Name: Thousands of protesters flock to Huntington Beach following state-ordered OC beach closures
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Thousands of protesters flock to Huntington Beach following state-ordered OC beach closures

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By | , | and | | Orange County RegisterLarge crowds opposing the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home mandate took to the streets of downtown Huntington Beach on Friday, a day after the governor closed Orange County beaches and drew frustration and criticism from some residents and city leaders.Protesters gathered near the Huntington Beach pier shortly before noon, with the crowd eventually swelling to some 2,500-3,000 people, according to Huntington Beach police Chief Robert Handy. The tightly packed crowd, with most people not wearing protective masks, repeatedly chanted “U.S.A.” as they waited for the demonstration to begin.The protesters held signs proclaiming, “All jobs are essential,” “My freedom is essential,” and “Newsom is not essential,” as well as “Open our businesses, stand up for our rights as Americans” and “The shutdown is killing us, open our state now.”Big crowds gather on the corner of Main and PCH in to protest closures.— Jeff Gritchen 🇺🇸 (@jeffgritchen)A stream of cars, many adorned with American flags, honked in support. Officers, some on horseback, pushed the crowd back as some protesters spilled into traffic lanes on Pacific Coast Highway.The protest caused gridlock on PCH beginning at Beach Boulevard as traffic moved north toward the pier. It took as much as half an hour for cars to move a couple of hundred feet, with some motorists exiting their vehicles to stand on the roofs waving flags, as the sound of horns filled the ocean air.There were no arrests or citations, Handy said.“Anytime you get a crowd of that size it’s concerning, especially during a pandemic,” he said.Handy said he empathized with the protestors, since the city has a tourism-based economy built on beach access, and is trying to balance that with public safety. Individuals found on the shore during beach closures will be asked to leave or face civil or misdemeanor criminal citations, he added.Protesters said they wanted people to consider the protest as nonpartisan. But signs supporting President Trump were interspersed in the crowd, as they have been at other recent protests.Some demonstrators contended that Newsom had overstepped by overruling local cities in closing the beaches. Aimee Barber of Seal Beach sat on a curb with her five children, who held various signs protesting the governor’s order, including one that read, “My Rights Don’t End Where Yours Begin.”“We are fighting for our freedom,” Barber said. “The beaches are as much an essential business as liquor stores.”Despite the close proximity to the shore, more of the criticism from protesters was aimed at the stay-at-home orders than at the beach closures.Some expressed frustration at the governor’s continual extensions of the stay-at-home orders, which are currently expected to last at least several more weeks.“He keeps dangling the carrot,” said Dave Elm, a factory worker from Huntington Beach whose hours have been cut to two days a week. “First he said 14 days, then two weeks, 30 days and now says it will be well in May. The numbers (involving the infection rate) don’t support it.”Shannan Parks, who biked to the protest from her Newport Beach home with her dog Papa, said she felt many people are “fed up” with the quarantine measures and believes more businesses could reopen with the right social distancing and sanitation measures.“We have the right to open up our city,” Parks said.Show Caption ofThe rally is the largest in a series of demonstrations over the past several weeks in , and . Organizers on a website announcing the Huntington Beach rally called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to “fully reopen” the state immediately.Newsom, referring to the May Day protests around the state, urged attendees to at least take steps to protect themselves from the coronavirus.“Wear a face covering, do justice to physical distancing,” the governor said. “You don’t want to catch this disease.”Health officials say the statewide shelter-in-place order has helped slow the spread of the coronavirus and prevented hospitals from being overwhelmed, saving countless lives. They worry that re-opening too fast could risk a spike in the curve of infections. On Friday, Orange County reported 2,537 cases to date – including 50 deaths – for a total of 34,128 cases, with Friday’s 163 new cases marking the highest daily total so far.Polls have shown consistent support for stay-at-home orders from a majority of Americans. But as the economic devastation from widespread shutdowns has grown, protests have increasingly sprung up across the nation, including by organizations spread over several states.Statewide, Newsom noted that more than 2,000 have died, including 91 deaths reported over the past 24 hours, and there are more than 50,000 confirmed cases.“Don’t think this virus has disappeared,” the governor said. “Just ask the families that have tragically lost loved ones.”In recent days, Southern California’s beach communities have become the center of the over the scope of the statewide closures.Gov. Newsom, citing large crowds that flocked to the sands during a heat wave last weekend, . Huntington Beach and Dana Point officials have challenged the governor’s order, butHuntington Beach Mayor Lyn Semeta said city officials believe that Newsom’s order has seemingly singled out the county’s shoreline for closure.“We felt it was an unnecessary overreach and unwarranted and not supported by public health data,” she said. “Orange County has some of the lowest mortality rates in the state.”Rich Fancher, a biochemist from Huntington Beach, said he has been biking to the local beach over the last six weekends, and hadn’t noticed any problems with social distancing until last weekend. He applauded Newsom’s actions, which he felt were based on scientific information regarding the spread of the coronavirus.A few dozen people remained on the sands during the nearby Huntington Beach protest. Police were making no apparent effort to remove them from the beach.In recent protests, . At the previous Huntington Beach protest, one man suspected of threatening a TV cameraman , but has not yet been charged.The Huntington Beach protest on Friday was among a number of demonstrations held across the state. over stay-at-home orders led to skirmishes and yelling between opposing groups. Meanwhile, and San Clemente, smaller groups of protesters gathered to oppose the stay-at-home orders.On Thursday, a high-profile gathering at Michigan’s state capital drew hundreds of protesters, some armed. On Friday, Trump tweeted in support of the Michigan demonstrators.Staff photographer Mark Rightmire contributed to this report.We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. 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By | , | and | | Orange County RegisterLarge crowds opposing the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home mandate took to the streets of downtown Huntington Beach on Friday, a day after the governor closed Orange County beaches and drew frustration and criticism from some residents and city leaders.Protesters gathered near the Huntington Beach pier shortly before noon, with the crowd eventually swelling to some 2,500-3,000 people, according to Huntington Beach police Chief Robert Handy. The tightly packed crowd, with most people not wearing protective masks, repeatedly chanted “U.S.A.” as they...

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Crime and Courts reporter for the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group

Thousands of protesters flock to Huntington Beach following state-ordered OC beach closures

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