Black Lives Matter rally draws counterprotesters in Los Gatos
Scores of people gathered peacefully Sunday in downtown Los Gatos to support the Black Lives Matter movement, briefly shutting down an on-ramp onto Highway 17 to draw attention.
About 200 people attended the rally, the latest in a series of protests sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota. Bay Area protests over police violence have gone on for weeks since Floyd’s death on May 25.
The event also drew about a dozen counterdemonstrators, who argued with some of the protestors as city police stood by.
The rally was meant to draw attention to BLM in a small community not typically known for protests; residents were flocking to a nearby farmers market as the event began about 11 a.m. near Los Gatos Town Plaza.
Event organizer Mar Abat, 21, said protesters wanted to return to Los
Gatos after a demonstration a month ago attracted hundreds of people to the downtown. Abat, of San Jose, said that in wealthy communities such as Los Gatos, “people need to be reminded of BLM and what we’re fighting for.”
She said some people “think it’s just ‘something for us to cry about.’ But I want to make sure they know why we’re out here.”
After walking through Los Gatos’ downtown, the protesters marched toward Highway 17 chanting “Black lives, Black power.” A line of cars backed up as protesters held up signs and yelled at drivers to honk their horns to show support.
Some protesters briefly engaged in a heated argument with a couple in a car who yelled, “Black lives don’t matter.”
Annie Servin, 20, of San Jose said she was excited to see so many people take action.
“I never thought I’d be skating on Highway 17,” said Servin, who was riding a skateboard during the march. “I can’t believe that we blocked the highway.”
Jonathan Rogers, 32, called it a victory to shut down the road to Santa Cruz and make their presence felt in the community.
“To defeat the counterprotest rather quickly, that’s significant,” he said. “The fact that most people in Los Gatos weren’t happy with the situation is even better. Shutting down 17 is impressive.”
Marvin Pikrum, 52, who was sitting in traffic as protesters chanted in front of him, said that as a Black man he is angered by police brutality, but he said he did not understand why protesters decided to block the road.
“I’m trying to get to work,” Pikrum said. “I get the political aspect of this, but you’re just provoking the police. Get out of the way!”
Four hours after the start of the rally, protesters returned to downtown Los Gatos.
Protesters said that in the past week, people made threats to Black Lives Matter protesters on the neighborhood forum app NextDoor. Those protesting the march eventually left downtown Los Gatos after some heated arguments and physical confrontations. No immediate reports of arrests or injuries were made.
Rose Moon of Berkeley participated Sunday as part of the Bay Area Motorcycle Escorts. She and other members of the group said they provide shields, medical aid and traffic control for protests without the need for police.
“The cops hate us because we do their job better than them,” said Moon, 29. “We are there to be the front line between the cops and the marchers. When people think about revolution, this is at the root of the kinds of things we need to do to make that happen.”
Booley Smith, 22, a selfdescribed major general in the San Jose-based Black Guerrilla Coalition, said American society needs to build new institutions of power to handle policing.
“We feel we know the community better than the police, so we want Black and brown people to call us to mediate situations,” Smith said. “This is how we fight the system.”