Vigils in August 2021

[Brian]

Vigil attendance this summer has rebounded from the worst of the pandemic last winter, thanks to the return of some of our greatest stalwarts who were quarantining and the addition of some new faces.  Rosalind was back on the corner for this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil for the first time since March 2020.  Before that, she came almost every week and stood for the entire 90 minutes.  We've stayed in touch with her throughout the past 16 months but it was wonderful to talk again in person -- and see that she looks as good as she sounds on the phone!

Thirteen vigil regulars demonstrated alongside eight members of local Democratic and Indivisible groups opposing the recall of Governor Newsom. They held signs from 5 to 6 p.m., starting a half hour before our usual time as they did at the June 25th vigil, and we hope they come back each week before the election next month.

Since October 2011, we have displayed every Defense Department news release announcing the deaths of soldiers, sailors and airmen in our many ongoing military operations during the vigils.  We taped a large-type printout of Thursday's Pentagon news release, which is linked below, on the utility pole.  The 54-year-old mother of two was the fifth airman who has died while deployed for Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria since the start of 2020.

www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2720368/dod-identifies-air-force-casualty/

Chief Master Sergeant Tresse Z. King

[anni]

A few snapshots from last week's vigil. Sharing the peace corner with the wonderful folks calling for NO to the recall.

[Brian]

During this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, we were so happy to stand again with the wonderful folks from the Canada Crescenta Democratic Club, Crescenta Valley Indivisible and other local groups out to urge people to vote No in next month's recall election.  Actually, California voters are already receiving their ballots in the mail.  When I arrived at 5:20, I counted 19 participants -- including state Senator Anthony Portantino, who was talking with his constituents but not holding a sign.  At times, they occupied all four corners at the intersection of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue.  It seemed to me that there were a lot more honks and waves than usual from the passing vehicles.  By the time the last of the anti-recall demonstrators left at 6:10, traffic had dwindled as it does every week.

Fifteen vigil regulars came to the northwest corner, the best turnout of our ever rotating cast of stalwarts since December 20, 2019.

Earlier, we had our first counter protester since 2012, when members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge occasionally sat on camp chairs on the southeast corner with an array of American flags.  This gentleman stood on that corner by himself, hoisting a yellow Don't Tread on Me flag until the anti-recall demonstrators left.  When asked, he said he was from Yugoslavia and that he thought we were communists.  He also opposed government health care programs.

In the previous seven days, the Department of Defense reported no military deaths in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria, in the soon-to-end Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan (formerly Operation Enduring Freedom) or in any of the other U.S. operations underway around the world.  As I write, Central Command is in the process of deploying 3,000 troops in Afghanistan to evacuate nonmilitary American personnel, with 3,000 more troops on stand by in Qatar.

[Gabriela Hoffman]

It's never a G-d, or good thing to leave people in desperate need, after inhabiting their land for years.
As most of you in the Peace Vigil stalwarts know,there's no easy way out, & we always have to question the wisdom of why & when to enter a political, religious, or military situation that is not our own.
As a family member of the 1930's-1940's holocaust victims, I wish the US had gotten in sooner there, but who knew what was going on ?

We seldom intervene in holocausts of other ethnic groups or other races that don't affect us directly or that don't live the same lifestyles as us.
I don't know when a "good reason" to kill,maim, or enslave others is a "good reason" to go to war.

I may be extremely naive but I just feel it's stupid & ignorant to act like Americans have all the solutions & answers without understanding the full impact of our actions.
Forgive me if I've overstepped with my words. You folks on the corner, every Friday for many, many years, are the true heroes in my heart.
Bless you all!
Gaby

[anni]

Gabriela, your words are honest and need to be heard. Though I must admit before each vigil I feel so much less than heroic. Like, there must be more I can do to stop our (the US') warring stance towards all problems. After each vigil I do feel some peace..a little lighter and able to share a little more. I guess it's a process...

[Sharon W]

GPD asked Bill for a copy of the video he took of tonight's incident so he made a youtube.

[Brian]

Thank you, Sharon and Bill!  And Jeanne gave her video to another Glendale Police Department officer.

Let's start with the weekly census:  Fourteen demonstrators opposing the recall of Governor Newsom started arriving at 5 p.m., before the official start time of this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil.  With the addition of our new allies this month, vigil regulars are coming to the corner earlier too -- a total of 12 stalwarts this week.

The anti-recall contingent occupied all four corners at one time.  Vigil regular Terry, who's also been active in the Canada Crescenta Democratic Club, stood on the southeast corner for a while, holding a Stop the Republican Recall sign.  He was there when a man driving a black Ram truck tried to grab a woman's sign from the passenger window, then drove around the block and got out, stole a sign, threw it in the truck bed and took off.  Someone called the police.  Soon an officer came and took a report.

Not long after the last of the anti-recall demonstrators left around 6:15, the black Ram truck bearing a red United States Marine Corps flag parked on the other side of Ocean View Boulevard with a woman driving.  The same man exited the passenger side and crossed the street to approach Terry, the last person on the corner with a Stop the Republican Recall sign.  Bill's video posted above starts just seconds later.  As you can see, the man in the hat chased Terry around for a minute and a half trying to take his sign until another man approached him.  Terry wisely took a seat with Sharon on the concrete bench far away while the two men started talking.  The next seven minutes of the video shows the schoolyard behavior that drew a crowd of spectators -- and a punch to the Good Samaritan's nose.  His wife tried to stay between them until the woman who drove the truck crossed the street and tried to get her passenger to leave.  They left when they heard sirens from three Glendale Police SUV's.  The man was in handcuffs within 20 seconds.

The rest of us left before the cops did because it was already after 7 p.m.  Maybe the Crescenta Valley Weekly will have a report in next Thursday's GPD police blotter.  I didn't see the man who tried to help Terry being punched in the nose, but I saw the bloody scrape on it.  He said he will press charges.

No U. S. military deaths were reported in the previous seven days.

By the way, I made a new sign for this week's vigil:  Evacuate Afghans Now.

[Sharon W]

Bill sent the Youtube to GPD and got a thank you message. Hopefully they can persuade the angry recall supporter to follow the Constitution. If he is actually a former Marine he's not behaving in a way that honors the Corps. Someone in the local Democrat FB group noted that they have been assured GPD will have a presence at the corner the next three Fridays. We stayed past 7 to talk with GPD and after they left several people asked us what had happened. It seemed to me none of them supported the anti recall guy.

[Brian]

I'm not posting his photo to shame this man any further. Blessedly, the Montrose Peace Vigil message board has always operated in a secluded corner of the internet. I'm posting it so vigil regulars who weren't on the corner Friday will be able to recognize him if he approaches us again.

Anni snapped this photo of the license plate (08319F3) on his 2021 Dodge Ram 1500 as she and Rosalind left to avoid the ruckus. Both of the truck's occupants were across the street and the engine was running.

The only reason I had to be scared of our visitor was his maskless face. As you can hear on Bill's video, an observer remarked, "I can smell the alcohol on his breath." I hope that no Covid was mixed with the alcohol in his aerosols.

[Sharon W]

I don't see any connection to the California recall effort but the angry guy could be an Afghanistan War veteran shocked by how the withdrawal is going. www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-08-21/afghanistan-veterans-oceanside-camp-pendleton?_amp=true