Hundreds of people gathered yesterday afternoon at Mitchell Park in San Luis Obispo for a rally organized by race-matters. Six speakers and a rapper addressed issues related to the recent death of George Floyd in Minneapolis which inspired a rash of protests, rioting and looting across the country.
Also speaking, a recent cal poly graduate, a Cuesta graduate, a UCLA senior who is about to graduate, a Korean christian minister and a Nipomo based rapper.
Those in attendance included county supervisor Bruce Gibson, the retired oil company geologist. San Luis Obispo police chief Deanna Cantrell also attended. She tells KPRL. She said no one dislikes ‘bad cops’ more than good cops. She says, “We’re not perfect, but we’re improving.” She applauded the constructive, peaceful rally at Mitchel Park. After an hour of speeches, many of the attendees walked through downtown San Luis Obispo. They walked down Higuera to Nipomo and then back up Marsh to the intersection of Santa Rosa and Pacific. More people spoke at that intersection, and then they walked through the city a second time. No violence and no damage was reported by San Luis Obispo police department. Meanwhile, several local police agencies sent officers to Los Angeles after being contacted by the California Office of Emergency Services with a request for mutual aid. The officers headed south to address the rioting, looting and vandalism in the greater Los Angeles area. The SLO county sheriff’s department sent 35 deputies to Los Angeles. The Atascadero police department sent five officers. Paso Robles sent three. Pismo Beach and Cal Poly each sent two officers to Los Angeles.
In northern California, rioting, vandalism and looting occurred Friday and Saturday in Oakland. Sunday, vandals and looters damaged the Broadway Plaza shopping center in Walnut Creek.
