May Day protest in Los Gatos draws hundreds to town plaza

Car horns repeatedly blared in downtown Los Gatos as hundreds of people with signs criticizing Donald Trump s presidency lined the sidewalk by the town plaza for a May Day rally In a few countries May is known as International Labor Day and observed as a residents holiday honoring labor But this year communities across the U S marked the day by demonstrating opposition to Trump s policies against immigrants federal workers and diversity programs Together We Will Indivisible-Los Gatos rally organizer Marsha Palitz-Elliott helped coordinate the protest with the goal of creating a safe space for people to share their concerns about the Trump administration and Elon Musk s role in authorities Between and people indicated up with handcrafted signs calling out several issues including deportations wealth inequality and reproductive rights Los Gatos resident Kristine Kasten reported the protest was not too different from the ones she participated in as a college pupil in the s minus the violent suppression Kasten declared protests against the Vietnam War touched on the same issues that still reverberate in the present She reported came to the May Day rally in help of labor unions income equality and women s reproductive rights which she fought for in the s and saw reversed in This is pivotal to show up for my own sanity and coping as well as just for others to make it known that it s significant that we strive to change things for the better Kasten noted Palitz-Elliott revealed multiple of the Trump administration s threats to Social Guard soundness care and immigration could affect Los Gatos residents According to the U S Census Bureau one-fifth of the town s population is and older We have older people in town so Social Prevention is an issue What s happening with healthcare is an issue Palitz-Elliot mentioned Don Thomas a -year-old Saratoga resident came out to protest the GOP s anti-science platform He declared he disagreed with several of Trump s policies due to concerns about human rights and rule of law but he admonished the administration s ignorance of surroundings change which he called an existential challenge Thomas stated his participation at the rally was also personal as his son a Montana State University scholar was denied a research grant from the U S Department of Agriculture that had previously been approved which could affect his work figuring out how algae might be used for biofuel Bay Area residents also presented concern for the way Trump s policies could affect those outside the region Karla Albright co-founder of Together We Will Indivisible-Los Gatos commented the organization was formed about eight years ago to canvass neighborhoods and raise money to inspire people to vote against Trump The organization also does political action work in the Central Valley and Palitz-Elliott declared Even if we do not have immigrants who are being kidnapped by our regime we care deeply about that Avani Hirway a -year-old resident from San Jose s Almaden Valley revealed she was upset by Trump s tariffs on other countries and the funding freeze on the U S Agency for International Progress USAID and National Institutes of Vitality USAID is responsible for providing foreign civilian aid and evolution to other countries The National Institutes of Robustness fund diagnostic research to help improve Americans robustness and longevity Hirway noted being able to draw comparisons between Trump s policies and the conservative influence of the fundamentalist Hindu executive in her native India inspired her to come to the rally and voice her displeasure with the Trump administration If we don t fight who s going to do it for us Hirway reported It s our response and we re going to fight for the right thing Amid the chattering crowds and drum beats a boy chased his father around the corner of the plaza Tim Crane from Mountain View held a sign criticizing the economic inequality in the U S as his son chased him around the plaza He declared he came to the protest to voice his unhappiness with how society and the U S regime are working He commented he was largest part concerned about the unfair concentration of wealth and power in the U S A ProPublica analysis stated that the wealthiest Americans only paid an average of in personal federal income taxes between and a lower rate a worker making a year might pay in taxes including Medicare and Social Precaution Meanwhile the Economic Guidelines Institute released a growing gap between increasing worker productivity and stagnant wages Crane explained he wants to see the U S move toward more equality and hopes his son will grow up with economic opportunities When we see all this concentration it hurts upsurge it hurts tool it hurts our kids it hurts our families Crane announced Mountain View resident Tim Crane came to the May Day rally in Los Gatos Calif on May with a sign disparaging wealth inequality in the U S stemming from his concern that the issue may stifle economic opportunities for his son