SLO racial justice rally disperses after protesters thank attendees, police near station
Two protests occurred in SLO County today over the death of George Floyd while in police custody:
- Find coverage of a march in the South County here.
Update 8:50 p.m.
Demonstrators have dispersed with people heading in opposite ways on Santa Rosa Street after organizers thanked those in attendance for keeping it peaceful and thanked the police as well.
Attendees could be overheard saying “nice to meet you” amid the departures.
Update 8:45 p.m.
Prostesters are still gathered outside the SLO police station chanting “Tell me what community looks like? This is what community looks like.”
Update 8:25 p.m.
Traffic now being diverted in the Santa Rosa area as protesters block the streets.
Signs state “The system was never broken, it was built this way” and “We can’t sit back and expect change.”
Update 8 p.m. After protesters faced police and chanted, demanding justice, they turned to their neighbor to greet one another.
They then moved toward the Highway 101 overpass along Santa Rosa.
About a third of the police lined up along the police station returned inside after the group of 200 or so marched toward the overpass.
Update 7:45
Demonstrators plan to be chanting out front of the police station until 8:46 p.m., with the blessing of the SLOPD, a leader said.
They have been calling out the names of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Update 7:30 p.m.
Protesters are now sitting at the intersection of Santa Rosa and Walnut, blocking traffic along the corridor near the police station.
Update: 7:15 p.m.
The marchers are weaving through downtown, heading at a steady pace, through Mission Plaza and surrounding streets.
They are chanting “We charge you with genocide.”
Signs include “BLM” and “Defund the police.”
Protesters continued on Palm Street, possibly towards Santa Rosa in the direction of the police station.
Update, 7 p.m.
The marchers paused on Osos Street to sing “Happy Birthday” to Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was fatally shot in her home by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers. She would have turned 27 Friday.
“There’s nothing in this world that will make it better for those who lost their lives to police violence,” one protester said via megaphone.
The protesters planned to march back to Mission Plaza before returning to the San Luis Obispo Police Department station.
Update, 6:45 p.m.:
After gathering at the San Luis Obispo Police Department station, protesters headed down Santa Rosa Street toward downtown San Luis Obispo.
As they marched, they called for “money for jobs and education, not for jails and deportation.”
Original story:
About 200 people participated in a “Call to Action” protest Friday evening in downtown San Luis Obispo — the city’s sixth demonstration in a row.
The protesters gathered at Mission Plaza before marching down Monterey Street.
They congregated again blocks away at the intersection of Santa Rosa and Walnut streets near San Luis Obispo Police Department headquarters, chanting “Whose streets? Our streets” and “Hey hey, ho ho. Policing has got to go.”
About 30 uniformed police officers stood behind a barricade in front of the police station as the protesters chanted, “What do we want? Justice. If we don’t get it? Shut it down.”
As demonstrators invited each other to to “imagine a world without police,” one protester told police, “That doesn’t mean we don’t love you guys. You’re still human beings.”
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol blocked a nearby on-ramp to Highway 101 at Walnut and Osos streets.
Police officers warned residents to avoid the area Friday.
The event was organized by the Cal Poly Black Student Union, Cal Poly Students for Quality Education and “black/indigenous/students of color” at the San Luis Obispo university, according to the Cal Poly Black Student Union Facebook page and a flyer being distributed online.
Protesters planned to demonstrate in favor of defunding the police and investing in “affirming, life-giving spending for black/indigenous/people of color,” the flyer said. It also said that a “diversity of tactics will be respected.”
The Black Student Union said via Facebook that the protest will be peaceful and that “diversity of tactics” means “we are peaceful and nonviolent, but we don’t condemn people who choose not to follow the police’s orders” and “we don’t put each other unnecessarily at risk.”
Organizers also encouraged white protesters to show up to protect “particularly the black and native folks at this protest.”
On Friday afternoon, R.A.C.E. Matters SLO County and Young Black Leadership — including Tianna Arata and Cal Poly football players Jalen Hamler and Xavier Moore — released a statement on Facebook saying they’re not affiliated with the event and won’t be in attendance.
They also discouraged attendance, “especially by black people, who will (bear) the brunt of the consequences.
The protest leaders have organized events all week to demonstrate against racism and police brutality. They’ve joined protesters across the country who began leading marches and rallies after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
R.A.C.E. Matters SLO County, Arata, Moore and Hamler — alongside the county’s chapter of the NAACP — helped organize peaceful rallies and protests in San Luis Obispo that drew thousands of people on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 6:27 PM.
