Athletes’ voices resonate as protests continue in Fresno and throughout central Valley
Former star high school athletes from the central San Joaquin Valley added their voices to the nationwide call for police reforms Saturday, as protests for racial justice continued throughout Fresno and the region.
The first of two major events in Fresno on the day centered around the River Park shopping area, where high traffic has made it a popular gathering spot for rallies in the wake of the death of George Floyd after his arrest by Minneapolis police.
Those on hand included ex-Clovis West High and now University of Oklahoma linebacker Caleb Kelly, who said he saw photos from last week’s peaceful protest in downtown Fresno and knew he had missed out on something special.
“I didn’t hear about that one and I was like, ‘I’ll make sure I’ll come out to this one,’” said Kelly, about to begin his senior season with the Sooners. “It’s important and powerful, for sure.”
Former San Joaquin Memorial standout Zach Angelillo, now on the Cal football team, teamed with Elon Paige, the son of former Fresno State and NFL standout Stephone Paige, to help organize the demonstration in front of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse at River Park with Kelly and other athletes.
Many wore school jerseys, including Kelly, who sported the Sooners version with a 2019 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl patch.
About 200 people in all reveled in the message of equality.
“We’re really happy to have all the athletes out here,” Angelillo said. “The motive behind our hashtag #jointheteam559 is we want to treat this event in this Black Lives Matter movement as a team environment.
“When you’re on the team in that locker room it doesn’t matter where you come from, doesn’t matter what you look like. What matters is what you’re able to contribute to the victory of the team.”
A second rally took place in southwest Fresno on Saturday night, when more than 250 people marched from St. Rest Church on East Rev. Chester Riggins Avenue to the Cecil C. Hinton Center on South Fairview Avenue.
Many marchers chanted “Black Lives Matter,” while signs included one that read “White Silence Is Violence.”
That march ended with a large gathering outside the Hinton Center.
Other demonstrations stretched through the day in the central San Joaquin Valley. In Hanford, those on hand estimated about 500 turned out for a midafternoon “March For Justice, March for Peace” at the downtown Civic Auditorium.
A car caravan visited Avenal State Prison to protest conditions there and marchers took to Mooney Boulevard in Visalia in the wake of an incident last week that saw a Jeep strike and injure two demonstrators.
By all accounts, protests in the Valley appeared to have mostly avoided the violent confrontations with police and looting seen in and around protest areas in big cities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York. But even some of the hot spots have calmed down as police ease curfews and crackdowns.
In Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles Times reported, tens of thousands flooded the nation’s capital Saturday with no incidents of violence immediately noted.
A day earlier, Merced’s police chief took a knee with protesters and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno joined Friday with the Fresno Buddhist Center to support Black Lives Matter along Alluvial Avenue in northeast Fresno.
Sunday brought another demonstration along Mooney Boulevard in Visalia; and on Monday, the Fresno County Public Defender’s Office will hold an event to show solidarity with BLM at noon outside the downtown Fresno jail.
This story was originally published June 6, 2020 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Athletes’ voices resonate as protests continue in Fresno and throughout central Valley."
