makes me cringe. Floyd’s death was despicable and the cop should be up for 1st degree murder, but this destruction & looting solves nothing. And let’s talk about blk on blk killings? If BLM, then why are so many brothers being killed by brothers?
Again, what does this have to do with the peaceful protest in Santa Barbara? Seems like your comment is distracting from the actual issue. There is racism in our community, it’s being called out. Let’s start there.
Why take a knee? I think all of us have been concerned about unnecessary police actions for a long time. I grew up in Los Angeles and witnessed and was subjected to both the Watts riots and the Rodney King riots. We don’t need any more protests, violent or peaceful – we understand the message. Now it’s time to make sure this doesn’t happen again by being constructive and not destructive by having proper oversights and training in place for our police forces. Only every citizen can make sure of this through election of local, state, and federal officials who will ensure this is the case. The fact a city like Minneapolis, where several of my relatives live, could elect the politicians and mayor who failed in their duties to “police their own police” are also to blame. When I heard that Derek Chauvin had 18 complaints filed against him regarding racism and brutality that were never addressed, I could only shake my head in disgust that the elected or appointed officials ignored all of this and did nothing to reprimand or discharge this dangerous person. It is not society that failed, it is the failure of government in this city, whether it is liberal or not.
I don’t need to understand him. Here is his speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0BWXjJv5s
He clearly thinks riots are bad. But he’s realistic and honest enough to say they’re likely to happen.
“Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention”
– Martin Luther King
2:25, oppressed people often turn on each other. And people of means have some incentive to keep those communities isolated from them, enforced by illegal stops and ID checks if someone looks out of place in a community. Seems pretty obvious to me.
Column in the LA Times about one of their af-am writers being handcuffed 3 times in his life, twice for driving a nice car while being black and once for being mistaken for a black robbery suspect. That seems like an unbelievable level of harassment. I have never heard that any of my white friends have ever been handcuffed. What a difference a skin color makes.
Anarchists and hard line Antifa are in the mix on this and they are wrong when they damage property and loot.
But if you point to that and ignore the Boogaloos, White Supremacists and hard line right wing racists who see this as their moment to start the “race war” they’ve been salivating over for decades, then you are freaking deluded.
070, when did I say looting is just? I didn’t. I’m saying that you are happy to talk about and complain about and decry and get upset about the symptom, but you don’t want to talk about the cause. And that’s part of the pattern that perpetuates this vicious cycle.
Why is your first instinct to talk about looting and not to talk about the murder of an innocent man whose neck was crushed by a cop with 18 complaints against him? People love to go with the topic of conversation that allows them to vent their frustrations and point fingers at all the bad people–but after all they don’t point their fingers at “all” of the bad people, just some of them.
Why do you think you do that?
Thank you for posting this quote!
The tragedy now rampant reverse prejudice and counter racism, even if deserved at time between peoples of all colors. Worse is the stereotyping of whites like myself who fought in the 1960s, every year since, for the rights to both justice and lawful conduct. Whites also came out in support in all Cities. MLK did not think violence, looting, and foul comments did any good and they have caused backlash and delay. The good news. This is a place where we can demonstrate both history and success as a City, founded by Spanish 57 (Mexican born) , Mestizo 26 , Black/Mulato 16.
Indio 12, Coyote (Black /Indian) In fact half the soldiers and families were various peoples of various colors. Let’s tell that story in future reconstructions at the Presidio where this story has been told for decades. Let’s kill politically motivated disinformation.
The founding of this City at the Presidio was by people of color–Black and mixed race soldiers, the police, intermarried families , and good people intent on creating a city that does react properly, and without destruction and hate when justice is needed! All were born in Mexico . Lots of descendants attest to positive community life we celebrate begun with racial tolerance.
I do not want to look at any ethnic group as a color or identity other than who they are as individuals, what they contribute, and and in terms of conduct . Negative Police history is also based on their own losses and serious criminal activities, resulting in unnecessary rage and fearof others. Black Officers are also being targeted. How can things change if there is a norm of rabid mistrust? Becomes a self -fulfilling prophecy. So much more equal justice has been achieved over 200 plus years here. Let’s keep it coming in a positive tone of voice, and a unified whole much more likely to succeed and soon!
