Twenty-eight years ago, a verdict handed down in a courtroom in the California city of Simi Valley sparked 6 days of rioting in neighboring Los Angeles. Today, thousands of people showed up on the city’s streets, and ultimately at its City Hall, to protest the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
The crowd gathered on the corner of Sycamore and Cochran, holding signs and chanting various slogans in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. After growing exponentially in size, the throng of people began moving east to City Hall where a massive crowd gathered.
As of this writing, there have been no reports of any kind of criminal activity or unrest. Simi Valley, which is known for being a conservative town with its fair share of Trump supporters, saw one of the most successful and peaceful protests gatherings in the country — an unprecedented event that so far has received little coverage in the mainstream media.
Thousand of people massing at Simi Valley City Hall, chanting “Peaceful!” pic.twitter.com/Rsf0SAZ4FF
— Sky Palma (@DeadStateTweets) June 6, 2020
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https://twitter.com/Michael_Coons/status/1269398429752455168
During the week leading up to the protest, people posting in the city’s local Facebook groups and online neighborhood-watch forums spread unverified rumors about “antifa thugs” being “bussed in” to Simi Valley to cause destruction and looting. But the fear-mongering never came to pass.
There were counter-protesters at the march, but their presence fortunately didn’t cause tensions to boil over. One counter-protester was Bruce Boyer, who introduced himself as a candidate for Ventura County Sheriff (he unsuccessfully ran in 2018). Boyer and his entourage stood on the sidewalk waving American flags and sporting pro-Trump memorabilia. According to Boyer, he was there to let others know there are people in Simi Valley who “stand for the flag and support our cops.”
After reaching City Hall around noon, the protesters sat for a moment of silence lasting eight minutes and 46 seconds, equivalent to the time George Floyd was under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. When the protests wrapped up, city buses gave protesters free rides back to their cars, the Ventura County Star reported.
Some protest signs mentioned the 1992 Los Angeles riots and their connection to Simi. One sign read: “in 1992, we became a symbol of pain. Now it’s time we help heal.”
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