A multitude of protesters from throughout Southern California lined both sides of several blocks of Pacific Coast Highway Saturday, carrying signs and chanting to the chorus of vehicle horns as they protested various actions of the Trump Administration.
In the spirit of a holiday parade, the protesters wore hats, dressed in a variety of red, white, and blue garb, and most carried homemade signs that, in one way or another, indicated their displeasure at the actions of the government.
“Approximately 400 people in attendance,” wrote Seal Beach Police Capt. Nick Nicholas.
“The demonstration on Saturday was peaceful. No arrests were made, and no incidents were reported,” he said in an email to the Sun.
“I put the crowd at the Seal Beach No Kings event at 5,000. There were packed sidewalks from 13th St. to 1st St. on both sides of PCH. A fire chief who was standing next to me said the same figure,” said Marc Loopesko, a Seal Beach resident, who was there. According to Loopesko, the crowd peaked at 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
“Perhaps that is accurate across California, but in Seal Beach we had approximately 400,” Nicholas wrote.
The local version of the “No Kings” protest lasted about two hours on a sweltering summer day.
“We can’t let Trump destroy our nation,” said one, “hands off our social security,” said another, “No Kings, No Dictators: Keep America a Democracy,” said yet another as the group sporadically broke out into chants and sang patriotic songs.
“I’m here on behalf of my brothers,” said Colleen Lewis from nearby Westminster. She said her brothers, one of whom served in the Vietnam War, did not approve of deploying U.S. troops in Los Angeles, “so I’m here expressing my First Amendment right.”
“I definitely wanted my voice to be heard,” she said.
Another protester, Steven Smith, of Placentia, flew alternating U.S. and Canadian flags, saying he did not approve of the trade war with our neighboring nation of Canada, “so I went out and bought a Canadian flag to express my support for them.”
“I came to Seal Beach today to protest what’s happening to our country right now,” said Karen Lucas of Costa Mesa. “I don’t like the ICE raids and the way people are being treated,” she said.
The crowd was a mixture of people of all age ranges, from teenagers to senior citizens, all peacefully assembled on both sides of PCH from its intersection of Main Street all the way down to past its intersection with 12th Street.
One enterprising young man had cut a huge “Peace” symbol, circa 1960s, out of cardboard that became a huge hit among protesters, as the young man was applauded as he walked along the sidewalk on the west side of PCH.