Well, here’s a piece of information for you. I, as a young white male, was stopped and detained and handcuffed by LAPD because they seemed unable to imagine that a white man was living in a mixed ethnic neighborhood in LA. Cops do not like things that call for imagination or tolerance. They held me outside my cheap apartment for 45 minutes in cuffs in the rear of the police car after a take down when I said I was going to my rooms. They had absolutely no other reason to detain me. I was released when the “no wants, no warrants” call came over the police radio (after a 10 minute delay). So part of this stuff is the general nature of cop culture. They want predictability and regular behavior. Everything else is suspect. Unfortunately this often means that ethnic people are perceived as “irregular.”
If the “protesters” don’t already realize it, the “riot-er’s” are very dangerous. If you don’t want to risk getting sick, hurt or worse, stay away. Marshall Law may be comming.
@4:15, from one white person to another, you are not listening. Just by saying “stereotyping of whites” proves more education is needed. And that’s ok, we all need to learn and listen and continue to learn. It’s our turn to be allies here, not tell people of color what they should do or what they should feel.
Rioting is not the solution. Looters, car & building destroyers have absolutely no sympathy or respect from me but I do condemn unnecessary police brutality and believe the cop that murdered GF should get the death penalty and his fellow officers should go to prison. That video is sickening, so is watching people ruin cities. Two wrongs will never make a right.
@4:15 great comment. You forgot to mention that once the Anglos took over, people of color were heavily discriminated against. Racial profiling of Hispanic and blacks has been the norm for the SBPD. Drive a funky car while white, no problem. Drive a funky car while black or brown, the lights are gonna come on. I know a hard working black man that rode his bicycle to an early morning job. He got stopped and delayed so many times by the SBPD that he lost his job.
NBC Nightly News reports that invoking the Insurrection Act is now under active consideration.
4:15pm “Worse is the stereotyping of whites”
OK Boomer.
Good job people. Stand up and be heard (peacefully).
The video of police treatment of George Floyd shows shocking indifference. I am happy that Minneapolis fired those officers right away and one has been charged with murder. Hopefully more accountability to come. This peaceful protest is the right kind of protest to message to the leaders that changes in how the police work is needed. The riots around the country do not help those communities or help relations with the police.
So these people think that they are justified in violent destruction of property and looting all around the country in the name of “justice”? Two wrongs do not make a right. For me they lose all credibility and support as soon as they began those actions.
Little Black Sambo is a dark-skinned Indian Hindu child in a turban with tigers, not an African Negro. Will our Cabrillo Boulevard restaurant be burned to make some kind of point about racism?
8:31 – “These people” are all peacefully protesting. Why did you feel the need to lump them in with the rioters in the big cities?
Before I even began to read this article I read the banner on the EH listing all the local topics appearing today. I immediately thought, “Yet another perfect opportunity for Cathy Murillo to appear for some free publicity and a photo-op. I bet she made an appearance.” Guess what? But for a change, surprise, surprise, her butting into the event wasn’t welcome by the crowd.
You lost me at “however”, then nazis and gas chambers.
“when a Black woman is speaking, you’re silent.” REALLY! What undeserved arrogance.
But nothing from you about the original crime that sparked it all?
Good job keeping calm, Santa Barbara. Murillo, frankly, is a self absorbed, intellectual light weight and useless fool.
Let’s gang together and beat police brutality to death!
An anonymous internet poster is calling a successful latina elected a fool? Seems to be a case of pointing a finger at someone else, while 3 fingers are pointing back at you.
I see it as anger. A lot of angry people out there. That video of the cop crushing the life out of an arrestee made me angry and sick to my stomach.
Read your history about how that label was applied to african-americans. Google is your friend.
