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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n
Van Winkle\u2019s sign said that bombing for peace was the equivalent of procreating for virginity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a super comfortable sign, because I think that people are way too comfortable with what\u2019s going on,\u201d Van Winkle said. \u201cThey\u2019re fine with pretending like nothing\u2019s happening and that\u2019s not okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com Who organized this protest<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
PSL wasn\u2019t 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 Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s arrest<\/a>. Nick Schaibly, an organizer for PSL said that his group works together with Answer Coalition.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe like to work with the community to make sure that everybody gets a share of the pie,\u201d Schaibly said. \u201cWe just kindly moved over here.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, one of Sacramento\u2019s marquee intersections, where 16th Street turns into Land Park Drive and the Tower Theatre\u2019s neon glows across from the close-to-completed Tower Broadway residential complex, got to host a protest.<\/p>\n Schaibly said that planning for the event started Saturday but that \u201cthere\u2019s been so much going on that it feels like it\u2019s just been mainstream since the end of January at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n Chants during the protest included, \u201cTell the people what they need,\u201d with an immediate follow-up of \u201cIranian sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Asked what brought her out, Flores said, \u201cWell, to quote Michelle Obama, \u2018Do something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Earl, who is in her 70s, said she\u2019d protested since the days of the Vietnam War. \u201cI think people are so comfortable and so spoiled that they\u2019re not thinking about saving democracy,\u201d Earl said.<\/p>\n Maureen Stubblefield, a Land Park resident, said she was primarily a climate activist. \u201cNow, there\u2019s all these other things that are rising up to the fore,\u201d Stubblefield said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want that to be lost, because we\u2019re in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n Beside Stubblefield was Chris Cioni, another Land Park resident. Cioni said he had been a Naval reservist. \u201cI took an oath to defend the Constitution,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re trampling the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n For protester Cheyenne Pengelley, the hope was that the event might raise understanding for people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in the twilight zone, but also maybe they\u2019ll come out or they\u2019ll at least vote differently or something, I don\u2019t know,\u201d Pengelley said. \u201cIt\u2019ll trigger them to at least be aware of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel Amaro, left, protests at the corner of 16th and Broadway in Sacramento on Monday. Amaro said he saw an Instagram post about the \u201cNo War in Iran\u201d demonstration and had to join it. \u201cThis is a nuclear provocation. I had to show up,\u201d Amaro said. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
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. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com Who the protest attracted<\/p>\n
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. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
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