Hundreds Line SB Waterfront to Protest Trump's Cruelty, Corruption and Incompetence

In the latest display of popular opposition to the White House, Indivisible Santa Barbara organized a quiet demonstration that spoke volumes about local revulsion with the authoritarian regime

By Shelby Appice and Jerry Roberts

At least 500 Never-Trump protesters lined Cabrillo Boulevard on both sides of the Dolphin Family sculpture Thursday night, in a quiet but powerful demonstration of dissent against the repulsive policies of the Administration’s right-wing regime.

It was the fourth time since federal immigration agents staged military raids on July 10 against two legal, Central Coast cannabis operations that large numbers of neighbors, citizens and undocumented alike, gathered to display opposition to Trump’s cowardly, quota-driven round ups of people with brown skin, trampling of the Constitution and disregard for democracy.

Following earlier town halls convened in Carpinteria, on Santa Barbara’s Eastside, and at the Board of Supervisors, all responding to the disgraceful Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation actions, Thursday night’s affair was a low-key gathering, an electric candlelight vigil dubbed “Good Trouble,” to honor the memory of civil rights icon John Lewis and his passion for non-violent protest and social justice.

The “good trouble” crowd was older, whiter and less immediately threatened by Trump’s immigration jihad than many of the hundreds who assembled at the earlier gatherings. But with presence and hand-crafted signs, they expressed solidarity with their neighbors who are under siege, while calling out the gangster government for a host of other extremist policies as well.

Here is a sampling from among the crowd.

People began gathering at the Dolphin fountain about a half hour before sunset…

And the crowd soon grew to hundreds, sprawling along Cabrillo in both directions…

As protestors quietly conversed, passing cars blasted a constant cacophony of support that drew smiles, waves and victory signs from the largely solemn crowd…

Much protest messaging focused on protecting immigrants, but some expressed broader concerns about the fundamental values of the Republic, or…

…called out the deeper historic context of Trump’s assault on the Constitution of a nation founded on fighting tyranny, where all but a few are immigrants…

For some, the actions of the regime exceed the bounds of rationality, and expressing the full measure of their outrage requires strong language, cussing or effing…

For most, opposition to Trump boils down to his lack of basic human decency and compassion, and hatred of his cruelty and toxic, self-absorbed drive to divide the nation.

Images: Photos by Shelby Appice and Jerry Roberts, video by Hap Freund.