“RACISM! RACISM! RACISM!” The media leads us on a litany of it over and over again. Yet this act of police murder wasn’t perpetrated in some redneck state by some hick cop and ignored by some backwater town. It certainly wasn’t done by Trumps orders. It happened in a liberal state with a liberal governor and a liberal mayor and a black police chief. One of the cops abetting the crime was asian. They murdered that man slowly, cruelly and brazenly in broad daylight. The perp did so not only with obvious expectation he would get away with it but the entitlement that he would. And he was almost right! In one of the most liberal cities in the US. Yes, racism is still a thing in the US. But we ain’t in 1864 or 1964. People need to question the narrative the media brings us on this.
ERICL – I hate to burst your nonsense bubble, but there can be racists, even racist cops, in “liberal states.” Also, even “asian” cops are capable of racism. You ain’t right man.
Pitmix, her ethnicity is completely irrelevant. Unless you think that should give her a pass on being a weak and failed mayor.
I expect good leadership from my elected officials.
Ugh, this is going to bring out all the new Edhat racists. Already “disagreeing” with simple statements of FACT that racists exist even in liberal states. Lookeehere! California is the most “liberal state” in the union and we’re chock full of racists! Look at all of you!
Mark Snyder, please do not use Edhat for broad political statements as you just did. Edhat is about local issues, and sometimes about how national issues affect us locally. Edhat is one of the last places we can comment and discuss local issues, and we must not abuse it.
Hi Lucky777, thanks for reading my article. I encourage you to read a little more and click on the link in the article regarding the history of Sambo’s restaurant. Here it is for your reference: https://www.kcet.org/food-living/the-troubling-history-of-sambos-pancake-house
@MarkSnyder: Offtopic comments and all of those associated will be deleted. -Edhat Staff
Hi anonymous commenter, thanks for reading my article. White people have a long history of silencing Black people, specifically Black women. This is not arrogance, it’s addressing deep systemic racism within our country. Here’s an article for you to read to help you understand this a bit more: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a25747603/silencing-black-voices/
Murillo blew it. She needed to listen. The crowd was angry for good reason. The City Council and mayor represent the rich and powerful, up zoning the City, disregarding zoning and planning laws in place for years in order to allow the wealthy landowners to build up, enabling a massive tourism industry that has robbed Santa Barbara of its’ low cost housing neighborhoods and middle class downtown. Vote.
There was an incident in Santa Maria last night around 11 p.m. – they broke windows in the mall and some businesses and set fire to a church but it was quickly tamped down. Someone on a page I follow said her cousin was there and they were all out of state plates. These are people taking advantage of this situation and it hurts the cause. Anarchists.
Hey racists, if you’re so proud of your stance on things, how about you all use your real names? It would be nice to know who to avoid in our community. Go on, tough guys/gals, show us your pride!
When I see white kids wearing Antifa gear and people of all color breaking windows, setting buildings and cars on fire, looting and ransacking, I can’t help but wonder how their parents raised them. Why weren’t honorable values were instilled? And what are these kids, now criminals, being taught in our schools and colleges? It’s time for the rest of us to start chanting “No mercy, no peace, bring in the riot police!” Seeing this complete anarchy and chaos is sickening.
What a lame duck mayor; adversity ALWAYS shows who’s capable, and who freezes like a deer in headlights. Murillo is FIRMLY in the latter camp. After all this mess settles down, I wonder if Santa Barbara has a recall process; we’ve seen on a national level what a lack of leadership looks like. And I see the same with our “mayor”. She’s gotta go. I can’t WAIT for election time….
Agree.
What does this have to do with the article about a peaceful protest?
Ok. Sorry.
All white people are not racist any more than any other group of people.
However, in a Country founded in white oppression and slavery, which continues to perpetuate the terrorizing and victimization of people based upon the color of their skin, caring white people become guilty of wrongdoing by failing to act. We white people have a duty to effectuate change in the system which provides our privilege. Just as the “collaborators” in Germany failed to speak up and save my people from the gas chambers and decade of Nazi violence which led to them, white people who do not work for racial justice and healing here and now are guilty. It is ignorant to believe that you understand someone’s pain when you haven’t lived it, but it is human to think you can. Above all, we need to start listening – there are a great deal of patient and eloquent people trying to breach the divide between people so we can understand and have compassion for each other – time to listen, listen, and then: do something; do something; Do something!
