San Diego’s coastal corners and inland malls turned into protest corridors yesterday as hundreds of residents joined a nationwide wave of demonstrations targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. Marchers converged in Pacific Beach and El Cajon, chanting, hoisting homemade signs and at times briefly blocking intersections as they moved through the streets.
Photo Gallery Captures Pacific Beach And El Cajon Crowds
A photo gallery published Saturday by The San Diego Union-Tribune, credited to freelance photographers Sandy Huffaker and Zoë Meyers, shows demonstrators clustered at the corner of Crown Point Drive and Ingraham Street in Pacific Beach and outside Parkway Plaza in El Cajon. Captions in the gallery estimated roughly 250 people at the Pacific Beach protest and highlighted signs bearing messages like “ICE Out” and “We Are Renee.”
Protest Route Stretches Across The County
Organizers working under the “ICE Out For Good” banner mapped out dozens of actions across San Diego County for the weekend. A roundup by the Times of San Diego listed the Pacific Beach corner and El Cajon’s Parkway Plaza among the scheduled sites. Demonstrations also popped up in Del Mar, Mira Mesa, Chula Vista and other neighborhoods as part of the coordinated push.
Organizers And Protesters Speak Out
NBC 7 San Diego reported that Indivisible and other grassroots organizations helped pull together several of the gatherings. Protesters told the station they showed up both to mourn and to demand accountability from federal authorities. “I’m loud because I’m angry right now,” one demonstrator said, while others led chants and called for stronger federal oversight of enforcement practices.
Local Rallies Plugged Into National ‘ICE Out’ Weekend
The American Civil Liberties Union noted that the San Diego events were part of a broader “ICE Out For Good” weekend of action that organizers said would feature more than 1,000 demonstrations nationwide. In a statement, the ACLU emphasized that the protests were intended to remain nonviolent. National coverage has linked the local rallies to the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis and the spread of video from the encounter, which has intensified demands for independent investigations; TIME has additional background on the case.
Local authorities reported no major violent incidents tied to Saturday’s demonstrations, and organizers continued to urge peaceful participation as actions stretched into the rest of the weekend, according to the Times of San Diego. Community groups said they were planning more vigils and events in the days ahead in an effort to maintain public pressure on federal officials.
