Peaceful day of protests in Orange County leads to uneasy night
Hundreds of demonstrators marched in downtown Fullerton and the historic Orange Plaza on Saturday afternoon, chanting words of anger and pain. Some spoke from experience, the victims of excessive police force.
Except for a couple of tense standoffs with riot-geared officers in Fullerton, the daytime demonstrations in memory of George Floyd — killed when a Minneapolis police officer jammed a knee into his neck — passed without violence in Orange County. But this day of nationwide protests wasn’t over yet.
As darkness loomed, another protest was expected in Santa Ana — one named after a rap song about hatred for police. In Santa Ana, those behind the badge hoped the night would go as smoothly as the daytime marches.
Some 100 protesters gathered Saturday afternoon at the Fullerton Transportation Center. The location was symbolic. The transportation center has been dubbed by activists as Kelly’s Corner in memory of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man who was fatally beaten by police in 2011, near a light pole at the expansive facility.
Protesters held signs reading ” Black Lives Matter” and “Who do you Call When the Murderer Wears a Badge?”
A woman who appeared to be leading the demonstration used a loudspeaker to attack police for being at the rally.
“Your presence is agitating us,” she shouted. The officers eventually moved back about 4:30 p.m.
Numerous protesters addressed the crowd, recounting violent encounters with officers.
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R. Joshua Collins of the Homeless Advocates for Christ said when he lived on the streets in Las Vegas he had experience with law officers similar to that of Floyd.
“My head was on the concrete and he (the police officer) was kneeling on my head,” Collins told the crowd. “It felt like my head was going to explode like a watermelon. By the grace of God I survived.
“Police shouldn’t love their jobs before the love of people,” he said.
Shortly before 5 p.m., the protesters began marching from the transportation center toward the Fullerton police headquarters. While en route, a protester threw a bottle at a man driving a vehicle. A woman tried to punch the driver while another demonstrator kicked his car.
Protesters crowded the intersection of Highland Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue, shouting “Our Street.” For a short, tense period, there was a standoff between police and the crowd. An officer told the crowd over a bullhorn to clear the intersection and please leave the area. After a few minutes, the crowd turned back, heading the way they had come, back to the bus depot.
Donna Acevedo-Nelson said she felt compelled to attend the Fullerton demonstration because her son Joel Acevedo was killed by Anaheim officers in July 2012.
Nelson said the culture of good police officers protecting bad ones must change. “Why don’t they stand up and turn in the bad ones?” she asked.
Adam Ramirez of Chino Hills was urged by his children to attend the protest to denounce the complacency that some have for injustice.
“They are blind and their hearts have turned to stone,” he said.
The protest ended in a 15-minute standoff and a declaration by police of an unlawful assembly. More than 30 officers in helmets and batons pushed the crowd back until marchers relented and broke up about 6:30 p.m.
Authorities said two demonstrators were arrested in Fullerton. Valerie Paneguia, 34, of Buena Park, was arrested on suspicion of failure to disperse. And Donald Gibson, 42, of Anaheim, was arrested on suspicion of vandalism and possession of methamphetamine.
In Orange, some 300 protesters gathered Saturday afternoon at the Orange Plaza, the most demonstrators there in recent memory. Then demonstrators marched along Chapman Avenue.
The protest began about 1 p.m., with hundreds of people walking against the flow of traffic in the inner lane of the traffic circle for hours before the crowd began to disperse, with some heading west.
Police posted a live feed of the protest on YouTube.
Protesters held signs, some of which read “Black Lives Matter,” “Justice for George” and “Silence is Betrayal.”
They walked around the circle chanting “I can’t breathe!” and “Say his name! George Floyd!” while holding signs above their heads.
Meanwhile, lines of vehicles passed through the circle, many of them stopping to interact with the protesters, some also holding signs while hanging out windows or sunroofs.
Orange police were monitoring, and by 6 p.m. had not made any arrests or handed out any citations, Sgt. Phil McMullin said.
At one point, a confrontation between a protester and a police officer threatened to break the peace, but a man stepped between them, then moved to the front of an angry group.
“If we get violent, everything we’re here for won’t matter,” Justin Frazier of Orange told the crowd.
A former U.S. Marine, he then kneeled and prayed with an angry woman before later addressing the crowd from the back of a red pickup truck.
“As a black man, I want to say thank you for caring so much about me and my life,” Frazier said.