“A riot is the language of the unheard” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Yes to all of this!! Thank you!
When I see kids wearing police gear and savaging the poor… I can’t help but wonder how their parents raised them. Do you get how silly your comment is? I do not know what “Antifa gear” is but I do know that bad people can be found everywhere and the right has no corner on good behavior (or good upbringing).
ERICL – your comments are disgusting an misguided. If you’re just trolling so be it. If you really feel this way then I feel incredibly sad for you.
In cities where anarchy and lawlessness are overshadowing the peaceable right to assemble and protest, the ‘Insurrection Act’ of 1807 as amended in 2006 should be invoked and used against the violent protesters.
Alex, The original crime was not done by the owners of the businesses that were looted and destroyed in the name of “justice.” There is nothing “just” about that behavior.
Lauren, Based on your response I would have to say that you are not a neutral reporter of news and facts but rather someone with an agenda.
Just pointing out that she seems to get a lot of criticism. Of course you know that women in general, and minorities in particular have less access to power than white males and get more criticism for their perceived inadequacies. Sometimes what I see on this website about her seems unfair and one-sided for a politician who has won a number of elections and been successful in what can be a tough business. .
Equal and Opposite Reaction: Gun sales surged in May as shops reported an uptick in interest and demand as the coronavirus pandemic continued and amid national protests after the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd.
Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting, a private research firm, estimated that there were more than 1.7 million gun sales in May – an 80% jump from May 2019.
“Yet again, firearms sales have surged in unprecedented ways,” said Jurgen Brauer, the group’s chief economist.
She was “elected” by about 2000 votes. If every single person who is constantly slamming everything she says and does had voted that election, she would have lost in a landslide.
What percent of kids do you think are being raised by good parents who have the time and resources to give their kids a proper upbringing? 50%? 75%? The rest of them are candidates for getting into all kinds of trouble, including gangs, drugs, and antifa groups. What is happening out there right now is no surprise to me.
You first.
Our failed state culture of violence continues.
Being against racism and fascism is obviously against your “agenda”.
Hi Resident, thanks for your comment. I believe systemic racism and oppression is a fact and not an opinion. If you would like some educational resources on this topic, feel free to email me directly at Lauren@edhat.com. My agenda is to help educate and create a discussion within our local community. Thanks for reading.
RESIDENT – It is undeniable, indisputable, unequivocal FACT that “White people have a long history of silencing Black people, specifically Black women.” Do you seriously deny that? What is YOUR agenda? Do you support racism? Sure sounds like you do.
I’d be trolling if I were to point out that you’re disputing Floyd wasn’t callously murdered in the street. What I AM trying to say is the narrative we’ve been getting from the media is biased, misguided, and with an aim at stoking emotions for profit and political gain. Racism is a problem. But it’s clear by that cops indifference to the law he’s pledged to enforce that his city police, prosecutors, and government – all Democrats – probably care less for the average black man (and probably white man only a little more) than a card carrying racist.
Racism obviously exists in liberal states. Unfortunately instead of marching around in sheets like they do in conservative states they call themselves Democrats and say they’re not. I used to believe them. I do not anymore.
ERICL – wait, hold on, what? So now, after your ridiculous rant where you feign surprise that racism exists in liberal states, you’re saying liberals (Democrats) are all closed racists? Seriously, what are you talking about?
