Police shut down both directions of Ocean Boulevard in Downtown for short periods on Saturday due to a protest, but the massive crowd was peaceful in denouncing the Trump Administration’s policies on immigration and other issues.
At least 5,000 people gathered at Bixby Park Saturday in a show of outrage. Police briefly closed portions of Ocean Boulevard — a smaller crowd walked to Downtown, then returned to Alamitos Beach — but otherwise no incidents were reported.
“I just want the world to be normal again,” Olivia Lindsay, a Long Beach resident who came to the event, only her second protest ever. “When I wake up in the morning I want to not be worried that there might be a war in our cities, and in the world.”
Saturday was originally intended to be a protest of President Donald Trump‘s military parade in Washington, DC, which falls on the president’s 79th birthday, along with Flag Day, the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official U.S. flag in 1777, and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
The so-called No Kings Day protests were planned before the administration began sweeping stores, businesses, churches and other locations in search of people who are in the country without documentation.
Saturday’s showing in Long Beach was the largest protest gathering in recent memory. Thousands of people — some estimated the crowd at as high as 10,000—waved homemade signs and flags along Ocean Boulevard in opposition to President Donald Trump, the immigration raids that have taken place this week, and the presence of the National Guard in the LA region against the governor’s will.
Demonstrators started near Junipero Avenue, but the line of people and cars stretched at least six blocks and six people deep.
The protest remained upbeat and peaceful through much of the morning; in fact, several protesters volunteered to wear yellow vests and work as last-minute traffic controllers near Bixby Park.
From profane to succinct, protesters carried hundreds of signs that dotted the crowd of demonstrators. The mood was angry, yet many of those who came seemed very happy to see each other.
“I’m surprised,” Shelly V., said of the crowd, which numbered stretched at least six blocks.
Dozens of participants wore masks and didn’t want to give last names. Nonprofit profit leaders and advocates said people have been hunkering down, afraid to leave the house for fear of getting swept up in an immigration raid.
Protests have been ongoing throughout the week, with tensions escalating after immigration officials showed up near a Home Depot nearby Paramount, sparking a violent protest in the small working-class city. In response, the Trump Administration ordered the deployment of 2,000, then 4,000, National Guard troops. A few hundred Marines have also been ordered to the Los Angeles area to guard federal property.
A few soldiers were visible in Long Beach above a federal building during a Tuesday evening protest that drew hundreds in front of City Hall. Police formed a line at Chestnut Place and Ocean Boulevard and threatened deployment of tear gas if the crowd did not disperse, but the gathering ended peacefully.
The governor and many local leaders, including Long Beach, denounced the arrival of military in local cities. Gov. Gavin Newsom held two fiery press conferences, sued, and won control of the National Guard — but the order is now stayed after an appeal.
In the intervening days this week, a U.S. Senator, Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, was tackled and handcuffed by security after interrupting a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Today, in addition to protests in dozens of cities across the country, two U.S. state lawmakers from Minnesota were gunned down in a politically-motivated series of attacks, according to Gov. Tim Walz., the LA Times reported. Hundreds of law enforcement officers fanned out across Minneapolis Saturday in pursuit of a man who authorities say posed as a police officer before opening fire.
Multiple demonstrations were still ongoing Saturday in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and many other cities in Los Angeles County and Orange County.
LA Mayor Karen Bass and Police Chief Jim McDonnell held a morning news conference to urge the crowds to remain lawful.
Here’s some of the scenes from the protest in Long Beach:
