Abby Van Winkle admitted as she stood near the corner of Broadway and Land Park Drive that she was embracing the idea of making people uncomfortable.
Van Winkle and her husband Drake Jahraus, who recently relocated from Missouri to Sacramento, were among approximately 60 people who gathered Monday evening to protest the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran that began Saturday and killed the country’s leader.
Van Winkle’s sign said that bombing for peace was the equivalent of procreating for virginity.
“This is not a super comfortable sign, because I think that people are way too comfortable with what’s going on,” Van Winkle said. “They’re fine with pretending like nothing’s happening and that’s not okay.”
The protest seemed to draw a positive response from the rush hour crowd, with people honking as they drove by and protesters engaging in call-and-response chants.
Demonstrators hold signs at the intersection of Land Park Drive and Broadway in Sacramento on Monday while demonstrating against the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com Who organized this protest
Members of the Sacramento branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, or PSL, were on-hand in red shirts at the protest, leading chants, manning an information table and introducing at least one speaker.
PSL wasn’t the only organization represented at the event. A flyer for the event listed a URL for Answer Coalition, which has been involved in other local protests, including one in January following Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s arrest. Nick Schaibly, an organizer for PSL said that his group works together with Answer Coalition.
Schaibly said the protest was originally going to be held at Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Sacramento before his group realized that another organization was planning to use that space.
“We like to work with the community to make sure that everybody gets a share of the pie,” Schaibly said. “We just kindly moved over here.”
Daniel Amaro, left, protests at the corner of 16th and Broadway in Sacramento on Monday. Amaro said he saw an Instagram post about the “No War in Iran” demonstration and had to join it. “This is a nuclear provocation. I had to show up,” Amaro said. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com
Instead, one of Sacramento’s marquee intersections, where 16th Street turns into Land Park Drive and the Tower Theatre’s neon glows across from the close-to-completed Tower Broadway residential complex, got to host a protest.
Schaibly said that planning for the event started Saturday but that “there’s been so much going on that it feels like it’s just been mainstream since the end of January at this point.”
Chants during the protest included, “Tell the people what they need,” with an immediate follow-up of “Iranian sovereignty.”
Kunaal Kumar holds up his fist at the corner of Land Park Drive and Broadway in Sacramento on Monday while demonstrating against the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com Who the protest attracted
The protest drew a mix of people. Yasmine Flores and Deborah Earl, who live next door to one another in North Natomas, stood along Broadway early in the event.
Asked what brought her out, Flores said, “Well, to quote Michelle Obama, ‘Do something.’”
Earl, who is in her 70s, said she’d protested since the days of the Vietnam War. “I think people are so comfortable and so spoiled that they’re not thinking about saving democracy,” Earl said.
Yasmine Flores, left, and Deborah Earl, right, hold signs while attending a demonstration Monday at the intersection of 16th Street and Broadway in Sacramento against the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com
Maureen Stubblefield, a Land Park resident, said she was primarily a climate activist. “Now, there’s all these other things that are rising up to the fore,” Stubblefield said. “But I don’t want that to be lost, because we’re in trouble.”
Beside Stubblefield was Chris Cioni, another Land Park resident. Cioni said he had been a Naval reservist. “I took an oath to defend the Constitution,” he said. “They’re trampling the Constitution.”
For protester Cheyenne Pengelley, the hope was that the event might raise understanding for people.
“We’re in the twilight zone, but also maybe they’ll come out or they’ll at least vote differently or something, I don’t know,” Pengelley said. “It’ll trigger them to at least be aware of it.”
The Sacramento Bee
Graham Womack is a general assignment reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Prior to joining The Bee full-time in September 2025, he freelanced for the publication for several years. His work has won several California Journalism Awards and spurred state legislation.