Long Beach City College was bombarded by pro-recall protestors against Governor Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden at the LAC-campus, where President Biden and Governor Newsom made an appearance for the ‘Stop the Recall’ rally on September 13th, 2021.
Protestors could be seen located at LAC- campus’ parking lot structure I, and alongside the sidewalk holding up signs against both Biden and Newsom. Many of their signs were against COVID-19 vaccinations and mask mandates implemented by Biden.
Among the overwhelming amount of protests against Newsom and Biden, demonstrators in support of Newsom were also in attendance. Long time Democratic canvasser Margaret Lopez has been an avid supporter of Newsom and attended the event while displaying “Vote No” poster signs.
Lopez readily agreed with Newsom’s COVID-19 protocols, which she believes helps protect schools by ensuring that people are getting vaccinated as quickly as possible.
“I helped vaccinate immigrant workers and served as a translator as well,” said Lopez.
Another Newsom supporter who attended the “Stop the Recall” rally alongside Lopez was Nicholas Maldonado, who has been an activist since he was 18 years old. Maldonado is originally from San Pedro, California but moved to Florida and made the trip all the way to Long Beach to show his support for both Biden and Newsom.
Maldonado discussed that his main reason for coming to Long Beach was because he knows firsthand how high the COVID-19 cases are in Florida. He said that Biden and Newsom stood for a united California for all.
“This is a Governor that stands for all people here in California, he has done nothing but protect us from Covid. Yes we had a stay at home order, but it protected us from Covid,” said Maldonado.
Continuing on he said, “I’ve had friends of mine whose parents have died from Covid – kids are dying as we speak. Who are we going to have to make sure that stays in place and that we continue to get people vaccinated – that person is Gavin Newsom”.
Maldonado also highlighted Newsom’s continued support of the LGBTQ community throughout his political career, saying “Who is going to make sure our rights are being upheld? Who is going to make sure that transgender people are being fought for? This is a guy who has been supporting marriage equality his entire life”.
Maldonado ended the interview with a reminder that unvaccinated people are those who we are really fighting up against right now.
“If we want to continue to move forward and go back to work then we need to get people vaccinated,” said Maldonado.
On the other end of the LAC campus located near Heartwell Park and across from parking lot structure I, demonstrators against Newsom and Biden had begun to swarm the area.
Many demonstrators against Biden and Newsom declined interview requests, with only Lea, a protester who would not give her last name, agreeing to speak with me.
She said, “He should be doing his job, not campaigning for one person’s job”, while she held up a poster sign that read ‘Joe stop complaining for losers’ jobs and bring back the 30+ Californian children who are still in Afghanistan’.
Other protesters’ posters shared similar messages of dislike for Biden and Newsom, in special regards to their COVID-19 lockdowns, vaccine mandates and mask orders while in public.
Police officers could also be seen trying to maintain the crowds once the arrival of Biden had been recognized by the protesters, who rushed quickly over to Faculty and Carson St. where they remained stalling traffic to obstruct Biden’s arrival on campus.