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For the second time in as many weeks, hundreds gathered in downtown Mountain View Saturday for a peaceful demonstration celebrating diversity.
Similar demonstrations and rallies were held in cities across the country Saturday, Aug. 19, including one in Boston that reportedly drew about 40,000 people. The public gatherings were a direct rebuke to the so-called alt-right, an umbrella term for white nationalist and white supremacist groups including neo-Nazis and the KKK, that staged provocative and violent demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month.
Mountain View’s “Stand Up for Equality and Diversity” demonstration drew an estimated 500 people and featured a number of speakers, including county Supervisor Joe Simitian and Mayor Ken Rosenberg. The event included a performance by the activist group the Raging Grannies and a memorial for Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed when an alleged white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville on Aug. 12.
An alt-right “March on Google” had been planned at Charleston Park for the same day, Aug. 19, but was halted by organizers who claimed they feared for their own safety. The group also lacked a permit, as a Make a Wish Foundation fundraiser had been scheduled in Charleston Park at the same time. The fundraiser was canceled due to safety concerns, organizers said.
Good. But the Mountain View City Council (majority) has undermined the education of the community by adopting a resolution stating falsely and irrationally that discrimination in favor of existing residents is evil, get this, “nativism” which is a form of “bigotry.” Russian mobsters with stolen millions have as much a right to live and operate here as anyone else. Money is money. If the natives do not have the money to compete, get out. Nativism. Think about it.
I still don’t see where the diversity of thought and speech is in Mountain View. Conservatives and/or people who have opinions different from left wing radical orthodoxy are still subject to physical and verbal abuse, and harassment by people inside and outside of government as well as much of the local press.
Despite several attempts to bring attention to the completely unprovoked attacks in San Jose, Berkeley and Mountain View, against conservatives and those who were there merely to hear a different perspective; our political leaders were stone cold silent and made no attempt whatsoever to address these heinous acts of senseless violence in our city and/or neighboring cities.
It is no secret that the left has been using violence since the 60’s to try to beat/intimidate their opposition into submission. The fact that the city chose to have entertainers that are also left wing activists, I believe proves that the city couldn’t care less about diversity of ideology, and in my opinion, that;s just another form of bigotry.
Jim Neal
Old Mountain View
Andrea Gemmet / Mountain View Voice,
As a service to your readers, through a Public Records Request, can you please provide information on the individual or group that obtained the permit from the City of Mountain View to hold this peaceful demonstration? Also, I think it would be interesting to see what the total cost to the tax payers of Mountain View were for public safety, equipment rental, such as the water barricades, and other city staff that provided support for the demonstration.
I hope this is something that you are willing to do for your readers, as it may be easier for the “power of the press” to obtain, rather then Joe Citizen. Thanks!
The Voice is again referring to the “March on Google” as an “alt right” protest, a completely baseless characterization of the organizers. Andrea, where did you get your information on who was marching and how is “alt right” determined? Is anybody with a viewpoint that doesn’t jive with the Voice an “alt right”? This is such disappointing writing (it can’t even be considered journalism) and it’s why the liberal media is accused of Fake News. Your articles aren’t worth reading. I sure hope the majority of MV residents aren’t drinking your koolaid.
@Jim Neal – you hit the nail on the head.
If POTUS stayed on script Tuesday, as he was told to do, we would not be having these conversations, there would be no rallies, no protests. But he is not savvy enough to know when to keep his mouth shut, proven time and time again.
The March on Google, using their own words, called their cancelled event a protest against, “Google’s biased censorship of #AmericaFirst Patriots”
Source: https://www.facebook.com/events/153842341859570/?active_tab=about
All because they call their event “conservative,” doesn’t mean the media should go along. CNN, the Mercury, and this paper are correct to call the event organizers the Alt-Right. Who would have showed up, that’s anyone’s guess, so we can only go off the background of its organizer, Jack Posobiec. Look up what events Posobiec organized in the past.
Silicon Valley media platforms have by in large been a contributing factor for the growth of the Alt-Right. What real claim do they have against Google? Where in the Constitution and the 1st Amendment does it say a private company must employ someone against their strategic goals, or must allow content on their free media platform (Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc)?
The Mountain View Voices for Peace and Justice had a permit for their event, the March on Google did not. At the Stand Up for Equality and Diversity Rally, it welcomed all speakers, they did not censor anyone. Is anyone tired of how readily people flip who the victim and perpetrators are?
Both ends of the political spectrum too often exempt themselves from the standards they hold the other side to.
