In June, an estimated 5 million people amassed in cities across the U.S. to protest President Donald Trump, and policies such as the administration’s hard-line immigration stance.
The South County event was hosted by Indivisible Pajaro Valley, which is again staging the event on Saturday Oct. 18 in the City Plaza at 358 Main Street from 12–2pm.
Olivia Millard, Co-lead of Indivisible Pajaro Valley, said that the local events will be part of more than 2,500 nationwide, the largest mass mobilization in American history.
“It’s a peaceful national day of action in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump Administration,” Millard said.
And the protests have garnered the notice of the Trump Administration, which has branded those that take part as terrorists, she said.
Still, the administration has doubled down on its policies since the June events, increasingly targeting immigrant communities and unjustly detaining people, Millard said.
That’s happening, she added, as the cost of living skyrockets and billionaires are given massive tax cuts.
“They’re gutting everything that we care about as Americans, and have made this country the best place in the world to be,” she said.
The first events in June drew an estimated 1,500 people to Watsonville, a number organizers this year are hoping to double.
In Santa Cruz, the event is estimated to have drawn from 8,000-10,000 people, which added to the nationwide events organizers said broke records for the “largest single day protest in American history.”
The Santa Cruz event begins at 10am in San Lorenzo Park for a short rally, followed by a march at 10:30 through downtown Santa Cruz and back to the park again.
In Aromas, there will be a sign-making and face-painting event in the Aromas Town Square at the corner of Carpenteria and Blohm Avenue from 12–1pm. The rally will take place from 1–2pm.
An additional rally will also happen on the San Juan Road/Highway 101 overpass from 2:30–4:30pm.
This story has been updated to include new numbers, a new location and an interview with an organizer.
