GUYS: WARNING! WATCH CAREFULLY to see if this starts happening in your district: Last edited Sun Jul 23, 2017, 04:51 PM - Edit history (1) Hey folks -



I went to a formal Santa Monica-area Democratic group meeting this past Thursday night, and witnessed something deeply troubling. What looked, sounded, felt, and strongly suggested was a planned-and-coordinated effort to disrupt Democratic gatherings. I wanted to put the word out here - in case it's the start of a "disease" that may be metastasizing. I don't know. But in the back of my mind, there's this little red flag that's starting to pop up. It's spring-loaded. And when I mentally try to push it down, it keeps popping back up. I was sufficiently troubled by this to document it all - in an email I sent around to several other Democratic and liberal groups here in SoCal. And there were police on hand - who stood around and did nothing. Their presence was NOT a deterrent - of ANY sort whatsoever.



Here's what I wrote (APOLOGIES that it's long - but please read it):



Hey folks -



I'm getting worried. And I hope to Heaven I'm wrong.



I'm sorry to have to write this, but my alarm bells are ringing. And I wanted YOU to be aware of it, at least.



I now cannot help but suspect there might be a new trump-related "battle tactic" starting to play out against Democrats and Democratic groups here in our true-blue Westside.



Thursday night, at the Santa Monica Democratic Club monthly meeting (MLK Auditorium, Santa Monica Main Library, ground floor), we dues-paying members who gathered to hear State Senate Pro Tem Kevin De Leon speak had our entire meeting HIJACKED by a small but loud and rude mob of pro-trump agitators. There were maybe 8 - 10 of them. Aggressive, nasty, belligerent, hollering out mean-spirited insults and MULTIPLE other interruptions during the program, shouting down several Latino/Latina guest speakers trying to share their fears and struggles as undocumented people. Hotel workers, students, moms, grown children who either were undocumented themselves or feared for their undocumented parents. These trumpsters were total jackasses, shouting over them, hurling insults, telling them to go back where they came from, they were breaking the law, "build the wall", and numerous other unkind and, frankly, UNAMERICAN jeers and epithets.



They seemed prepared. They all seemed to know each other. They came with placards and protest signs at the ready. They all sat in the same general area together, at the front of the auditorium. They were not members (I saw a couple of them scurry over to the "non-members sign-in table" outside the auditorium while I waited in line to sign in at the members table, before the program started). I'd been to a few of these meetings before and did not recognize any of these people.



They all came with their cell phones, of course, ready to shoot video of any confrontation that several of the men involved seemed hellbent on provoking to stir up more trouble and use that for publicity purposes. Fortunately, our membership that night did not take the bait as far as physical altercations, but we did outshout them with chanting and clapping because we vastly outnumbered them. But they were unrelenting. All it took to disrupt the entire meeting, time and time again, was their loud, angry, rude, and downright hateful interruption. This was literally HORRIBLE. Some of these guest speakers were soft-spoken and did not speak English. It was painful to watch this utter disgrace!



These same provocateurs were particularly rude, thoughtless, and inconsiderate when Kevin De Leon took the podium. He could barely finish a sentence. Their abuse and heckling rained down on him like a hailstorm. Not surprisingly, a meeting that ordinarily continues till the Library closes at 9pm ended unexpectedly early - about 8:20. These assholes ruined the whole night.



Meanwhile, there was a very obvious police presence in the back of the room - 6 - 8 uniformed officers. Who stood there in the back, leaning against the walls, doing NOTHING.



The co-president of the Santa Monica Dems was one of many attempting to keep the peace, at one point taking the microphone onstage to warn the trumpsters to be polite and considerate and stop heckling or they would be removed. Unfortunately, that never happened. There were NO consequences for this frankly shitty, antisocial, and disgracefully intolerant behavior. All warnings and appeals for civility were useless and completely ignored.



Afterwards, I spoke to a couple of the officers in the back, asking them why they provided no help or crowd control. The answer was -

1) there was no crime committed (well, I felt that the reprehensible behavior I witnessed WAS criminal, but what do I know? I sure didn't raise MY kids to act out like that!);

and 2) this was a public meeting place and they had a right to be there and First Amendment and blah-blah-blah.



Some of US on Thursday night also had OUR cell phones out and were also taking pictures and video, myself included. I'm keeping those photos in case any of these individuals has to be identified later.



THE REASON I'M WRITING THIS:

An activist colleague of mine reported that the same disruptive mess happened to a meeting he attended of the Mar Vista Community Council on July 11th. Another group of pro-trump aggressors, equally loud, nasty, rude, hostile, and disgraceful. Pretty much hijacked THEIR meeting, too.



I was surprised to hear this and immediately became suspicious. I am now wondering if this is a new "thing." Since our general meetings are posted and announced in public, I'm wondering if this is a new tactic by trump-supporters to find, enter, and then disrupt legitimate meetings of Democratic groups. Maybe I'm just over-anxious. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. But since I've learned there were TWO of these travesties within a mere nine days of each other, I'm starting to wonder if the bad guys are starting to keep track, and attack.



Actually, come to think of it, make that THREE. A couple of months ago, I participated in a protest exposing the actual address and location of Breitbart.com. We were outside the building where Breitbart has maintained its national headquarters under-the-radar for years now. They are not listed on the legend of offices and companies in the building's lobby. Sure enough, across the street, there soon appeared a small group of trumpsters, trying to heckle and outshout us, and they had a megaphone with them. There were no confrontations there, since police officers on hand made sure the disruptors stayed on their side of the street and did not come over to our side to interfere. That bunch was not quite so aggressively in-yer-face, perhaps as a result of that forcible sequestration.



I'm wondering if we face increasing confrontations like this, as their side grows more frustrated, desperate, and angry, and wishes to act out and disrupt the work our side is doing, and the accomplishments we've achieved so far.



My apologies for the length of this email. But I wanted to bring this to your attention as Democratic group leaders here on the Westside. Seems like something for which it might be worth keeping an eye peeled. And I wanted this in writing so you have it for the record.



Thanks for hearing me out.



I'd appreciate your thoughts. And MORE: I'd appreciate any eye-witness or anecdotal testimony about anything like this happening on YOUR home turf. I'm trying to figure out whether this is, or is becoming, "A THING." And if so, what we should do about it (like maybe holding our meetings in private, so that nogoodniks from the outside, hellbent on disrupting and causing trouble and frustrating our work, CANNOT barge in and stir shit up. 140 Tweet