Those who purport to defend the March On Google’s right to speech object to the government from doing its duty to protect a rally of local residents? Rallies are at the core of democracy, and the idea one would seek to have the government charge groups to express their political thoughts is far more alarming its chilling effect on real free speech.
When can we return to regular politics where liberals believe in big government, and conservatives small government, at least both sides have rational arguments. Why any conservatives are standing up for discrimination against women and diversity is beyond me.
@a MV resident I agree with most of your statements, particularly “Both ends of the political spectrum too often exempt themselves from the standards they hold the other side to”
I’m a conservative. I’m a woman. I would never stand up for discrimination against women.
I am, however, absolutely against a media that is incredibly biased and one that has consistently presented one side, and/or slanted their “reporting” to their personal feelings. And frankly this “newspaper” does that, on a very consistent basis.
And I strongly uphold the Constitutional right for people to speak their viewpoints…..regardless of how ” offiensive” you may feel they are.
@tomlin The rally at Google was being organized by an alt-right conspiracy theorist named Jack Posobiec:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Posobiec
That is why the Voice is correct in calling the March on Google an alt-right event.
The right to free speech includes the right to gather to speak out against another group’s views. The alt-right (Richard Spencer, et al) marched with people carrying actual Nazi flags and chanting slurs and hateful slogans against Black people, LGBTQ people, and Jews. There is “offensive” speech and then there is speech which incites violence against marginalized people. Speaking out against the latter is the reason I attended the rally both on the 13th and the 19th. I was glad to see so much of the Mountain View community out together supporting POC and religious minorities.
Mountain View stands against hatred. The organizers of the “March on Google” were not from Mountain View, likely not from the Bay Area. Why else would they decide to hold a march in North Bayshore on a Saturday?!? NOBODY from Mountain View would have even seen the march, that area is completely dead on weekends, it would be only racist out-of-towner hatemongers and press covering them.
If they wanted community support, they would march against Google on real issues like overdevelopment and increased traffic. That’s a march Mountain View would stand for.
I await with great anticipation the City Council’s denunciation of this latest unprovoked attack against people trying to peacefully gather and exercise their 1st Amendment right to FREE SPEECH ( http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ct-berkeley-protests-20170827-story.html ).
The assault on free speech both literally and figuratively has been driven by the extreme left, which now routinely resorts to violence to silence anyone with whom they disagree. They justify their actions by proclaiming that the people that they oppose are ALT-Right, Nazis, Fascists, Homophobes, Racists, Islamaphobes, sexists, etc., etc., etc. These tactics are supported by a press that sees it as its duty to support those with whom they are philosophically aligned. In addition, many municipalities are allowing these atrocities to take place by not providing adequate security and protection.
What is most disturbing is that these assaults are being systematically carried out by those who claim to be on the side of tolerance and against hate! I warned the City Council a year ago that these types of attacks would only accelerate if more was not done to denounce this type of violence and make it clear that unprovoked violence against ANYONE is unacceptable.
This is not a new phenomenon by any means. When I was at a rally in San Jose 7 years ago, I was there to hear what a new political group had to say. None of the people were saying anything hateful or provoking the group of left wing protesters that always show up to disrupt peaceful conservative events. The police were there in force to keep the two sides separate and everything seemed to be fine until the rally ended. Most of us at the rally stayed behind talking amongst ourselves and the left wing group marched as if to leave the area, so the police relaxed their barrier. As soon as the happened the left wing group marched directly for us and entered our space in an attempt to provoke an altercation, but we all moved aside to allow them to pass unimpeded and did not respond to their insults. The police then moved to make sure that there would not be any incidents, but I never forgot what happened that day.
Now I see the same thing being repeated over and over again, only this time, in most cases, the police just stand and watch and our political leaders are silent.
Jim Neal
Old Mountain View
@Jim Neal,
Please push your partisan agenda elsewhere. We’ve had countless nonviolent counterprotests yet you try to exploit these incidents for ideological gains. Where was your concern when a young, innocent woman was murdered by these fascists in Charlottesville? Or the latest video from Charlottesville where a man fired a weapon into a crowd of counterprotestors? None of us blame you for that, but you pin every non-lethal piece of violence or property damage on the left. Don’t you have even the slightest bit of dignity and self-respect, rather than using these events to advance your ideology?
@Randy – I have spoken out for years against ALL violence. I even put together a Multi-Cultural festival here in Mountain View to try to bring people together in a non-partisan manner and promote understanding between people of various backgrounds. I wasn’t completely successful in that because it was decided to include one hyper-partisan group from the left.
