SLO protesters hold silent march to police station following organizer’s arrest
A day after protesters marched onto Highway 101 and San Luis Obispo police arrested the event organizer, a slightly smaller group of demonstrators held a silent walk to the police station.
Activists met at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the San Luis County Superior Courthouse before walking north on Santa Rosa toward Highway 101.
The protesters did not block traffic and waited at crosswalks.
At Walnut Street, protesters stopped in a single-file line, silently looking at the dozen police officers standing guard at the station.
Standing shoulder to shoulder, they reached from Walnut Street to Olive Street, before sitting down on the sidewalk as more people joined them.
Tiana Miner, one of the protesters at the event, said sitting there with hundreds of others in solidarity was important.
“We need to stay strong and keep the momentum,” she said.
But she said today is different than the other protests because they’re “just sitting here. We’re not forcing ourselves anywhere, we’re not yelling. We’re just sitting here and watching other people’s reaction to us.”
On Tuesday, anti-racism activist Tianna Arata was arrested on suspicion of five charges including participating in a riot, unlawful assembly, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest following a march the blocked traffic on Highway 101 for nearly an hour.
Another protester, Elias Bautista, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer after he appeared to kick the officer in the groin after Arata was taken into custody, a video posted on Twitter showed.
Protesters at Wednesday’s event alternated between sitting down and standing up for just under two hours before walking back to the courthouse. Once there, several speakers stepped forward and, at one point, a relaxation and introspection exercise was led by one of the attendees.
Protesters at the event said it felt different than previous protests. Some said the atmosphere was somber after the previous night’s events, but that they felt more driven than ever to support the movement.
Tuesday’s arrests “happened locally, so I think it hit close to home for people in the county and in the area who come to these protests regularly,” said Ramiro Spencer, a resident who attended the protests.
By the end of the night, word had spread of another protest planned for Thursday at the same time and location as Wednesday’s event.
“It’s not just about getting the point across. We want change,” protester Nicole Ingram said. “And until we see that, we’re going to keep doing this.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 4:55 PM.
