From San Diego A Firsthand Account:
Chris Mason
Yesterday at 12:42 AM · Public
I was at the protests in downtown San Diego tonight. This is what I saw with my own eyes:
A peaceful protest at Waterfront Park in front of the County Administration building. Protesters had signs and candles. They were signing, chanting, and giving speeches.
At one point a sherif’s helicopter announced that the protester was unlawful and that we’d all be arrested if we stayed. About ten minutes later the police started firing tear gas into the peaceful crowd from the roof of the building.
At this point protesters took to the street. Why the cops would rather have protesters roaming around downtown rather than peacefully gathered in a park is something I cannot understand.
We marched through the streets of downtown for hours. It was a nonviolent, peaceful protest. Somewhere along the way four white men who were all dressed the same and all carrying the same black bats inserted themselves into the march and started hitting street signs and broke a few windows. I saw them loot from CVS as well. Actual protesters were demanding that they stop. Some protesters threw water bottles at them and some actually tried to fight them.
For the rest of the march I saw protesters standing in front of the windows of businesses to protect them from these 4 men. I can confirm from what I saw with my own eyes that the protest that took place in downtown San Diego tonight was peaceful and that protesters even put themselves in harms way to stop the 4 white men who were trying to cause damage.
People are pissed. People are hurt. Why the police didn’t let us gather to peaceable protest and share those feelings is beyond me. The police firing tear gas into a peaceful crowd is what started the march through the streets. There was no reason to do that. Let people gather and let their voices be heard. What I saw tonight was police being aggressive and starting violence by firing tear gas into a peaceful crowd.
You can watch the 2 hour and 20 minute live feed that I posted to confirm what I stated about the march. I started the video right after the police fired the tear gas into the crowd.
https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherMichaelMason/posts/10164131842430724
https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherMichaelMason/videos/10164137225140724/
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