I will repeat what I have already said, which is that there was no excuse for what the driver did in Charlottesville; but I will also point out that of the police had been doing their job and not standing around; that incident would have never happened!
I also haven’t heard about and cannot even find any stories about anyone in Charlotte firing a gun into counter-protesters; so if your story is true, provide a link.
In addition, you have evidently not been reading my other very recent posts or you would know that I have been critical of both Republicans AND Democrats alike, so your ‘partisan’ argument goes right out the window.
You also say that we have had countless “non-violent” protests; well that is because when liberals protest here; you don’t see them being attacked by the right. We prefer to engage in conversation rather than confrontation. That is the point of my exercising MY free speech rights, regardless of how many people try to troll me and bully me into silence, because I don’t want to see things get to the point where we DO have a fatal incident here that could have been avoided. That is highly unlikely to be the case when only one side is condemned for inciting violence and violence incited by the other side is either completely ignored, or glossed over.
Name one event in the Bay Area that conservatives have had in the last year, that was not disrupted by violence or threats of violence from the extreme left. If you can name one or more, I can name at least five violent attacks by the extreme left to each one of yours that you would claim was “peaceful”.
Furthermore, my ‘ideology’ is one of peaceful coexistence between people of all races, religions, backgrounds, and yes, even political ideologies!
I find it stunning that you can be so dismissive of the incidents in the Bay Area because (so far), they have been non-lethal! Is that really acceptable to you? If so, you have more than proven my point!
Now that I have unequivocally made it clear I have already condemned, and will continue to condemn the actions of James Earl Fields, I wonder if you will do the same by condemning the violence from the extreme left and support the right to free speech for EVERYONE. I won’t hold my breath though….
Jim Neal
Old Mountain View
@Jim Neal,
You say “you would know that I have been critical of both Republicans AND Democrats alike, so your ‘partisan’ argument goes right out the window.” I’ll certainly grant that I’m not a constant follower of Jim Neal, so I may have missed those criticisms. To help clarify this, could you post a criticism of Donald Trump here?
@Randy – Wow! So the measure of one’s centrality and ability to assess a situation without bias, is his willingness to criticize Trump??
No, it’s a measure of his stated commitment to being willing to criticize everyone. Jim is obviously capable of defending himself, so perhaps you can let him answer.
And Jim’s silence proves my point: he talks a big game about criticizing both sides, but never actually has any criticism of his guy. But maybe he just missed this (even though he’s posting elsewhere), so I’ll ask again: could you post a criticism of Donald Trump here?
Jim,
Here it is, a man white supremacist firing a gun in Charlettesville. And it’s on video. Still want to deny it?
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/27/us/man-arrested-gun-charlottesville-rally/index.html
Please tell me how you can defend a group of people who literally do not like you because of the color of your skin.
@Jim Neal,
It’s strange that you seem to be posting on the other article, yet have missed responding to my post here. Were I a more cynical person, I’d think you’re avoiding answering, but it’s certainly not that, so you must have just missed it again.
I’ll ask another time to bump this where you’ll see it: could you post a criticism of Donald Trump here?
@Randy and @Angel – Wow! You both must have really missed me! I’m touched! I did miss your posts. I work 8 hours a day and commute 4-6 hours a day to work on Public Transportation (because as you already know, the Council wants us all to get out of our cars) so I am not always on-line, and when I am I sometimes miss updates to some stories while I’m checking out other news.
That being said:
@Randy, I answered your question in the other story about the neo-Nazis in Mountain View (who knew?). I will answer it here as well. I have criticized both President Bushes, Clinton and Obama and the Republicans and Democrats, so the charge that I am not even-handed makes no sense.
@Angel – Thanks for the link! As I said, I was unable to find it in my search. However, your conclusion that I am supporting a group that doesn’t like me just because of my skin color is erroneous. I support everyone’s Constitutional rights to gather PEACEFULLY and protest or engage in free speech, but I do not support unprovoked violence against anyone for any reason. The man who fired the shot and the man who used his car as a weapon have both been arrested as well as one of the two counter-protesters who engaged in violent acts; and I think that’s great!
What is not great is that the police in the Bay Area are standing down whenever peaceful protesters and those attending speeches are attacked by Antifa and other leftists, and so far, the Mountain View Council has been completely silent on the matter (unless I missed that too).
Jim Neal
Old Mountain View