On the fifth anniversary of the January 6 attack, protestors stood on the sidewalk of Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo, looking over Highway 101 and holding signs that read “No blood for oil” and “Hands off Venezuela.”
Whitney Weddell helped organize the demonstration denouncing President Trump’s military action in Venezuela. She told KCBX that the event brought together people from a range of activist groups like Indivisible and 50501, and some unaffiliated.
“ It's very grassroots,” Weddell said. “We make our signs by hand and you can tell.”
Elinor Dempsey, who volunteers at the Live Oak Music Festival — an annual fundraiser for KCBX — says she wants congress to act to prevent any more attacks on Venezuela.
“It's one thing after another, they're talking about Cuba now,” Dempsey said. “I mean, where does it end?”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned Cuba at a news conference on Saturday: “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned,” Rubio said.
In a statement, California Senator Adam Schiff called Trump’s arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a “brazen illegal escalation.”
Schiff sponsored a resolution to block U.S. military action in Venezuela back in December. The senate will likely vote again on a similar resolution later this week, according to KQED.
Correction: A version of this story that aired on KCBX incorrectly identified Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s quote as coming from an interview on Meet the Press. The quote was actually from a press conference held in Palm Beach, Florida.
