‘I want to see a difference’: Paso Robles anti-racism protest ends with kneeling and a prayer
Hundreds of people protesting racism peacefully marched through downtown Paso Robles on Tuesday, just one day after a similar San Luis Obispo demonstration ended with police tear-gassing a crowd.
In spite of rampant community rumors of unrest, the North County march ended with protesters and police kneeling together in prayer.
“The peaceful end to the protest spoke to the soul of our community,” Police Chief Ty Lewis said in a statement after the demonstration. “Everyone’s voice was heard, and we were able to keep everyone safe today.”
Peaceful protest
The Paso Robles protest started at about 11 a.m. and continued until 5 p.m. Protesters blocked traffic on streets throughout downtown as they marched, chanting “No justice, no peace, no racist police” and “Black lives matter.”
Many carried signs that read “Abolish police,” “White silence is violence” and “A system cannot fail those it was never designed to protect.”
The demonstration was one of many throughout the country held after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis last week after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
At times, Paso Robles demonstrators paused in the 90-degree heat to pass around a megaphone and share their experiences with racism and police interaction. Protesters also knelt and held a moment of silence in honor of Floyd, whose name they repeated as they marched around the city.
At one point, demonstrators stood in front of a line of police and chanted, “We don’t trust you, we can’t trust you.” Many people stopped along the street and in Downtown City Park to watch the protest, with some filming it on their phones.
A few hecklers taunted demonstrators — including one man wearing a shirt that read, “The Second Amendment ... America’s Original Homeland Security” on the back — but the protest remained peaceful.
Some downtown business owners, worried about potential vandalism, boarded up their glass storefront windows during the protest.
Demonstrators “want to see a difference”
Xitlalli Villa carried a sign that read “Your fight is my fight” in Spanish. Villa said it was important for her to come to the protest because “innocent lives have been taken because of the police.”
Villa, Stephanie Carillo and Karine Alfonso all said that, as Latinas, they can relate to the struggle of black Americans.
“We go through a lot of injustice,” Alfonso said.
However, the women said they understand their experience is different “because of the pigment of our skin,” something they want others in their community to realize.
Karolina Lizaola and her mother, Carmen Orozco, came to Paso Robles from Cambria to get groceries and ended up joining the protest.
Lizaola, a student at Coast Union High School, wore a Mexican flag around her shoulders throughout the protest to celebrate her heritage and “to show that black people — they don’t stand alone.”
“I’m tired of living in my history book,” Lizaola said. “I want to see a difference.”
Demonstration ends with a prayer
The protest ended near the intersection of 12th and Pine streets, where demonstrators spoke with the police chief, who urged them to end their hours-long protest.
Eventually, Oddette Augustus, owner of Miss Oddette’s Creole Kitchen restaurant, arrived at the gathering and encouraged protesters to end the demonstration on a positive note with a prayer.
The protesters, Lewis and many police officers knelt down while Augustus prayed. The group dispersed soon after.
After the protests, Shamar, who declined to provide his last name, said he has to deal with police suspicion every day as a black man.
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“This is my life,” he said. “Everywhere I go — trust me.”
Shamar said he felt like he got some closure from the protest, especially being able to talk to Lewis.
“Being able to actually speak to them and having them listen to me — that’s a first for me,” he said.
Augustus said the number of white people participating in demonstrations protesting Floyd’s death has been encouraging. She said the coronavirus stay-at-home orders have actually forced people to sit down and take in the reality of what police did to Floyd.
“Eyes are more open than they’ve ever been before,” Augustus said.
She said it will be important for white Americans to participate in changing the system that led to Floyd’s death.
“White people have to do something,” Augustus said. “It’s their creation.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 3:44 PM.
