A lively protest against President Donald Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown took over the sidewalks of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Friday evening, the second march in what’s shaping up to be a week of protest in Stockton.
Hundreds of people holding protest signs and waving Mexican, American and other national flags streamed down the boulevard starting at 6:15 p.m., heading from the parking lot of Dollar General on west MLK Boulevard to Airport Way in the east.
Drivers on MLK met the protesters with near-constant honks, flags trailing out windows and sunroofs, and revving engines expressing support.
It was the second protest in Stockton against Trump’s ramped-up deportation regime since Wednesday, when hundreds of people demonstrated at Victory Park.
Wednesday’s protest aimed to show solidarity with other California protests including in Los Angeles, an organizer said, where Trump ordered the California National Guard and U.S. Marines to police protests, over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objections. A federal judge temporarily blocked the deployment Thursday.
In Stockton, a third protest linked to planned “No Kings” rallies across the country is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday near Yokuts and Pacific avenues.
On Friday evening, San Joaquin Delta College freshmen Keyli Venegas and Alejandra Murillo were among hundreds of others gathered at Dollar General at the start of the march. “I’m angry. I’m just angry,” Venegas said. “This affects us personally,” Murillo said.
Another protester, Anthony Fantulin, described himself as “a car enthusiast.”
“But right now, I’m an advocate for my people,” he said.
“This is not right, what Donald Trump is doing. It’s not only hurting people, it’s hurting the economy,” Fantulin added. “I have to speak for my people, because no one else will do it.”
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