Rage For Abortion Rights
07.09.2022 | At 9AM, a small crowd gathered in front of the California state capitol building's west steps to protest the recent major losses for human rights in this country. Mounted CHP, police cyclists, rooftop observers, and riot police with batons & munitions were deployed on a non-militant group of no more than thirty. Any protester who stepped more than one foot into the capitol grounds was met with threat of arrest.
The group refused intimidation and marched throughout surrounding streets with chants related to bodily autonomy, abortion rights, & anti-patriarchal sentiments. When the group gathered again at the capitol, a man in a black polo and jeans (pictured) on the outskirts was grinning and holding a large backpack and a golf bag. This caused some concern, as bags designed to accommodate golf clubs have been used to conceal firearms. A protester in a "defend Rojava" shirt asked if he had a gun, to which he gave a non-answer. When I asked him if he had a gun, he told me "maybe". Later, the golf bag owner claimed to police that the man in the "defend Rojava" t-shirt had assaulted him (the police were unable to find any witnesses to such a crime). CHP detained both of them, allowing the bag owner to sit in the shade alone while the other was made to stand in the sun surrounded. The police forced the detained protester to lead them to his car for identification. Upon reaching his car, they surrounded it, peering through windows. Returning to the capitol steps, the golf bag and backpack were searched, though it was never made clear if there had been weapons in them or not. The bag owner was released and about twenty minutes later, the police (having no witnesses or evidence) released the other man.
Image: CHP sergeant Scrivner after telling a group of Indigenous women that they were “going full ‘off the reservation’”(1). Pink Knight Press.
After that, a protester on a motorcycle revved their motorcycle engine in front of the capitol; this caused a swarm of two dozen officers to descend on him. The aggressive surrounding of one of their own caused the protesters to react in kind, demanding the safety of their surrounded member. Several indigenous women were among these people, and CHP sergeant Scrivner told them "Now you're going full 'off the reservation'" (1).
1 A video by @sacsocialjusticeevents on Instagram confirms this.
