Long Beach United, the group behind last month’s large street march against President-elect Donald Trump, has organized a march and rally against hate crimes, set for Saturday. The group plans to end at the Long Beach Islamic Center—one of multiple California mosques that a few weeks ago received a threatening letter from apparent Trump supporters.
“Our goal is to unite all of these marginalized groups that have been targets of hate in unity with the Muslim community which have been recently publicly targeted,” said Maii Ware, who created the group after becoming angered by the results of the presidential election. “It is also to bring attention to the Electoral College vote occurring on the 19th with communities that might not be as conscious of how this system works.”
The event is scheduled to begin at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, located at 1950 Lemon Avenue, at 10:00AM and end at about 2:00PM a mile north at Long Beach Islamic Center, located at 995 East 27th Street in Signal Hill.
In late November, the Islamic Center received a threatening letter by a group praising Trump.
The photocopied letter was addressed to the “children of Satan” and claimed that Trump was the “new sheriff in town” and would do to Muslims “what Hitler did to the Jews.” It recommended that all Muslims pack up their bags and “get out of Dodge.” The letter was signed by an anonymous group calling itself “Americans for a Better Way” and was sent to at least five California mosques.
As of Thursday, hate crimes are down compared to the same date in 2015, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokeswoman Marlene Arrona said in an email. None of the incidents were of a political nature, she said.
The November incident happened just a week after city officials from Long Beach and Signal Hill joined community members at the Islamic Center to show support for Muslim Americans.
Just days after Trump was elected president, Long Beach United organized a march and rally that began at Bixby Park went through downtown Long Beach and ended back at the park. The size of the group of demonstrators swelled to the hundreds—Ware said about 1,000—as participants made their way through the streets, holding signs and chanting along the way.
Organizers emphasized Saturday’s demonstration will be peaceful and they will “not condone or tolerate violence or vandalism in any way.”
For more information on the event, click here.