I’m sure there are racist cops. But they’re supposed to be weeded out by the systems liberals put in to prevent that. A racist cop in such an environment should have to hide his crimes under dark of night, convenient legalisms, and strategic lies. This cop committed murder in broad daylight with the expectation he’d get away. And he almost did! OK, so maybe that was a fluke. But if the city government had acted “liberal” they would have arrested him and charged him AND his buddies with murder that day. They did not. It took two days of protests and hell raising just for them to arrest him. Meanwhile the arrested a CNN camera crew (despite them showing their press passes) for nothing. What that tells me is that the racism here is in the liberal city government. Don’t get me wrong. There is racism in the US and it’s not all Democrats. Trump may or may not be racist but his tweets are deliberately designed to stoke an element of his support that is (and provoke liberals to the point of derangement). But if you consider the breadth and scope of the anti-racist protests breaking out compared to what they looked like in the 60s you have to concede there is progress. But to seal the deal we need a much more nuanced approach than what’s put forward by the media for its own self aggrandizement and political point making.
“A riot is the language of the unheard” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In that same speech he also said it was counterproductive. He hoped his protests would remain peaceful.
PITMIX – it is perfectly legal to detain and handcuff someone without a warrant, if there is probably cause (subjective) that they were involved in a crime.
You do know that “Antifa” is pretty much a right wing fantasy, right? A couple hundred people out in the world willing to show up and break some windows. But they are a great boogeyman for self deluded tools an puppet masters who want to point “over there” while they ignore the far more dangerous extreme right religious and white supremacist fanatics who are responsible for the majority of domestic terror attacks on this country.
If you are more concerned about how they’re protesting, than why they are protesting, you are part of the problem.
Murillo is all about Murillo. But she does support the white developers of AUD Projects that will push out the working class Latino families and middle class families.
Re :1915: The only problem with this “good news” scenario of mixed races from Mexico getting together and “founding” the Presidio and Santa Barbara , is that the invasion was really aimed at killing the native people and stealing their lands. The prejudice the invaders displayed was deadly racist, and the Mexican soldiers continued their chase and persecution of natives for years, encouraged and abetted by their leaders and the Catholic Church. Latter the anglo settlers continued to marginalize and persecute the native Chumash and insure that even “reservation” lands were stolen from them.
It’s pretty simple folks;
America has never wanted peace with POC..they want Control!
And if America can’t gain control, war is an acceptable alternative.
Well, now she’s getting the war she wants.
Chris Rock said it best in
“The longest yard”…;
“Don’t rile the Brothers”.
Hats off to you, Lauren. This was courageous, factual reporting, and no other reporter covered this as well as you did. Congrats to the leadership of this protest for conducting it in a way we could have a courageous discussion, and for keeping the peace and setting high standards for behavior. Thank you also for realizing our empress mayor ‘has no clothes’ and calling it like it is. Cathy again could not sidestep her arrogance, selfie-seeking, and bullying tactics when it was absolutely most needed. She’s so not a racial and social justice warrior. Now everyone can see it. FINALLY.
Well, nice to condemn “unnecessary police brutality.” Maybe you can define necessary police brutality in a way that will satisfy the recipient of that brutality? Also remarkable that you can opine that an crime thousands of miles from here justifies the death penalty (maybe that is the sort of police brutality you OK) without hearing anything from the accused. And, US historical mythology is filled with examples attempting to prove that two wrongs do make a right. For example, the Boston Tea Party? Or maybe Hiroshima? Many more to choose from.
Again I am shocked at the amount of sheer racism and white privelege in our little town. SHOCKING. Wealthy old white people. All the downvotes on logical kind and intelligent comments just blows me away. I suppose my comment will be downvoted too because I am condemning white privelege and closed minds. Sigh. We have a LOOOONG way to go, folks.
Read an online post about a woman in SC talking to her black appliance repair guy. He gets pulled over about six times a year, never for traffic violations, always because he looks like a crime suspect….
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” [MLK, Letter from a Birmingham Jail]
“You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.” [MLK, Letter from a Birmingham Jail]
PIT Cathy doesn’t get criticized for being a woman. In my 48 years of life , Santa Barbara has only had 2 male mayors and one served barely a year. SB has a tradition of electing strong women as mayor. Unfortunately Cathy was not one of them…..
Good to see them bring charges against the other 3 police officers today in George Floyds murder, long over due. Any lawyers in the house know if they can charge murder one…or is it better to stick with the murder two charges they have issued?