On August 11th, Raging Grannies and friends rallied on the corner of Hamilton and Bascom to keep Campbell a hate-free zone, stop the militarization of the border and protest the Minutemen. The Golden Gate Minutemen / East Bay Coalition for Border Security are trying to expand their anti-immigrant interpretation of God's Law and the Bible to the South Bay. Campbell is a small city in Santa Clara County next to San Jose and just over the hill (Highway 17) from Santa Cruz.
During the late 1800s, Campbell was the center for shipping fruit grown in the surrounding area, but now Campbell is home to eBay, the world's largest auction and shopping website with their headquarters only a block away from the protest on Hamilton. Many people will remember Campbell for the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-air retail complex which was involved in a famous U.S. Supreme Court case that established the extent of the right to free speech in California.
The Raging Grannies have put out a call for people to join them at the corner of Bascom and Hamilton on the second Saturday of each month from noon to 2pm for a rally to challenge the presence of Minutemen. The San Jose "gaggle" of Raging Grannies spearheaded the August protest and the September demonstration is being organized by the Action League Grannies of the Peninsula.
There were approximately 10 - 15 people on each side of Hamilton. The Raging Grannies and friends declare Campbell a hate-free zone and call for an end to the militarization of the border. Meanwhile, Santa Clara's "anti-illegal immigrant protest" organizer Roberta Allen and others held signs for "Full Pardons For Our Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean" and to "Free the Texas 3". One man repeated over a bullhorn, "Tell Bush, no political prisoners in the United States. Free Jose and Nacho."
They are demonstrating and petitioning the President on behalf of deceitful law enforcement officers; former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, and their colleague, former Sheriff's Deputy Guillermo Hernandez. Ramos and Compean, while Border Patrol officers, shot Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila as he tried to cross the border into Mexico. Instead of following Border Patrol policy, Ramos and Compean cleaned up the scene and tried to pretend nothing happened. Ramos was sentenced to serve 11 years and Compean was sentenced to serve 12 years.
More people are needed on September 8th, the second Saturday of September, to protest the Minutemen and demonstrate that their crusade of scapegoating immigrants will not be tolerated in Campbell or anywhere else. You can contact the Raging Grannies and learn more at their website, RagingGrannies.com
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Crossposted at Indybay.org.
