Sunday, October 16, 2022

President Biden visits IVC - along with OC's Iranian community!

Rebel Girl's favorite sign of the day - carried by another rebel girl.

By Wednesday, the little college in the orange groves was buzzing with the news: President  Joe Biden would be visiting the campus, along with Congresswoman Katie Porter, "to deliver remarks on lowering costs for American families." Access will be strictly limited," advised the notification email. And indeed it was as this was not a rally but part of Biden's swing through the west to stump for candidates.

Rebel Girl didn't make the cut and so had no plans to be on campus except that while on her way to a doctor's appointment, she decided to swing by to pick up a student paper she had left behind. She expected fans of the former president would turn out as they did, in numbers smaller than she expected:


Their flags were big but numbers few.


 Then she saw this:


The angry Iranian community clearly outnumbered the Trumpers. Hundred at first, then over a thousand stood on the corners waiting for the presidential mortorcade.  It was so moving to see the turn-out that Rebel Girl decided to return after the exam and x-rays and diagnosis—and she was so glad she did.

Nothing quite like people turning out to demand justice.  Here are some highlights from both where she rambled and from her lucky pals inside. Was Rebel Girl sad she didn't make the cut? Initially just a bit, but then she realized she was where she usually was, at the barricades. It felt like home.



"Take a photo of my sign, but not me," this woman said.

"Me too," said her friend.

So many women in attendance! When she stopped by the Writing Center, the student aide behind the counter bragged that his mother was out there somewhere in the crowd.


This Secret Service agent calmly explained to an irate Iranian woman that
the Trump supporters had the First Amendment right to be stupid and annoying.  



Were the protesters heard?  Friends inside confirm what others and CNN reports that "Biden made brief comments on the ongoing protests in Iran following ahead of his formal speech, saying that the US stands with the women of Iran."

“Iran has to end the violence against its own citizens simply exercising their fundamental rights,” Biden said. “I’ve been doing foreign policy a long, long time. It stunned me what [the death of Mahsa Amini] awakened in Iran. I want to thank you all for speaking out.”

The Register reports that: "Demonstrators stood sentry around Irvine Valley College, where the president spoke from a small courtyard under a cloudy sky, imploring him to be more forceful in his condemnation of the current Iranian regime. An organizer for the demonstrators estimated there were at least 1,000 in attendance; 'It’s in the thousands,' Irvine Police Department spokesperson Kyle Oldoerp said."

At the special event, local elected officials Supervisor Katrina Foely and State Senator David Min were in attendance among others. Here they are with Desiree Ortiz and Rebecca Beck. Supervisor Don Wagner was spotted as well, scowling in the one photo Rebel Girl saw.



SOCCCD board president Marcia Milchiker (at right).


Toward the end, the red cap crew descended on IVC's vending machines to buy Cheetos.






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