San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
DEMONSTRATORS RALLY AGAINST NEWSOM
About 150 gather at Waterfront Park to protest COVID rules
Demonstrators urged the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom and rejection of mask and vaccine mandates at a rally that drew about 150 people to Waterfront Park Saturday.
“I’m here to lift up the next generation of people that are going to be the prime movers of this movement,” said Morgan Kimbarow, president of San Diego Young Republicans.
On Sept. 14, Californians will cast votes on a two-part ballot that asks whether to remove Newsom, and which one of 46 replacement candidates should take his place if he is recalled. Mail ballots have gone out to all registered voters.
“There’s a lot of conversations and discussions about who is going to be the candidate to replace Gavin Newsom, but the most important thing is that we recall him,” Kimbarow said.
The event follows a larger protest at the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that drew about 300 demonstrators and more than 100 speakers, most of whom railed against the state and local response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the rally Saturday speakers compared mask and vaccine mandates to historically repressive political regimens and likened their objections to the grievances that spurred the American Revolution.
“If you are against tyranny in California, raise your hand,” said Amy Reichert, a co-founder of Reopen San Diego, which has opposed COVID-19 closures and restrictions.
State and local health officials have cited mask-wearing, social distancing measures and vaccinations as imperative to protecting the public from the aggressive Delta variant.
Since March 1, more than 91 percent of new cases, 97 percent of hospitalizations and 88 percent of deaths have occurred among people who are not vaccinated, according to county data.