Fresno Welcomes the Governator!
Fresno Welcomes the Governator!
By Mike Rhodes
May 11, 2005
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was given a BIG Fresno welcome today. Greeting him were hundreds of union members and community activists who waited on Van Ness Extension for the governor to arrive at a fundraising event. The fund raiser and demonstration was held at the Bonadelle Mansion in an upscale part of town, far from the homeless and poor. The Bonadelle family is famous in Fresno for their role as housing developers in the area. They were also involved in Operation Rezone, which was an FBI sting operation. Several developers and City Council members were put on trial and jailed for their roles in buying and selling votes to enrich the developers.
When Schwarzenegger arrived the crowd went wild and the police went into action to clear a path. The demonstrators, who took up most of the block in front of the Bonadelle mansion, at one point took over the street (see photo below) but were repelled by the heavy law enforcement presence. In an interesting twist, not found at very many demonstrations, a good number of the 500 or so demonstrators were from the Fresno Police Department, the prison guard union, and firefighters. That’s right, they were there to demonstrate against the governator.
Attending today’s demonstration were union members from Service Employees International Union, the Fresno Teacher’s Association, California Nurses Association, and many others. This was one of the largest demonstrations held in Fresno for quite a while. Many of the people present were complaining about Arnold Schwarzenegger today, but other than George W Bush, I don’t know who could have united such a diverse group of demonstrators.
I can't wait to show them this article and the pictures, especially my friends at Air America Minnesota.
What a great turn out, and in front of the corrupt Bonadelle home.
Just curious.
Great pictures by the way. Kudos to SF Indybay and all of the volunteers for the excellent coverage. I routinely forward these posts to the <iww-news [at] iww.org> list to share with others.
Solidarity Forever.
The Freeper in the above picture is showing up at a lot of progressive groups events in Fresno. He is not always disruptive, but it is interesting that he keeps popping up. He got a first row seat when Amy Goodman was in town, came to the gathering spot for the anarchist Occupied Territory event last summer, has been seen at several Peace Fresno demonstrations, and has been at our events at CSU-Fresno. Stuart Weil clearly wants us to know that he is at our events and is open about his right wing politics. Many progressive political activists in Fresno now know him on a first name basis.
Congratulations on your great turnout protesting Arnold, the booben-grabber and groppen-fuhrer. Keep up the great organizing work. We got to kick this guber-nazi out of Sacramento!
I attended a protest against Arnold and his wife and political collaborator, Maria Shriver, last week in Sacramento. She was doing a book-signing at Borders Books- and we were there to "greet" her. Christine Craft of Air America Radio Talk City 1240 organized the event.
Dan
Our local (and National) Corporate TV media does not serve us well. Sports weather, Micheal Jackson, and Wesson trials seem to dominate the TV media, how sad.
What are the people of Fresno talking about Micheal Jackson and the Wesson trials? GIVE ME A BREAK
Anybody want a color TV? Take out the tube and put in a plant. It is good for front yard decor:)
--Thanks Mike
It took a Rally for the Wetlands here in MN to bring together the duck hunters and fishermen to join in Solidarity with the Environmental groups. I have never seen so many Republican looking Minnesotans finally stepping up, speaking out and giving a damn.
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